AKA "the book where Lucas finally embraces the cell phone" (in the year 2000). This volume is so different than the ones which came before. On the one hand, it's a "kitchen sink" type of book, where the author throws in everything he has used in the past- the womanizing, the humor, the police-work, etc- and cranks it all the way up like Davenport's porsche blazing down a Minneapolis freeway at 125 mph. On the other hand, by the time you've reached the last few chapters, you realize that you've read the most unique volume so far in this series in that it almost reads like a satire of everything that came before.

The first Prey book was released in 1989, and it's interesting that this one, the 11th book in the series, released in 2000, a few months into the new millennium and a yet still a year before 9/11 would forever change our lives, would seem like a transitional volume. There's a prescience tucked within the narrative, a foreshadowing of the way technology would change us as we would begin to move into the age of social media and internet celebrities and reality television...

3 1/2 stars, but an argument can be made for 4...

I wanted to like this book as I've enjoyed most of Sandford's other novels from the "Prey" series, but I took issue with a couple of things:
The ending. I won't ruin it for you, but given all that happens in the book, the ending is anticlimactic to say the least.
Detective Davenport's invincibility. He runs through speed traps in his Porsche, he uses multiple witnesses as bait, he strings along three women at a time. And gets away with it. Davenport is an interesting character, but this is teetering on the edge of James Bond unreality. Good in small doses, but a bit over the top here.
The introduction of a lot of useless characters. I guess we could consider many of them as possible "killers", but there are just so many that it is overwhelming at times.
There was a decent plot, lots of action, and a small mix of humour at times to make this book enjoyable, but it certainly wasn't Sandford's best Lucas Davenport mystery.

Sandford writes an excellent detective story most of the time but this one lacked believability. Too many situations I didn't buy into regarding police procedures and protocols (ex: letting people into a suspect's house to "look around" as the police were searching the house for clues or information as to the suspect's whereabouts. Also, the climax wasn't buyable when **spoiler alert** the criminal confessed in a gas station while holding hostages and being interviewed by a TV reporter. Davenport somehow talked the guy into that within minutes of beginning the hostage negotiations.

His love life was more of a distraction than an interesting subplot. His three women kept getting in his way more than helping him, except for Yael (sp?) who played an important role in the story.

It's been a while since I read Sandford. I liked him a lot at first, but this book makes me wonder if I was wrong. Still, he's an acclaimed author and a fellow Minnesotan, so I'll keep reading him. It's tough for the great ones to deliver a gem every time. Better luck with the next Prey book.

Good Spring Break read! I actually had the brother pegged for the murder of Sandy and Allie, Allie’s parents, and the others — including one of my favorite cops named Marcy Sherrill (she makes it, thank God!) — but it wasn’t until the last 30 or so pages that it all came together and the culprit was a brand new character to the story. This book tied the details together even better than some of the other books in this series — little things like the man in the Coca Cola uniform being mistaken for the vending machine guy in the beginning. It made total sense and was a cool way to tie up minor details from the beginning of the novel. I’m still not too sure about Lucas and his never ending woman troubles — he just cannot seem to get his shit together when it comes to love and lust. Lol. I’m partially hoping he rekindles things with Weather, but if not, his random dalliances are still fine by me. Sanford has a great series here — on to #12 for sure!

Weaker one in this series.

I have read a lot of his books and this one departs somewhat from his usual formula. Someone is killed, but the killer is not identified and because of the person that is killed, others are killed. This book has more twists and turns than the usual Sanford book.

REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK; JULY 13, 2015
Narrator: Richard Ferrone

This was a mess and not even an exciting mess. It felt as if Sandford threw in a bunch of weirdos with Old Testament names, added lots of red herrings, his now-annoying love life, his entire police department and regurgitated the lot.

I couldn't follow it even though it's just a simple whodunit. Listening to this was like trying to see where the buckshot went - EVERYWHERE! And the choice of killer was so lame as to be laughable. C'mon, after 12 and a half hours and that's who the villain is? Jeez.

And Davenport needs to grow up where his love life is concerned. I like him as a carefree bachelor but once he falls in love and is planning a wedding (even if that got derailed), I do NOT expect him to be still panting over other women or jiggling his testicles over who he should fuck tonight. I mean, Weather-the-only-woman-he's-ever-loved is back in his life nbut Davenport is still sleeping with Jael! And Sandford ends the book with Davenport answering the phone and we aren't told which of the three women Davenport is currently seeing, is the one calling. Oh, he says he's not sleeping with Catrin, but it's Davenport! Give him a few pages and he'll be in her pants.

