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[Weather] said, \u201cLook, whatever \u2013 I\u2019m not talking about all of that. I\u2019m talking about our daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you are,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cAnd like I said, we\u2019re all a little crazy, but basically, and overall, Letty\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she\u2019s just like me,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m okay, mostly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ve praised John Sandford\u2019s \u201cPrey\u201d novels,<\/strong> starring Minnesota state cop Lucas Davenport, more than once in this blog. It\u2019s a pleasure to be able to report that Stolen Prey<\/a><\/i>, the latest volume in paperback, maintains the high quality of a series that a lesser writer might reclined on.<\/p>\n
My main complaint \u2013 though I think I understand his reasons \u2013 is that author Sandford starts the story off with a truly appalling crime \u2013 the torture and rape murders of a family of four in a suburban Minneapolis home. Gut-wrenching crimes have become an earmark of the Prey <\/i>series, but I don\u2019t think the story would have lost a lot if the kids had been left out of it. At least the family\u2019s suffering is over by the time we arrive at the murder scene.<\/p>\n
Having got past that, the rest of the ride is excellent. The police are convinced that this is the work of a Mexican drug gang, though they can\u2019t figure out what the murdered father \u2013 an investment manager \u2013 could have had to do with that. The FBI and the DEA join in the investigation, along with a male\/female Mexican police team. <\/p>\n
Stolen Prey is a police procedural rather than a mystery \u2013 we know early on who did the murders and why \u2013 but there are still plenty of surprises neatly worked into the plot. An odd collection of American computer criminals, in above their heads, manage to be both comic, oddly endearing, and (mostly) tragic.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a semicomic subplot about Lucas hunting \u2013 through his subordinate Virgil Flowers, hero of other Sandford novels \u2013 a couple of muggers who robbed him at an ATM and broke his arm. They are soon located buying large quantities of horse manure in southern Minnesota. Loud noises ensue.<\/p>\n
The final showdown centers on Letty, Lucas\u2019 adopted daughter, whose character and relationship with him have become part of what keeps this series fresh. <\/p>\n
Recommended, with cautions for language, violence, and disturbing content. There is also a religious character who may be troubling to some Christian readers, though I didn\u2019t take his as a generalizable case.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Weather] said, \u201cLook, whatever \u2013 I\u2019m not talking about all of that. I\u2019m talking about our daughter.\u201d \u201cI know you are,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cAnd like I said, we\u2019re all a little crazy, but basically, and overall, Letty\u2019s okay.\u201d \u201cHow do you know?\u201d \u201cBecause she\u2019s just like me,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m okay, mostly.\u201d I\u2019ve praised … Continue reading Stolen Prey, by John Sandford<\/span>