This is my third time into Sandford prey series and unfortunately they seem to be getting worse. I loved Mind Prey and was hoping that the rest of the Prey series were written in the same way, but Secret Prey was not.

This crime thriller sees the reader again with Lucas Davenport trying to solve a murder of an extremely wealthy businessman - there are a number of possible suspects and one by one they get eliminated during the course of the book. Halfway through the book the reader finds out who the killer is, but it still takes Lucas a while to get there.

I enjoyed this book, but it certainly didn't 'wow' me like Mind Prey as I felt that the last half of the book really didn't tell us anything new, it just made us follow Lucas' trail to the killer. I read this book in a few hours & I recommend it if you are looking for time to kill.

I don't think that this is one of Sandford's best, but it is still entertaining.

I've enjoyed all of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels. While Silent Prey is true to form, it falls well short of Sandford's best effort. Much of this novel seems forced. Davenport's battle with depression is simply distracting. His not unexpected relationship with a female detective, while entertaining at times, seems to be thrown in for the laugh track. Davenport's fellow detectives, fully fleshed out in the previous "Prey" novels, are not given much to do here ... and that's too bad. Part of the fun in the Davenport stories comes from the other detectives in the squad.

The villain in this story is the highlight of the book. Evil comes in many forms and none so subtle as this one. Sandford's killers are never simple and this one is as complex as any he has created. Frankly, the villain makes the story.

I recommend this book to any Sandford fan. If you have never read one of the "Prey" novels, you may still want to read this one. However, I would suggest picking up "Winter Prey" first.

In the ninth installment of the Prey series, Lucas Davenport has to sort out a hornet's nest of suspects with motive to determine who killed the board chairman of a local bank.

Sandford does a great job of setting up the reader for the surprise villain. This is a little different than other 'Prey' books, because the bad guys are usually more apparent.

Also in this new 'Prey' book, Lucas' personal life takes a hit in the form of an awkward estrangement from his fiancé. Because I have enjoyed watching Lucas Davenport mature from a womanizing hound to an in-love romantic, this development was hard to take, but I am sure Sandford knows best. He has so far, anyway.

If you have read other books in the 'Prey' series, keep reading. If not, well what are you waiting for? Read them now.

Winter Prey is suspenseful and tense. The setting is rural Wisconsin at 20° below. The hero is the likable Lucas Davenport, who gets pulled into solving the murders of the LaCourt family by the small-time county sheriff, an inexperienced, near retirement, sometimes pathetic, but mostly sympathetic character. While the dialog was sometimes less than impressive, the story was action-packed. A real plus--there was never a moment before revealing the murderer that I even thought I knew who it was. The Iceman is a real surprise, not only because of the twists in the story, but also because you're not given enough information to suspect him. I plan to read more John Sandford after this, mostly for the character Lucas Davenport. I only hope they don't have such corny, awkwardly written love affairs as the one in this book with medical examiner Weather Karkinnen.

Lucas Davenport is back and better than ever. With Winter Prey, Sandford relocates Davenport yet again, this time to the frozen countryside of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Sandford's last Prey novel, Silent Prey, tried something similar, moving Davenport to NYC but it was, unfortunately, not at all successful. Luckily Winter Prey proves to be a much better installment in the series.

Much of the action and plot of the book follows Sandford's "prey format" and Sandford doesn't disappoint in Winter Prey. Quite a bit of the appeal in these stories is derived from the evolving back-story and the development of Davenport. And while Winter Prey largely ignored recurring characters seen in previous novels, Sandford's characters were likable and I can only hope that some of them return.

Overall, if you felt burned by Silent Prey, you'll feel much better after Winter Prey. A real page-turner.

