stolen prey

stolen prey
prey #22
john sandford
mystery/suspense/thriller
berkley
published 2012

Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Wayzata, an entire family has been killed—husband, wife, two daughters, dogs.

There’s something about the scene that pokes at Lucas’s cop instincts—it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Until it does. And where it leads Lucas will take him into the darkest nightmare of his life.

Letty.

Letty is the most AMAZING fictional female character in literature at this time.  Screw Katniss, Letty is the biggest asskicker in the fictional world.  And she's not the main character in the book!

So let's back up here.  Twenty-two books in, I've been reading this series for about 19 years, maybe a little longer and I'm invested.  In the beginning it was just Lucas and he was great.  Then we met Weather in Winter Prey (book 5) and they went off and on for awhile.  Letty came along in Naked Prey (book 14).  She was twelve at the time and you could already see the potential there and obviously so did Lucas.

Not only have we seen the relationship with Weather develop, but we've also seen he and Letty grow closer and she has become as important to me as Lucas.

John Sandford writes the way that James Patterson wishes he could write.  There are seriously heart pounding moments, humor that will make you laugh out loud and plots so thick it's hard to see through until Sandford wants you to see the way.  

Stolen Prey is no different.  One of the quotes from a review printed on the back of the book states 'The climax will have you holding your breath - and the book's very last line will leave you hoping for me.'  Hit the nail right on the head.  I actually had to put the down at one point, my heart beating so fast, just so I could process.  And yes, the last line of the book?  Devious.

It is in this book that we come to see how much her family means to Letty and even more importantly, how much she means to Lucas.  That girl.  I love her.  She is the key that makes the Prey novels as brilliant as they are.

Now I have in my lap the next and most current book in the series, Silken Prey.  I'm anxious to get started, but at the same time I know that once I read this I won't have another Prey novel until next year.  Booo hoooo!