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Loading... Masked Prey (A Prey Novel) (edition 2020)by John Sandford (Author)
Work InformationMasked Prey by John Sandford
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Sandford is at the top of his game in this cop thriller that plays right off current headlines. With social media out of control, it's horrifying, but not surprising, when a new alt-right website called 1919 displays candid pictures of political leaders' children. U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport is immediately called in by his friend, Senator Henderson, to investigate. Lucas is suddenly up to his eyeballs in gun-packing, alt-right groups that want to take down the government—some that wouldn't hesitate to shoot children. Joined by FBI Agent Jane Chase and his buddies Bob and Rae, Lucas and his team seek out and start interviewing members of various white supremacist groups with varied results. Then, as usual, people start dying. As the body count climbs, Lucas realizes he's underestimating the ruthless ends people who value a post that goes viral will go to, and he turns in another direction. After witnessing the death of a young boy that turns his stomach, Lucas has had enough. He turns predator and goes after the killer with a vengeance. Well written, this book has a tight plot and entertains until the last page. This complicated and contrived tale is not my cup of tea! After a very slow and far too detailed beginning, the action does pick up in the last half. Political intrigue, teenage blogs, Nazis, radical groups, candid photos of kids, assault weapons, the FBI, social media, secrets, hidden agendas, and a crazy man intent on killing are are factored into this stew of a story. Plenty of violence, profanity, and craziness, but the real question is this: is it ever ok for a lawman, sworn to uphold the law of land, to take matters into his own hands and administer justice as he sees fit? This was my first Sanford novel and likely to be my last. But he has plenty of fans and won’t miss me, nor I him. no reviews | add a review
Fiction.
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
HTML:Lucas Davenport investigates a vitriolic blog that seems to be targeting the children of U.S. politicians in the latest thriller by #1 New York Times-bestselling author John Sandford. The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups. It's obviously alarmingâ??is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn't much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can't be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI's constraints: Lucas Davenpo No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Lots of politicking and Nazi alt-right groups in this Davenport outing. Lucas is still smarting from the bullet he took a few months ago, so when he gets a call from Washington demanding his presence, he is not all that eager to go. What he finds when he gets there is a twisted plot that takes nearly the entire book to resolve.
In the meantime, we have favorite characters Bob and Rae, lots of dialogue which moves the book along, and more information about alt-right groups that you never wanted to know. The book shifts back and forth between multiple subplots, which makes the book a bit draggy in places. Towards the end the action ramps up so that the pages are turning a lot quicker.
Bob and Rae are solid as usual, cracking wise and kicking ass. The scenes in which they help Davenport are some of the most entertaining ones in the book. However, it seems that Lucas was affected by the shooting in which he was wounded, and it shows. He is more thoughtful and less raw. He’s not happy about dealing with the Washington crowd, but handles it with diplomatic aplomb. Is this the start of an older, wiser Lucas Davenport? According to Goodreads at the time of this writing, MASKED PREY was a solid 4 stars. I’m not sure why this book didn’t get that fifth star, unless it was the “new” Lucas.
I enjoyed the book well enough, but I’m going to give it four stars as well. There was a bit too much politics 20% into the book, when Davenport meets alt-right expert Charles Lang and his assistant Stephen Gibson. Lang reminded me a tiny bit of Hannibal Lecter, but without the shock factor and the gore. Lang seemed to thrive on information, and he was hungry for some all throughout the book. I found those interactions a bit creepy. Now that I think about it, both Lang and Gibson did need to be in the book under the guise of plot thickening, but I still don’t like Lang.
Davenport fans should enjoy this albeit a bit mildly. Hardcore readers will gobble this up and look for more, while first time readers may find it a bit dry. I fall between those groups…that said there is nothing like a good Prey novel to while away the hours. MASKED PREY filled a few hours for me, and I enjoyed it more than mildly….yet not 5 stars worth. ( )