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Putnam, May 2003, 26.95, 352 pp. ISBN 0399150439 A lot has changed for Lucas Davenport in the last year. He married the love of his life Weather and they have an infant son and have moved into a new home with a separate apartment for the nanny/housekeeper. Rose Marie Roux is still Lucas's boss but she is now the Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner and Lucas reports directly to her and the governor as the Director in the Office of Regional Studies which is a part of The Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions. Lucas gets the police cases that the local departments are not equipped to deal with or are political hot potatoes. His latest case involves a white woman and a black man hung by a rope to a tree and strangled to death. Lucas doesn't take long to identify the killer but when he goes to arrest him, he finds someone already murdered the perpetrator and his wife. Lucas returns to the small Northern Minnesota town of Broderick to find another killer but he doesn't realize that the small bucolic town is a cesspool of crime and corruption, a place where his homicide is interrelated to a series of other felonious acts. There is nobody who writes a police procedural better than John Sandford. His plots are so complex that readers find themselves unable to put the book down until the last page is turned and all the loose ends are sewn up. NAKED PREY is one of the best novels in the series because the hero has undergone some radical changes both in his personal and professional life and that keeps the series fresh. This is a must read for fans of cop thrillers. Harriet Klausner | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book The crook is.... - stalking/killing innocents Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: Is MAIN CHARACTER an EVIL criminal? Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Who's the criminal enemy here? - stolen goods organization Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Midwest Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Amount of dialog - mostly dialog |
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