Twisted Prey

Sandford rarely disappoints. I absolutely loved last year's Golden Prey and had my fingers crossed that Twisted Prey would at least come close in quality. It exceeded my expectations.

Lucas Davenport is one of my favorite characters. Sandford surrounds him with an entertaining cast of supporting characters. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, along with heart pounding tension.

I won't say more for fear of spoilers, but Lucas is at his best when he rides the line of legality. He's a sneaky bastard and Twisted Prey was an awesome ride.

My Dad recommended this book to me--likely because we share the last name of the book's protagonist, Lucas Davenport. For what it is, Twistted Prey is one of the best books I've read in some time--a real page-turner that is hard to put down. As far as "what it is" is, don't take my word for it; rather, take it from a higher authority. Steven King writes on the dust jacket blurb: "If you haven't read Sandford yet, you have been missing one of the great summer-read novelists of all time." Sandford's omniscient narrator can be heavy-handed at times, but there's more than enough technical details and intrigue to keep things moving.

Not too much to say about this one except it really didn't work for me (Lucas's family in danger again) and that the ending was pretty lackluster. Having Sandford bring up Clara Rinker in reference to Senator Taryn Grant was hilarious to me. Clara would have eaten Grant for breakfast. Lucas a marshal does not interest me much anymore. Most of the time he is just driving or flying someone and now with his two side-kicks (Rae and Bob) it just makes me miss the Minnesota cops much more.

"Twisted Prey" has Senator Taryn Grant up to her old tricks and trying to take out a rival. At this point she would definitely fit in with our current Senate set-up. I maybe laughed at the mention of the Twitter in Chief. So we have confirmation that show more Davenport's world is now synced up to our own and I am sad all over again. There's not much there in this story. We get shades of Blackwater in this one with former military people doing some underhanded things and Lucas almost getting murdered. And then he, Rae, and Bob trying to put the puzzles together. This just didn't grab me like previous books. show less

4.5 stars.

The bloodthirsty world of politics takes center stage in John Sandford's newest release, Twisted Prey. This twenty-eighth installment in the Lucas Davenport series takes place in Washington, DC and pits US Marshall Lucas Davenport against a formidable foe who rather ruthlessly attempts to eliminate her opposition on her climb up the political ladder.

Following an attempt on his life that leaves one person dead, Minnesota Senator Porter Smalls does not hesitate to reach out to Lucas Davenport for help. Smalls is convinced his former rival and current Senator Taryn Grant is behind the plot to take him out and he knows that Lucas is more than up to the task of proving it. For his part, Davenport would love nothing than another show more crack at Grant who once before turned to murder and nasty shenanigans to clinch her Senate seat. Quickly traveling to Washington, DC, Lucas, aided by fellow Marshalls, Rae Givens and Bob Matees, works hard to prove Grant and her merry band of henchman are behind the attempt on Smalls' life.

Taryn's Chief of Staff Jack Parrish is the first person who falls under Davenport's scrutiny. A former Army officer and CIA operative, he is the obvious person for Grant to use for her dirty work. He, in turn, has some rather surprising ties to a defense contractor, Heracles Personnel, which is run by George Claxson. The discovery that Claxson has several former military members and mercenaries on his payroll raises eyebrows, but this does not necessarily mean they are involved in anything illegal.

Lucas quickly ferrets out some dubious defense contracts that lead right back to Heracles. He also locates the person whom he believes was involved in Smalls' car "accident" and he must work quickly to get the authorities on board with his theory before evidence is lost or destroyed. Just as he, Rae and Bob are closing in on the person they hope will flip on key players, the suspects put in motion a devious plan to divert Lucas's attention. Taryn and her crew continue to be one step ahead of him and although he, Rae and Bob make considerable progress on the case, Lucas fears she will once again slip through his fingers.

Twisted Prey is an intricately-plotted and riveting mystery. The storyline is quite clever and well-executed. John Sandford keeps the long running Lucas Davenport series fresh by changing up Lucas's career and adding new faces to the cast. This newest release features a topical storyline, a particularly loathsome cast of despicable criminals and an interesting investigation that takes all of Lucas's skills to solve. Will Lucas finally make a case against the vile and abhorrent Taryn Grant? Or will she once again escape punishment for her appalling crimes? show less

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.

God bless John Sandford..... he just keeps cranking out novels in his Lucas Davenport series that are just as good as they've always been. Twisted Prey is the 28th in the series, and although Davenport is older and now functioning as a US Marshal, he's just as interesting and effective as always. In my personal Mount Rushmore of favorite characters in the genre, he's right up there.

Twisted Prey begins with the botched assassination attempt (via a car incident) of a US Senator that resulted in the death of his assistant. The senator happens to be familiar with Davenport's work and manages to bring him in to look at the case, which has been characterized as an accident. Lurking in the background, and actually pulling the strings behind show more the nefarious activity, is a female sociopathic senator with designs on making it to the White House. Davenport figures out the methodology behind the initial attack, gets a couple other law enforcers assigned to help him, and they're off and running to nail the bad guys. And girls.

So, the writing in Twisted Prey is pretty good, though I didn't get the feeling it was as crisp as usual in the first few chapters. No specific examples, just a feeling. The dialogue was excellent as always.... Sandford seems to have a knack for writing realistic conversations which I wish more authors in this genre had. The plot was well constructed and the conclusion was perfect. The one problem I had with Twisted Prey is how the most crucial piece of the case was cracked open- extremely serendipitously on the part of Davenport. I realize Einsteinian leaps of logic are what make heroes out of fictional detectives (and keep books under 400 pages) but sometimes they just seem a little too unlikely.

If you're a Sandford fan, you'll love Twisted Prey. If you've just discovered the Davenport character, you're lucky: you have 27 more great novels with him as the star to track down. show less

US senator Porter Smalls was well-liked in Minnesota, but he was defeated in a run to retain his office by Taryn Grant. She had run a vicious smear campaign against him which resulted in three murders, but there is not enough evidence to convict her. Two years later, Smalls ran again and was elected. Grant secured a seat in the Senate Intelligence Committee and is not averse to doing whatever she could to get her way and has the personal funds to buy anything she wants..
While they were on a weekend getaway, Smalls and his friend Cecily Whitehead were forced off the road and down and embankment. Whitehead was driving and her skills kept them from dropping all the way to the bottom. She steered toward trees to slow them down. show more Unfortunately she died in the process. Because there was no physical evidence of another vehicle being involved, the local officials determined it was an accident even though Smalls insisted it was a deliberate attack. There was evidence of the car hitting a tree.
Smalls called his friend Lucas Davenport who was now a federal marshal in Minnesota to help him prove what had happened. The investigators wanted to help and some did believe Smalls’ story but without evidence there was nothing they could do.
Davenport wasn't in DC very long before he became a target. He called in his professional friends, Bob Matees and Rae Givens to help him solve the case. He was sure Grant was behind it but proving it would not be easy.
TWISTED PREY tells the story of the search for evidence of the crime as well as the perpetrators. It reveals corruption in awarding lucrative government contracts and a blind obedience to orders, eliminating whoever might get in the way.
At one point Davenport is called back home after his wife becomes a victim but as soon as she is home from the hospital, he returns to DC and the investigation. He doesn't call her nor inquire about her condition after that.
Toward the end the language became more crude and there are a couple homophobic comments.
A few years ago, this story would have been relatively unbelievable but with the philosophy and actions of the current administration and its ties to Russia, it becomes more of a portent of what could happen.
The book was a fast read and John Sandford knows how to tell a good story. show less