He calls himself the Iceman, and he runs a child porn ring in a tiny community in northern Wisconsin. In the depths of a bitter winter, he realizes that someone has a photo that can identify him and concludes it's the young daughter of a local family. In a grisly scene, he kills the father and mother, then tortures the daughter horribly before he decides that she doesn't have the photo. To make sure, he kills her and burns the house. The sheriff has never faced a crime of this magnitude, but Lucas Davenport, famed for his crime-solving with the Minneapolis police, is vacationing in a nearby cabin and joins the search for the killer. The hunt become more pressing as the Iceman continues to kill in search of the photo. The pace becomes steadily more frantic and ends in a terrific chase. The author throws you several red herrings, but you should figure out the Iceman's identity about halfway through the book. This doesn't detract from the suspense. I had trouble putting the book down. The characters are great, and icy, bitter cold is a main factor in the snowbound countryside. It's a great thriler - well worth reading.

Lucas Davenport, ace investigator, is on the trail of the latest woman-hunter who savagely kills without leaving a clue. Louis Vullion is a mediocre attorney turned serial killer who loves games as much as Davenport. The two begin a cat-and-mouse chase once Louis fails in his attempts to murder Carla Ruiz.
This is the first Sandford novel I've attempted. After reading so many positive, enthusiastic reviews of the PREY series, I simply had to start at the beginning. Was I disappointed? Not entirely. There are some interesting characters. Carla Ruiz is a rather strong, determined, intelligent woman. Sister Mary Joseph (or Elle Kruger when she grew up with Davenport) was my favorite character overall; she's witty, intelligent, confident and she serves as an anchor and confidante for Davenport. Louis himself is an interesting killer; however, there is no clear motive for his killing. There are some brief mentions of a weak mother, but nothing substantial about Louis is ever fleshed out. Annie McGowan and Jennifer Carey are rival tv reporters sniffing out the hottest story in Minnesota. Then there's Davenport. Intelligent? Yes. Brilliant detective? Perhaps. But he also possesses the scruples of a street hood, beds half the female characters before the story truly begins, and is quite willing to plant evidence or to physically threaten/harm witnesses or suspects. He designs elaborate games which supposedly supplies him with an income allowing him to drive a Porsche, own a wilderness hideaway, a boat, and several collectible firearms. One of his many girlfriends becomes pregnant, and the two share many a glass of wine and bottles of beer throughout the novel. Hmmmm.....
The last 100 pages of this novel redeemed it in my opinion. I was honestly rather bored through the earlier segments, but I appreciated the quicker pace offered more toward the end. Perhaps I've read one too many serial-killer novels, but this one was a bit too predictable for my taste. I know I'll try out at least one more in the series to see if Sandford develops some of these characters (and if Davenport's libido cools off). I'd also like to see if Sandford is able to strengthen the writing and to provide a less predictable story with a more thrilling conclusion. Overall, I give this 3 stars because it was interesting enough to keep me reading. I'll reserve more glowing reviews if the next in the series does better at grabbing my attention from beginning to end.

He's called "maddog." He's a cold-blooded killer who hides behind his daytime attorney role. He believes his murderous success is due to a list of rules that he follows religiously. At every crime scene, he leaves a note with one of his lessons.

Maddog's third attack is unsuccessful and now there is a witness. The Minneapolis police want this man caught quickly. Lieutenant Lucas Davenport is assigned to the case.

Will the maddog claim another victim? It's up to Davenport to catch the killer in Sandford's classic thriller, "Rules of Prey."

This first installment in the "Prey" series introduces Lucas Davenport as a police lieutenant in the twin cities. Though he doesn't play by the rules, his peers respect him. In his spare time he develops role-playing games. The profits from his hobby allow him to be the only cop who drives a Porsche to work.

In "Rules of Prey" the identity of the maddog is known from the beginning. Readers see him plan his moves up to the final attack. Davenport creates his own trap as well, leading to the ultimate showdown between good and evil.

Because this is the first book in the "Prey" series, the Lucas Davenport character is not fully developed. He's younger and more of a physical risk taker here as opposed to the more recent series installments.

"Rules of Prey" is a fascinating thriller. The crimes are heinous, but the inevitable showdown between maddog and Davenport keep the pages turning.

See how the series began. Pick up a copy of "Rules of Prey" today.

