Silent Prey | John Sandford | Bekker is Back...

Silent Prey | John Sandford | Bekker back for a Rematch

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Silent Prey

	Silent Prey John Sandford Berkley, 1993 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Michael Bekker, the psychopath Lucas Davenport captured in Eyes of Prey, escapes.

Bekker is Back...

At the end of Eyes of Prey, Lucas beat villain Michael Bekker mercilessly as opposed to killing him, which is what he really felt like doing. After all, one of Bekker's victims was Davenport's actress girlfriend. This book opens with Bekker's trial and his escape from the courtroom as the jury retires to deliberate. While the escape is clever, it's not very realistic for such a vicious serial killer. I think he would probably have been a guarded by more than one guard. But, it's fiction and the escape leads to an exciting story. One wonders throughout the book why people don't run from him and why they seem to trust him to walk with them to empty parking decks. He is the caretaker of an elderly woman and again, I had to wonder how he got the job. Never fear, Sandford explains all.

While not the best of the Prey series in my opinion, I was torn between four and five stars, I ultimately went with five stars. It had plenty of intrigue and suspense to keep my interest. I'm not sure Bekker deserved another book, but then again, in the last one he worked with a partner. This time we got to see his disintegrating persona function solo. All in all, a good read and I look forward to reading more of the Prey series.

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Bekker back for a Rematch

Taking place approximately 3 months after the events in "Eyes of Prey" have ended, we find Bekker about to have his sentence handed down and Lucas at loose ends. However, unlike Lucas, Bekker has a plan - and he uses it to escape.

At first everyone thinks that Bekker is after Lucas, but as time goes by and nothing happens, everyone relaxes. However, one day Lily Rothenburg (last seen in "Shadow Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries)") comes to Minneapolis to ask Lucas to come back to New York City. They believe Bekker has holed up there and is killing people and sending out bizarre quasi-scientific documents about his experiences and experiments. As a side project, Lily tells Lucas that there appears to be a vigilante group within the police department and she would like his help in shutting it down.

Full of twists and turns, this is a satisfying read for anyone who is a fan of the police procedural/thriller genre.

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enjoyable read

I discovered John Sandford's novels years ago and I am a huge fan. The Prey novels are a fast paced, enjoyable read. I love to read them while laying by the pool. For those of you looking for a thought provoking book, this isn't the way to go. If you are looking for a fun read, I highly recommend this series. A warning to those of you offended by profanity, Sandford uses a lot of it.

Just Okay

SILENT PREY is the fourth book in the "Lucas Davenport" series, and I thought it was a worthwhile read. This novel is an unofficial sequel to EYES OF PREY, and features the same serial killer villain, who breaks out of prison to terrorize New York. So my first piece of advice is to read EYES OF PREY before reading this novel.

This book is well written, but I thought there was too much plot. Not only is Davenport on the trail of a serial killer, but he's also after a group of police vigilantes known as the "Robin Hoods." The vigilante plot is convoluted and complex, and I had some problems keeping all the names and plotlines straight. The serial killer stuff is essentially a retread of what you read in EYES OF PREY -- the killer pretty much thinks and acts the same way as he did in the prior book. So there's nothing new or original here.

Sandford's a fine writer, but I thought this effort was a relative disappointment compared to some of his other Prey books. This novel is a decent entertainment, but I think there are much better crime novels out there.

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Not the greatest, but nothing really to complain about

"Silent Prey" was a solid if unspectacular read. I guess I was a little disappointed that the complexity and richness promised by the set up, where two major plotlines are set in motion, didn't actually come about. Rather, you get a pretty good serial killer plotline (Lucas Davenport's rematch with the psychotic physician Michael Bekker) and a sketchy, not-often-mentioned secondary plot involving police vigilantes. This second plot was also a little gimmicky, relying on 11th hour "aha!" moments in Davenport's head as he pieces together the little details he's accumulated over the course of the story. Not bad stuff, mind you, but I guess I prefer more operatic, sweeping Davenport moments rather than the Sherlock Holmes-style deduction scenes on hand here.

Another quibble: The previous novel, "Eyes of Prey", had a terrific final-page revelation about one of the series major supporting players, so I quickly picked up this next installment to see how Lucas would deal with this person in light of the information he now had about the character. But "Silent Prey" deals only briefly with the issue, and not in the meaty fashion I was waiting for. Oh well, there's always the next book.

To conclude with some of the story's strengths, I once again enjoyed the cop banter (though Lucas is technically only a consultant to the cops this time out), the action scenes, the clever surprises (especially in the Bekker storyline) and the big confrontations. And Lucas' passionate yet troubled interaction with the fairer sex remains compelling.

Perhaps I'll give Lucas Davenport and John Sandford a bit of a break before moving on in this series, as maybe it's a little unfair of me to dive right into each installment with big expectations. So I think I'll first let another thriller writer or two entertain me before heading back to this series to check out "Winter Prey". But I will be back.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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