Shadow Prey

While I do love crime novels, and police procedurals in particular, a policeman who drives a Porsche at work as main character usually would raise a big red flag for me; add to that that said main character also is a successful womanizer, I'd have shelved the series under "James Bond as policeman" and kept well away from it.

However, John Sandford's "Lucas Davenport" series not only got a lot of good to excellent reviews, but a lot of considered good to excellent reviews (i.e. going into rather more depth than "Hey people, I liked this!") so when I saw the novels for cheap, I thought I'd give it a try and snagged a couple of them. I read the first one a few months back, and while I was not terribly keen on it, it was okay - a mostly show more run-of-the-mill serial killer novel (a genre I am in general not terribly fond of), but well written and very entertaining - and interesting enough that I continued in the series, now having read the second volume. Which turned out to be quite a step up in quality.

I was pleasantly surprised right from the start: One of the pecularities of this series is apparently that you always know who the murderer is from the beginning on, and then basically follow their perspective in parallel to that of the main protagonist. While Rules of Prey had the usual psychopathic murderer as its protagonist, Shadow Prey presents us with a group of Indians who have legitimate grievances towards their victims and (apart from their somewhat extreme way of conflict resolution) are quite rational and generally refreshingly normal people. The novel as a whole is fairly sympathetic to their cause (if not necessarily to their methods), and towars the end of the volume, when they were attacking their main target, I found myself rooting for the supposed villains (which I am quite sure is what the author was aiming for).

The novel's protagonist Lucas Davenport also is quite far from your inhumanely perfect James Bond type. Yes, he is a womanizer, and in the course of the novel has an intense affair with a colleague who simply cannot resist him - but both already are in a relation and they both agonise over the moral implications of their affair, and its consequences. And talking about consequences - relatively early in the novel Davenport only narrowly escapes a life-threatening situation and instead of simply brushing it off like James Bond (or pretty much any other thriller protagonist) would have done, is severaly affected by it and keeps having flashbacks to it throughout the rest of the novel. Which leaves the Porsche, which I am still very ho-hum about - but at least Sandford has his hero worry about insurance when the car gets hits by bullets. In short, for the hero of a thriller novel, Davenport feels surprisingly real and relatable which for me at least made the novel a lot more enjoyable than I had expected.

Unfortunately, Sandford does not quite pull it off over the whole length of the novel - eventually, a psychopathic killer pops up, as their of course has to be, and of course he attacks the protagonist's love interest (both of them, actually). It is not quite knight-in-shining-armour stuff, so could have been worse, but did spoil the novel for me a bit. Even so, this was undeniably a compulsive read with a lot of genre-atypical concepts and fresh ideas to keep me interested. And it's still early in the series, so hopefully there will be further improvement in the subsequent volumes. show less

In the early sixties, a brutal crime is committed against a Native American girl by two small-town cops, while on duty. Retribution is a long time coming - some 20 years pass before a plan is set in place to avenge the young girl's attack, long enough for one of the guilty cops to become the Director of the FBI. Atoning for his sins will surely make the headlines. A new age Indian uprising is about to take place, well-planned and organized by two aging men and a small band of tribal brothers who have not forgotten what two white men did to an innocent young girl so many years ago. Assassination is the order of the day - death in an acutely Indian way - throats cut by a ceremonial stone knife. A slumlord and a racist probation officer in show more Minnesota were the first two victims, a welfare officer from Jersey the third. Lucas Davenport returns as the street-wise police detective assigned to investigate the murders, along with New York City Detective Lily Rosenthal. They have little time to waste, as the body count continues to escalate. A promising young politician and a federal judge fall victim to the cold-blooded murderers.