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis cop, is pretty much what we've come to expect in this genre, and it's a comfortable fit (as far as old shoes go). He's a rough renegade with the heart of gold, some nerdy hobbies to balance out the tough parts and a flock of women who want him...and a cool car, to boot.

What makes Rules of Prey so different from entries in other detective series is the absolute attention to detail. The process the Minneapolis police use to track the "maddog", a vicious serial killer, is fascinating, as are their fumbles along the way (that have embarrassing results for the department). I can't remember a book that built suspense so successfully, and it's done with an unsensational, subdued style that never cheats the reader or glosses over a scene.

When I finished this novel I thought, "Somebody finally got it just right," and I only hope that the rest of the series can live up to this masterpiece. Fans of crime and mystery novels should do some investigating in Lucas Davenport's Twin Cities.

I have read every single entry in Sandford's Prey series and this one wasn't quite up to par. His first few books were filled with menace and I thought his villains were outstanding. During that time he developed Davenport as the excellent character that he is now. However, this latest book bothered me. I liked Rinker, an unusual hit'man', but found Carmel totally over the top. Her actions, given her successful background as a top, hard-nosed defense attorney were inexplicable and made no sense. It was as though someone had done a brain transplant on her at the beginning of the book. I don't usually write reviews on books that I think are only average, but when it represents what I regard as a decline, I think it is noteworthy.

Hmmm. What a mix made in [location]! The unholy duo of Carmen and Clara! This is a big chewy book with enough chills to keep you up late into the night trying to finish it.

A Minnesota socialite is murdered in a parking garage, by what seems to be a professional killer. But why? As the story unfolds, and more corpses turn up, we follow these two women on their twisted mission.

I found myself feeling some empathy for Clara Rinker, while Carmen left me cold. It's a testament to Sanfords writing, that he can arouse such strong feelings about his characters. The chief protagonist: Lucas Davenport himself, is a conflicted man. Feared by many, but respected by most of his colleagues, he is a natural born cop with a taste for killing.

As he tracks Carmen and Clara through the many twists and turns of the case, we can sense the developing affinity he has with Clara Rinker.

Both females are very deftly drawn and their characters are well developed. This was a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I'm looking forard to Lucas's next encounter with the emotionally compelling Clara.

I've been an avid fan of John Sandford's books for a decade now and was sorry to see that Lucas Davenport seemed to have lost his edge. I was wary when I picked up the book: I didn't want to get disappointed but Sandford surprised the hell out of me.
His latest in the Prey series is his best yet. The story has frightening insights: Sandford was able to draw the profile of a memorable serial killer perfectly. His portrayal ranks amongst the very best ones I've ever read. But not only the story is superb. Something happened to Sandford. His prose whas never been extremely vivid or pewrful but in Certain Prey he not only exceeded himself but most of the genre. His style breathes it's so fresh. Not one bad sentence in his dialogues. His conversations with his bride-to-be Weather, his interactions with his peers are so vividly written that I felt for the first time: Lucas Davenport is a living, almost larger than life cop, not just an interesting character who seeks the advice of a nun, who drives a Porsche and who designs softwares.
If you haven't read Sandford and want to know him, this is the best book to start with.

I discovered Sanford and Davenport in Mind Prey and have since gone back and read all of the books in the series preceeding it and plan to read the ones following it. I enjoy Davenport because he is a good "cop" but he has his indiscretions without it tainting too much of his character. I really don't like that he has to sleep with a different woman in each book, though he is very honest about his enjoyment of women and his inability to resist most of them. This book, though not as good as some of his others, took an interesting turn by taking Davenport out of his usual haunts and placed him in New York City with a lot of people he did not know. Using the ultimate narcisistic psycho, Bekker, as the antagonist again was great! Sanford has a scarey imagination. I enjoyed the main plot twist that was keeping the police from spotting Bekker. I also enjoyed the parrellel story about Robin Hood. It was interesting trying to follow two plots that eventually merged in to one plot. Sanford writes some seriously good stuff. I look forward to reading the rest of this series as well as his other books. This is a good read!

