Neon Prey by John Sandford

Neon Prey by John Sandford --- 390 pages

The 29th installment in Sandford's Lucas Davenport thriller series shows Sandford hasn't lost his touch.

Sandford, author of 40+ bestselling novels, somehow makes each new novel more thrilling and ingenious than the one before. By mixing and matching elements of crime, mystery and thriller genre(s) in different combinations, he manages to keep you guessing where he's going next. There's no stock formulas or characters in a Sandford novel, and the plots are tightly woven and fast-paced.  In Neon Prey, the story line focuses on two cases involving the same bad, bad dude, over a period of time.

Clayton Deese is stone cold killer. A small-time enforcer for a New Orleans loan shark, Deese takes on what should have been a routine job that goes sideways and ends up getting caught by the cops.  Out on bail awaiting trial, Deese makes his next mistake when he decides to run. Lucas Davenport, now a U.S. Marshal, gets called in when the FBI (looking to build a case against Deese's employer) stumble onto Deese’s secret obsession, which puts him at the top of the Most Wanted list. Lucas and his team (Bob and Rae) are assigned to hunt down the fugitive ASAP.  Deese is trying to negotiate a pay off from the loan shark, who would prefer that Deese disappear forever. Meanwhile  Deese heads to L.A. to hook up with a half-brother and his criminal crew who specialize in home invasions and robberies. But when Deese gets involved, the violence escalates, the other gang members start double-crossing each other,  and soon they're on the run to Vegas, with the Marshals in hot pursuit.

Click HERE to read an interview with Sandford discussing Neon Prey from therealbookspy.com.

 Click HERE to red the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Twisted Prey by John Sandford

Twisted Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel by John Sandford - 387 pages

 In this 28th Lucas Davenport novel, our hero, now a member of the federal Marshal Service, has developed a reputation in certain circles for discreetly handling politically sensitive cases. So when Minnesota Senator Porter Smalls is convinced that his recent automobile accident was no accident but an attempted assassination that resulted in the death of his good friend Cecily Whitehead, he puts in a call for Davenport.

The problem is there doesn't seem to be any physical evidence to support Smalls' claim that a truck tried to run his vehicle off the road. Smalls is certain that the person who wants him dead is the junior Senator from Minnesota, Taryn Grant, with whom he has a long and sordid political feud. Smalls also knows that Lucas is convinced Taryn has killed at least three times before and gotten away with it (Silken Prey, 2013).

Lucas flies to D.C. to take a a closer look at the evidence. He discovers that the accident was very carefully orchestrated by professionals. Only Cecily’s skillful driving saved Smalls' life, but at the cost of her own. As Lucas delves deeper into the case, he encounters a shadow world of mercenaries and profiteers that spans the globe, and finds tantalizing hints of a connection to Senator Taryn Grant and her Presidential ambitions.

Sandford dives into this murky world, examining the intersections of power and greed.  U.S. Marshals Rae Givens and Bob Matees show up to assist Davenport and provide a little comic relief with their wise-cracking repartee. The sardonic humor - a Sandford trademark - provides a balance for the more violent elements in this deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Sandford knows how to engage his readers from the first page to the final paragraph. 

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Times.

Golden Prey by John Sandford

Golden Prey: A Novel by John Sandford --- 392 pages

John Sandford writes a mean and lean thriller,  and his latest, Golden Prey, combines his signature style with a new job  and new possibilities for his hero, Lucas Davenport.

Davenport has worked a variety of jobs in his law enforcement career, from beat cop to detective, to Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator, to politically savy troubleshooter for the Minnesota governor. But when Davenport thwarts an assassination attempt on Presidential candidate Michaela Bowden during a campaign stop at the Minnesota State Fair in 2016's Extreme Prey, he's rewarded with a job as a Deputy United States Marshal.

He's a Deputy U.S. Marshal with a special portfolio and clearly future President Bowden has plans for him, but pending her election Davenport can pick and choose what he wants to do.

Book 27 in the series sets Davenport on the track of Garvin Poole. Poole's been out of circulation for a while, holed up with his girl friend and living off the proceeds of his last job in an affluent Dallas suburb. But now he's been recruited by an old friend who's targeted the local operation of a Honduran drug cartel in Biloxi, Mississipi.  Poole and his pal get away with millions of the cartel's profits, leaving behind five dead bodies --- four of the cartel's local operators and a six-year-old gril who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Carelessly, Poole left some DNA at the scene, so now the authorities know he's involved.

Davenport starts with Poole's family in Nashville. Even though Poole left home long ago, it's possible he's maintained some kind of tenuous contact with them. But Davenport is one step behind the drug cartel, who have hired their own enforcers to get back their money and make sure no one else tries to imitate Poole's heist. Once again, Davenport pits himself against antagonists who will stop at nothing.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Click HERE to read the review from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.