Night Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #6)

by John Sandford

Overview

A savage psychopath is playing cat and mouse with Lucas Davenport. But both killer and detective find themselves at odds with a female investigator who has intensely personal reasons for catching the killer herself-and fast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101146200
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/1995
Series:	Lucas Davenport Series
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	12,045
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Sandford is the pseudonym of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of the Prey novels, the Kidd novels, the Virgil Flowers novels, The Night Crew, and Dead Watch. He lives in New Mexico.

Hometown:

St. Paul, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

February 23, 1944

Place of Birth:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Education:

State University of Iowa, Iowa City: B.A., American History; M.A., Journalism

Website:

http://www.johnsandford.org

Editorial Reviews

The pseudonymous Sandford (he's Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp) keeps turning out better and better thrillers. In this sixth entry in his Prey series, streetwise Minneapolis deputy police chief Lucas Davenport is beleaguered by perplexing females. Charged with saving the political life of Rose Marie Roux, the ambitious police chief who has her eye on a Senate seat, he's given the assignment of tracking to ground the sex-crazed perpetrator of a series of murders of young women. Davenport's unwelcome colleague in this case is feminist Meagan Connell, an abrasive State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator who's obsessed with catching the killer before she dies of cancer. Also bedeviled by the ill-timed assignment of a new partner, a yuppie who was formerly assigned to the grade schools as ``Officer Friendly'' and who happens to be the husband of the mayor's niece, Davenport is additionally saddled with the mystifying death of an elderly woman who died rather conveniently, freeing some local hoods to profit from a real-estate scam. Juxtaposing the dark consciousness of the sex-fixated murderer against the narrative perspective of Davenport, Sandford builds a compelling counter-rhythm of suspense. The narrative is sensitively embued with Davenport's humaneness as, in awe, he watches Connell courageously fight to postpone her impending death. Yet, credibly flawed, the cop also displays a roving eye when he's momentarily distracted from his deep commitment to the lovely physician Weather Karkinnen by a beautiful and seductive TV anchor. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This novel is sixth in the ``Prey'' series, written by journalist John Camp under the Sandford pseudonym and featuring Porsche-driving Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport. Here Davenport, who has just returned to duty after recovering from a serious gunshot wound, must face a serial killer named Koop, who is dropping bodies all over the metropolitan area. Koop makes the mistake of becoming a little too obsessed with a potential victim and thus leaves a trail that Davenport and his fellow officers finally discover. Despite its length, Night Prey is a tight, fast-moving thriller with appealing good guys and a suitably evil villain. Especially fascinating among the characters is Policewoman Connell, who is dying of cancer and whose fate becomes linked to Koop's in the spectacular climax. Buy wherever thrillers are read. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/94.]-A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham

Library Journal

Sandford's sixth "Prey" novel follows the same formula as the first five: sharp-tongued Minneapolis deputy police chief Lucas Davenport is on the trail of a serial killer--this time a particularly nasty specimen with a yen for disemboweling his victims. Meagan Connell, an investigator from a state agency, plays the de rigueur role of Davenport's feisty, determined female assistant. Davenport is also peripherally involved in a case that appears to involve the Seeds, a loosely organized group of white supremacists. The third-person narration takes the reader along with the serial killer as he makes his rounds, choosing and stalking his victims. Alternately, the narrative follows the victims and the investigators. There is no mystery here; the killer's identity is clear from page one. The suspense lies in the investigation. Will Davenport and Connell catch the killer before he gets that one, last, innocent victim? Yes, the plotting seems lifted from dozens of interchangeable slasher flicks, but the dialogue crackles and individual scenes can be almost unbearably suspenseful. This may be the first good suntan book of 1994. A little sunblock, a tall cool one, and a serial killer--ah, summertime.

Wes Lukowsky

Praise for John Sandford’s Prey Novels
 
“Relentlessly swift...genuinely suspenseful...excellent.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Sandford is a writer in control of his craft.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
“Excellent...compelling...everything works.”—USA Today
 
“Grip-you-by-the-throat thrills...a hell of a ride.”—Houston Chronicle
 
“Crackling, page-turning tension...great scary fun.”—The New York Daily News
 
“Enough pulse-pounding, page-turning excitement to keep you up way past bedtime.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
“One of the most engaging characters in contemporary fiction.”—Detroit News
 
“Positively chilling.”—St. Petersburg Times
 
“Just right for fans of The Silence of the Lambs.”—Booklist
 
“One of the most horrible villains this side of Hannibal.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
 “Ice-pick chills...excruciatingly tense...a double-pumped roundhouse of a thriller.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Richard Ferrone's gravelly voice and calm tone add suspense to this shocking thriller about serial killer Koop. Listeners ride along as Koop selects and stalks his victim and State Inspector Megan Connell and Minneapolis Police Lieutenant Lucas Davenport investigate the similarities of the vicious stabbing and disemboweling of his victims. Ferrone empathetically portrays the various male and female characters, finding unique voices, pacing, and volume for each. The dialogue sizzles, and the tense scenes lead to a spectacular climax. Don’t listen alone. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 05 - AudioFile