The best to date in John Sandford's "Prey" series! Lucas Davenport's original nemesis, Dr. Michael Bekker, is back after escaping from custody and is back to his old tricks! Sandford's ability to keep his books in your hands (I took it to work with me one day!) never falters. I was actually disappointed when the book ended; I wanted to read more! I'm a big fan of the "Prey" series anyway, but I'd recommend this one to any mystery fan. A word of warning: if you buy this one, you may as well buy the rest of the series. You'll be back at the bookstore within the week!

Way to go Davenport AND your love interest survived this time! Maybe the Davenport curse regarding relationships with women has been lifted? Like "Eyes of Prey" finished this one in two evenings also. Overheard a woman in our local bookstore tell the clerk that her mother had read all of Sandford's book and I can see why she read the whole series. Sandford is like popcorn, once you start his books are hard to put down.

Burmese Design and Architecture by Johni. Falconer, et al, offers a perfect balance between excellent photography and enlighting commentary, which together bring alive the splendor of Burmese, Mon, Arakan and other architectural styles.

Certainly a recommended book for the Southeast-Asia enthusiast!

Like all devoted lovers of Jane Austen, I have long pondered why she chose to write this, of all books, at time she was experiencing the intoxicating success of Pride and Prejudice.

The protagonist is a loathesome little priss. Austen herself says so in her letters. Fanny Price is neurotic and oversensitive where Austen's other heroines are brash and healthy. Even Austen's own family found the ending as odd and disappointing as do subsequent generations of readers.

So there's a puzzle to be solved here. The answer may lie in the fact that this book was written when, after a lifetime of obscurity, Austen found herself, briefly, a huge success. As is so often the case with writers, the success of her earlier book may have given her the courage to decided write about something that REALLY mattered to her--and what that was was her own very complex feelings about the intensely sexual appeal of a morally unworthy person.

This topic, the charm of the scoundrel, is one that flirts through all her other books, usually in a side plot. However, the constraints of Austen's day made it impossible for her to write the story of a woman who falls for a scoundrel with a sympathetic viewpoint character.

So what I think Austen may have decided to do was to write this story using Edmund--a male--as the sympathetic character who experiences the devastating sexual love of someone unworthy. Then, through a strange slight of hand, she gives us a decoy protagonist--Fanny Price, who if she is anything, is really the judgemental, punishing Joy Defeating inner voice--the inner voice that probably kept Jane from indulging her own very obvious interest in scoundrels in real life!

In defense of this theory, consider these points:

1. Jane herself loved family theatricals. Fanny's horror of them and of the flirting that took place is the sort of thing she made fun of in others. Jane also loved her cousin, Eliza, a married woman of the scoundrelly type, who flirted outrageously with Jane's brother Henry when Jane was young--very much like Mary Crawford. The fact is, and this bleeds through the book continuously, Austen doesn't at all like Fanny Price!

To make it more complex, Fanny's relationship with Henry Crawford is an echo of the Edmund-Mary theme, but Austen makes Henry so appealing that few readers have forgiven Austen for not letting Fanny liven up a little and marry him! No. Austen is trying to make a case for resisting temptation, but in this book she most egregiously fails.

2. Austen is famous for never showing us a scene or dialogue which she hadn't personally observed in real life, hence the off-stage proposals in her other books.

Does this not make it all the more curious that the final scene between Edmund and Mary Crawford in which he suffers his final disillusionment and realizes the depths of her moral decay comes to us with some very convincing dialogue? Is it possible that Jane lived out just such a scene herself? That she too was forced by her inner knowlege of what was right to turn away from a sexually appealing scoundrel of her own?

3. Fanny gets Edmund in the end, but it is a joyless ending for most readers because it is so clear that he is in love with Mary. Can it be that Austen here was suggesting the grim fate that awaits those who do turn away from temptations--a lifetime of listening to that dull, upstanding, morally correct but oh so joyless voice of reason?

We'll never know. Cassandra Austen burnt several years' worth of her sister's letters--letters written in the years before she prematurely donned her spinster's cap and gave up all thoughts of finding love herself. Her secrets whatever they were, were kept within the family.