I hope the rest of the series will have less focus on Davenport's love life, or rather, his internal hand-wringing over which woman to have for that night. I'd rather Sandford let him have ALL the women but focus on the case, please.

Easy Prey finds Lucas Davenport on the trail of a killer who murdered a fashion model at a party and stuffed another victim in a closet. The model has some funky family connections that include a holy roller brother whose sermons involve the mysticism of stigmata. Our Porsche driving detective has his work cut out for him as he heads up the investigation while managing the political fallout of such a high profile victim. But...before you know it, suspects and associates are being killed too.

That synopsis covers the first couple hundred pages of the book which was actually compelling and exciting. This entry also focuses on three love interests for Davenport and his inability to turn on a cell phone. These parts of the book water down the interesting ingredients and make Easy Prey a mess. At one point, Sanford uses bullet points to recap the Davenport's findings and there are still a few more twists and turns after that. Bullet points? Cmon bruh! The resolution did not warrant this. Many of the previous Prey novels have a formula that bounces back between Davenport and the killer. This was missed in Easy Prey as extra bells and whistles could have been stripped and edited in order to leave a more satisfying story.

The romance sauce was laid on a little too heavy in this one as well. "He had wicked designs on three women, was worried sick about how he could possibly juggle them ... and he couldn't get a date." Pshaw. This is sooo uninteresting. It would be better served if his hangups with women were actually hangups like he were a sex addict or if these encounters had more of an effect on his life. I'd even take a chapter about how Davenport is trying to get rid of crabs. Something!

Easy Prey would have been a better short story than a book. Too many shenanigans with unnecessary plot twists and sexual encounters leave this one about 250 pages too long. Look, we know it's coming. Get back with Weather already and let's hunt the next serial killer.

Well, it was bound to happen. After eleven books, there has been a major bump in the road. I have enjoyed the Prey Series, interspersing it with a number of other “genres of reads” that I indulge in. It provides a nice diversion from the sometimes heavier material, just good, fun entertainment. But this is a major disappointment.

This installment concerns the murder of a famous model, originally from a small town called Burnt River. The scene of the crime is a high profile party where there was the usual sex and drugs. When the scene is processed by the police, a second body is found stuffed in a closet. An open window down the hall from the murder scene puts into question whether the killer was at the party or if that was just the escape route. And the fact that every one denies there were drugs complicates matters. There are lots of suspects but no real serious possibilities. And then the bodies begin to pile up--here, there and everywhere.

This edition is full of some crazy names: Alie’e, Jax, Amnon, Silly and Boo to name a few. Where does Sanford get this stuff? And there are so many characters and so many subplots, many of them unnecessary and never satisfactorily resolved. Even one of the major suspects is never given much face time and almost completely ignored.

A couple of women from Davenport’s past appear and Lucas has an quite a time keeping them straight and trying to decide what to do with them all. But he is not the same man he was and seems to have regressed in terms of his personal development, acting like an immature teenager. In the past few books, we had experienced him developing a conscience, looking back and trying to understand his behavior, his feelings and that of others. Even his detective personae seems off -- he waffles, goes off in different directions and does not seem to be on his usual game. And his language has been downgraded with lots of “Aw Jeez” sprinkled everywhere. One constant from past books remains: he still likes late nights and hates early mornings.

Now that he has gradually moved from the gaming world, he needs to have some kind of diversion to keep his mind occupied and is thinking about a new game situated in the real world with real prizes. He is trying to develop one idea a night and has set up his paper flow charts again. He needs this kind of diversion.

As in past installments, Sanford brings back characters from previous investigations. Bone is now a friend, a source of financial expertise and a player at the "pick up" up ball games Lucas plays with his buddies. Mallard from the FBI also makes a reappearance helping with phone investigations.

So this one really fell flat for me. Too many characters, too many subplots, few resolutions, and a conclusion that was entirely unsatisfying. Definitely not up to the usual standard. Hopefully, Sanford picks it up in the next one.

first of all the back cover says that "The death of a model leads Detective Lucas Davenport to suspect one of his own men. " but that doesn't happen so i don't know what the mix up is there. maybe it's me and i've read too much crappy nonsubstantive shit lately but i didn't consider this his best work. i especially didn't like him banging that model.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 11th book in John Sandford's "Lucas Davenport" series!

This is the first John Sanford book I've read and of course my lovely library did not have earlier Lucas Davenport books. But I'm hooked. Like the protagonist, like the writing, like the plot twists. I'm going next to Virgil Flowers. Thanks Angela for the recommendation.