An accomplished procedural from the author who by all indications is the current master of the subgenre. A fast-paced, ingeniously plotted book whose plot could be torn from the headlines on any given day in the United States.

I had such a satisfying feeling of justice when the Senator was killed by a sniper in her home. It was glorious. Bravo. And then, was Lucas grooming the sniper? ( )

I am big John Sanford fan of both the Prey Novels as well as The Virgil Flowers stories. This one left me a bit wanting. It was a great deal of build up between Lucas and Taryn Grant, but also a great amount of buildup between Taryn and Senator Smalls and for what, him to call her a foul name and her to wish he was actually dead?

Meh.

There was also a bit of confusion as to why Taryn came to the hotel to shook Lucas personally and it was never clarified that it wasn't Wendy who did the shooting.

Also Ritter's twin brother? This was a plot device that went no where, with a large bullet.

Did McCoy get away or is he dead?

I'm also conflicted on Lucas using Wendy as a patsy at the end of the book. He wound her up and pointed her int he direction he wanted her to go like an old hound dog and true to form she ran barking up that tree.

A solid read, but that was a very thick book and all I remember is dude with a a milk cartoon losing his fingers.

( )

Back when he was still at the Minnesota BCA, Lucas Davenport tangled with sociopath Taryn Grant, who while running for the Senate, framed her rival (Porter Smalls) for child pornography and killed a few people to cover it up. Lucas cleared Smalls, but did not have evidence to arrest Grant, who was elected. Senator Smalls is coming back from his cabin with a female political supporter/girlfriend when a pickup runs them off the road, killing her. When the police cannot find evidence of another vehicle, Smalls asks Lucas Davenport to investigate, and his superiors agree to the Senator's request. Lucas is joined by the husband and wife U.S. Marshal team of Bob and Rae, as well as a competent and cooperative FBI agent, and together, they begin to look into the matter, tracking down the culprits, a bunch of shady government military contractors. As Lucas gets close, they derail his efforts with a solid offense, and then the contractors start dying, closing off all ties to the Machiavellian Taryn Grant. Unlike Silken Prey, where I was disappointed by the ending, I was quite pleased with this one. ( )

Twisted Prey plunges Lucas back into the treacherous political world where murder seems to be the only way to take out an opponent. Taryn Grant—the wealthy psychopath from Silken Prey—is still a major contender for the presidency, so when Senator Porter Smalls barely survives an attempted assassination, it's not hard for Lucas to suspect who's behind it. Even though Lucas and his backup—Rae and Bob—team up with the FBI, they still have trouble getting ahead of the body count while facing off with Taryn and her band of special ops thugs. This book was a fast and entertaining read but missing some of the emotional connections of Sandford's earlier plots. However, I still found it worth the time invested. ( )