But one has to wonder about what was really going on inside the curious teenaged girl who loved Samual Richardson's rape saga and wrote the sexually explicit oddity that comes to us as Lady Susan. Perhaps in Mansfield Park we get a dim echo of the trauma that turned the joyous outrageous rebel who penned Pride and Prejudice in her late teens into the staid, sad woman when she was dying wrote Persuasion--a novel about a recaptured young love.

So with that in mind, why not go and have another look at Mansfield Park!

I don't know what book the other reviewer read, but it couldn't have been "Mansfield Park." "Mansfield Park" is a political satire according to some, and I think there's reason to believe this assessment. According to Jane Austen, "Mansfield Park" is about ordination (some dispute here, but she wrote it in a letter). Ordination comes from the word "order" and given the events in Europe at the time order was a major issue.

Jane Austen's father had 'interests' in the West Indies from which he derived income, and he was very pleased the British Government (Tories) defended these colonies and kept them from joining in the American Revolotion. Jane Austen had two naval brothers who served as part of the effort to keep the English interests en tact. In "Persuasion" a discussion at dinner one evening centers around the West Indies--and the talk is not about slavery. Like it or not, Jane Austen's conscience about slavery did become manifest until she wrote "Emma" and even then she barely touched on the subject. Jane Austen's main concerns involved the lives of women and their place in society. And we have no right to judge her from our perspective 200 years later.

Jane Austen was a Tory at the time she wrote "Mansfield Park." The Tories were a conservative party that backed the English king and he had no interest in seeing English colonies in the West Indies--from which he derived income--disappear. The Tories were landed gentry (country aristocrats) and did not want their old agrarian way of life abolished. It was under threat from the Industrial Revolution, and other social change. The Tory opposition party was Whig. Whigs supported the American and French Revolutions, and wanted change (the Abolutionists were mostly Whig).

Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" symbolizes the old agrarian landed gentry way of life. Portsmouth (where Fanny's mother lives) represents the chaos of the masses. London (home of the Crawfords) is an interesting but dangerous way of life.

Fanny is a very moral girl. My only complaint of Fanny is that I wanted her to stand up for herself--which she does. She always did, she just didn't do it the way we women who have been emancipated would. Critics from Lionel Trilling to Tony Tanner have defended Fanny's right to be Fanny--i.e. a moral and good girl of her times. We who are caught up in the modern world may not appreciate Fanny, but there she is--and who dares judge her?

Fanny holds the course (like the Tories). She is the voice of morality who objects to the London stage play the other youngsters at Mansfield Park stage in the absence of Mr. Bertram (the lord of the manor and the upholder of virtue). Fanny will not be coerced into violating her principles. She will not marry Mr. Crawford because she can see he is immoral. She chides Edmund to stay on the straight and narrow. She facilitates Edmund's remaining on the path to ordination. Say what you will, Fanny gets her man, and she gets him the way she wants him. Was Janie spoofing us all along? Was Fanny right?

As Jane Austen's most controversial novel, Mansfield Park continues to occupy an inveterate place in literature for its dark charm, its slow yet steady rhythm, its dry yet sharp and ironic humor, and of course fabulous charaterization built on extensive description all within a country challenged by progress.