Even with the early introduction of the identity of the killers, I found it captivating. I normally prefer a little mystery in the crime/thriller genre, but it worked well for me. I recommend following the whole series for two reasons: first, the development of Lucas as a human being, and second, the maturing writing style of the author. show less

Digital audiobook performed by Richard Ferrone.
2.5**

From the book jacket: A war of wits between the street-smart sleuth and a warrior-assassin from an ancient. A slumlord and a welfare supervisor butchered in Minnesapolis ... a rising political star executed in Manhattan … an influential judge taken in Oklahoma City. All the homicides have the same grisly method – the victim’s throat is slashed with an Indian ceremonial knife – and in every case the trail leads back through the Minnesota Native American community.

My reactions:
Book number two in the Lucas Davenport series went a bit off the rails. My audiobook included an interview with the author where he explains that he had wanted to include some current “social justice” show more issues. Sandford admits in the interview that he wound up rather sidetracked from the main thriller and so abandoned his first effort and rewrote like mad. In my estimation, he was only partly successful.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy many a book with a social justice message. I want to learn about the ugly truths, even when it makes me uncomfortable. But that’s not the reason I read mysteries or thrillers. And that’s a problem with this book. I felt that the message frequently detracted from the forward momentum of the basic thriller plot. The result: neither the social justice message NOR the thriller were fully satisfying. Clearly not Sanford’s best effort.

Richard Ferrone does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. He keeps a good pace and has an ability to differentiate the characters sufficiently so there is never any confusion about who is speaking. show less

I decided to give Sanford another chance. I recently finished one of his earliest books to compare to the amount of filthy language you now find in his newest. Shadow Prey is his second novel, I believe. I must say I was totally surprised. My earlier impression of his writing was that he was getting steadily worse and worse in his over the top profanity; that he was merely pandering to an audience that craves that type of thing. I was wrong. Shadow Prey (involving a group of wacky, death dealing indians) was one of the filthiest, most degrading and anti-religious works I have read in decades. If a rating system were used, Shadow Prey would be Triple-X. I discovered he was actually mellowing as he wrote along, not getting worse. It's show more actually a crying shame; he is a very talented story teller. He just can' t seem to get a grip on the concept of moderation. show less

I admit I had a hard time finishing this one after the gripping “Rules of Prey.” I just didn’t know if I wanted Davenport to succeed in this one. The bad guys had a compelling reason for doing what they did and I felt the character of Shadow Love was thrown in just to give the bad guys an evil edge where there really wasn’t one. Shadow Love was never fighting for their cause and in a lot of ways he derailed their ultimate goal with his uncontrollable need to kill. So in a way I felt like this book contained two stories.

The first story was a vengeance tale a long time in the making and one I kind of felt was justified. The Crow brothers showed dedication and an unwavering desire for their end goal. I would have enjoyed more of show more the backstory for this part of the book but I understand a lot of this was edited out by John Sandford after the first draft was not well received. I found this story very compelling and wanted to learn more.

The second story is about a crazy killer who can’t control himself when the need for death overtakes him. Compared to the first book, Shadow Love is an opponent more equal to Davenport’s skill and intelligence. The final climax between Shadow Love and Davenport really saved this book because it very tense and I felt like the author did a great job of never letting on who would succeed in the end. The climax also showed just how easily Davenport could be a serial killer himself.

I also found myself not really liking Davenport in this book – his pursuit of Lily with no regard for the people who would be hurt by their relationship was very off putting. This is surprising considering how much I dislike Jennifer, his so-called girlfriend. show less

A good page turning read as advertised. A good portrayal of the desperation of some of the northern plains Indians. He walked the line well of not being to stereotypical and calling it as he sees it. It's my second book into the series and Davenport being nothing but a bully is starting to wear. Bosch was as well but not close to being as self-absorbed. Just one sex scene per book would be enough. Wonder if some of the many Prey books has Davenport not getting the girl?

Second in the Lucas Davenport pantheon of books and by far the best of the lot. Detailed case of a revenge plot byThe Crows (Native Americans) against whites who have done their people harm. One of the rare books where Davenport seems human and not just a tough bastard. An early Davenport novel that fills out his background as a cop on the street with a network of snitches and connections.