Broken Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries) | John Sandford | Excellent Fast Pace Thriller from Front...

Broken Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries) | John Sandford | Kept me guessing

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Broken Prey (Lucas...

	Broken Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries) John Sandford, 2005 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 140 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Lucas Davenport faces a living nightmare, in one of the scariest Prey novels yet from the number-one bestselling author.

Abridged CD - 5 CDs, 6 hours

Excellent Fast Pace Thriller from Front to Back

Mr. Sanford has provided us with an excellent thriller from beginning to end. One need not muddle through a slow, descriptive beginning. The novel hits the ground running in it's story content & description very quickly. When the reader feels the suspect id clearly identified, the author takes the reader in another direction toward another possible suspect. All avenues are neatly tied together in the end, even Lucas Davenport's top 100 rock songs list. Don't miss this one

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Kept me guessing

This is the first murder mystery in a long time, where I didn't have everything figured out by the halfway point. I'd never read a Sandford novel before, and am very glad to have been introduced to this author.

The characters, as gritty as they are, were well developed and interesting. I'm not familiar with the Twin Cities, but the Minnesota setting is a nice break from the LA/NYC settings that so many mystery novels take place in. It had a good pace and read well.

I'm looking forward to finding more books in this series.

Oh, my!

Man o man, this is some incredible PREY book. Its plotting, suspense, and surprises are at the very top. it also has the filthiest vile situations and scenes Sandford has ever put on the page. It also has one of the smartest, wiliest killers ever--as long as it remains hidden. The victims are about as broken as imaginable. We can only hope that Sandford did not make up all the terrible details, or he may need to be institutionalized. Then again, I fervently hope no one really had to suffer such terror and pain. From unspeakable acts the story moves into an intricately constructed thriller, from raunchiness to diabolical cleverness and criminal madness, from doubtful clues to shadow killers. A brutal ending is a necessary finish to a revolting series of crimes. Only then do you realize how banal was this evil. Not a story for children, for the weak of stomach or heart, for readers who demand socially-redeemed fiction, nor those whose reading oozes easily into their nightmares.

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Sex Violence Profanity - But Very Well Written

*** This book should be avoided by anyone without a high tolerance for vulgar language, perverse sexual references, twisted psychology, and explicit violence. ***

I am a fan of mystery stories, but I had not read any of the books in the Lucas Davenport / Prey series. (The main character is Lucas and the titles in this series contain the word Prey.) Despite some things I found distasteful in this book (hence the warning at the beginning of this review), this is one of the best mystery stories I have read in a long time. The narrative is fast-paced and hard to put down. The characters are vivid and engaging. I liked best that I was surprised more than once by plot twists, which hasn't happened to me in a long time! These surprises were natural; they felt right, not as though the author had cheated or played a trick on the reader.

I am not easily impressed, having recently begun two other mysteries and given them away unfinished because they were too easy to put down and forget about. I will be reading more in this series and by this author. If you enjoy James Patterson's and Michael Connelly's mystery novels, you may appreciate John Sandford's as well.

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Almost a great book

John Sandford is a highly acclaimed author for good reason. His descriptions are unique. Take, for example, the following quote from p.3. "Her brown eyes struck Charlie as cold raindrops, then flicked away when he turned at the impact; he was left with the impression of soft eyebrows, fine skin, and raspberry lipstick." Uniquely put. Now remove the passage and re-read the page. Nothing is lost. It's the kind of passage which critics and English professors love, but the overall impression I get is that Sandford is just trying too hard...over and over. On the positive side, the story jumps right out of the chute and rarely lets up. The twists are all there, although when the ultimate villian is revealed, I feel somewhat let down. Where were the clues which could have led me to him had I paid more attention? Why should I care about this character at all prior to his being revealed as the mastermind? It's as if a background character was chosen at random for this role. But still, overall, a good read...just not as good as it could have been. Graphic violence means that this isn't one for the squeamish.

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