Readers become acquainted with Fanny Price, a victorian era Cinderella so it appeared--plucked from her family in destitude to be allowed to blossom at her wealthy uncle's house, Mansfield Park. Of course being passive, steadfast, timid...certainlly lacking the very fierce which makes Emma and Marrianne among other Austen heroine memorable. Yet withstanding the seductive charm of fortune and of consequence, Fanny Price resists the wooing of a stranger Mr. CRawford who puzzles everyone with his light gallantry and dark desires. A soulmate since childhood, Fanny's cousin Edmund yields in to Miss Crawford, who is all but a nonessential part of Mr. Crawford's scheme of stolen pleasure. Henry Crawford, certainlly one of the darknest characters ever portrayed, more so then Willoughbe (excuse the sp.) is too caught up in the sensual delights of his incessant conquests (including Fanny's 2 pretty cousins) that even though he ackowledges the good influence Fanny's purity has on his heart, he is too deeply sunken in his web of "play" to rise and face truth of love. Yes, Henry Crawford did love Fanny with his heart, at least the pure part of it, unlike Edmund who loves Fanny only out of brotherly affection. But Fanny, whose steady character makes her an unlikely candidate to Crawford's actual reformation, refuses Crawford's sincerity and thus almost pushes him back into his bottomless hold of scheme. The storm thus takes place in the heart of London's upper society, casting its shadow on the peaceful Mansfield Park community and shattering everything Sir Thomas has persevered in building up--with fortune, and with consequence...a mention of slave trade as well.

Mary Crawford is a complex player, tainted by a society blindly wooing money and status, that even Edmund is not able to save the good side of her. Apart from Henry's scheme, Edmund is forced to refocus and, voila, there is Fanny (no matter how distasteful cousin-courtship is to many).

The movie adaptation of this tale certainlly emphasizes the fighting nature of Fanny which is rarely detected on pages. Yet what IS acknowledged and admired in the quiet little herione, is the perseverance so rare in a world on the verge of revolution.

Be prepared to rarely get up from your seat once you start Chosen Prey. Sandford's characters are very credible, three dimensional and well-developed, and Lucas Davenport continues to be one of the more interesting "good guys" in crime fiction. The plot is very suspenseful and riveting. In typical Sandord style, there is no surprise as to who the killer is, yet the need for non-stop reading of his books is to see how the killer is caught. If you've read some of the other books in the "Prey" series, you'll know that how the criminal is brought to justice is not always in the way you'd suspect. Chosen Prey is a book I think you'll enjoy very much. As I said, though, be prepared to delay other things you need to do because you won't want to put this book down. It's well worth you're time and money.

Colleagues respect St. Patrick University associate professor art historian James Qatar for his collective works. This includes one book and several scholarly articles published in highly regarded journals and magazines. Unbeknownst to his peers is that Professor Qater has a second life in which he hunts blondes, has sex with them, and kills them.

When an early victim is found, the police link her to photographs that are part of Qater's hobby of creating pornographic works with women he knows but who don't really know him. Being a political appointee, Minneapolis Deputy Chief of Police Lucas Davenport expects to lose his job within six months when the mayor retires. Lucas intends to use his time wisely to catch the killer.

John Sandford is one of the top authors of police procedurals due to his three dimensional characters that consistently turn the "Prey" books into great reads. The hero is a flawed individual with a complex and realistic personal life that places demands on him even as he risks everything because he believes in the value of justice for all. CHOSEN PREY is the best of a great series. The audience knows the identity of the killer early on, but watch in fascination as Lucas tries to do likewise while balancing his complex personal life.

Harriet Klausner

All of us Sandford fans deeply look forward each year for early May to come around because that mostly means the release of a new Prey novel! In "Chosen Prey," Minneapolis Detective, Lucas Davenport, along with Marcy Sherrill, Sloan, Del, and Weather (Lucas fiance), return in one of John Sandford's most interesting and exciting Prey novels that he has written. The plot: James Qatar is a prestegious history professor at St. Patrick University in Minneapolis. He has a very secretive life on the side. He enjoys playing kinky sex games with women he barely knows and ends up killing them for pleasure. He also enjoys taking pictures of women and distorting their figures to look like they are participating in grotesque sexual activities. His method of murder: a rope. James Qatar is a very sick individual that has killed over eight women in three states. None of the cops have been able to link him to the murder. When a murdered women turns up in the barren woods, close to home to Lucas Davenport, he vows to find this killer who killed this beautiful woman. After investigating for a while, and with the assistance of and out of state officer, he discovers that three other women have mysteriously disappeared in Wisconsin. All these murders/ disappearances are connected. Can Davenport and the gang get James Qatar before he claims his next victim? The twelfth novel in this amazing series is a definite success!