Rules of Prey

I am not that much into police procedural novels but after reading so many good things about Prey series I decided to give it a go.

And I have to say I truly liked it.

Story follows Mad Dog, serial killer, who kills women at random (well it all seems to be random to normal folks) and plays with the police by leaving bunch of messages, or so called rules, for a perfect murder.

And he would live through it if it weren't for Lucas Davenport - policeman who is wealthy, knows a lot about game theory and it seems to be a character with the bit of the shady history (from the start you can see he is not ordinary inspector). Lucas is ready to do anything to put the murderer behind bars and by that I mean anything. He is not a cop that shies away show more from beating up a criminal when he thinks this deserves it. Or planting false evidence. Or disposing of the criminal and planting false evidence around because he knows he cannot let the maniac walk away due to some technicality in the justice system.

He does amoral things to achieve moral goals, you might say. When he is sure of ones guilt he goes after the criminal no matter what. And if normal inquiry cannot stop the criminal, Lucas Davenport makes sure criminal gets stopped in a very final way.

Recommended to all fans of thrillers. show less

I knew, going in, that this book was brimming with the usual crime/thriller tropes – the maverick cop, the women he beds, the game-playing serial killer, etc. The question was, how well would the author spin these tropes into a readable narrative. The results, for me, were a mixed bag.

The main character, Davenport, is a sexist, dishonorable, unscrupulous scumbag. While he explains to one bed partner that he does not have sex with dumb women, this only means, apparently, that if a woman consents to sex with him, she must not be dumb. He is also not above dispensing vigilante justice when it suits him, nor does he hesitate to apply highly questionable means in pursuit of a justifiable end.

The story itself was really only so-so. I never show more felt any dramatic tension, and the outcome was never in doubt. If this were a stand-alone, non-series novel, I would have rated it a 2, at best. However, I ended up giving it 3 stars for the fact that it is the first of a series, and that, at the end, I was compelled to try another book in the series to see if things get better.
Hint: They do. show less

Lucas Davenport -- intelligent, handsome, and blessed with a peculiar, but internally consistent, code of morality -- matches wits with a cold-blooded serial killer who has constructed an elaborate system of rules:
1. Never have a motive.
2. Never follow a discernible pattern.
3. Never carry a weapon after it has been used.
...and so on. Davenport understands rules; he designs games as a hobby, and finds the killer's self-imposed discipline familiar. In fact, the killer's rules hold the key to catching him.

This is the first of now twenty-two books in the Prey series. Sandford writes with wit and a gritty, police-procedural style. Banter feels genuine, and even Davenport -- who is a babe-magnet with a conscience -- is a realistically flawed show more hero. For a read-alike with a female hero, pair with Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry. show less

Rules of Prey by John Sanford is a 1989 publication.

One of my book hobbies is reading through older, long-running series. Usually, that turns out to be cozy mysteries as some of them tend to go on for ages. But, instead of starting another cozy series, I decided to pick a different type of crime fiction series. This one has a whopping 34 installments- the latest sitting atop the NYT bestseller list, so I thought that made it a good pick.

Unfortunately, the jury is still out on this one…

This first installment seems basic, really, but that’s probably because I’ve read countless thrillers in which a serial killer is targeting women- and he has a type. It’s almost gotten to the point where I’m so desensitized to that type of show more reading material it very nearly elicits a yawn…

But… As though the author knew that this was an oversaturated trope- and would be for many decades to come- he shockingly begins the book with the voice of the killer- which grabs your attention immediately- and effectively– no matter how old or new the book is- or how many similar plotlines one has read. The inside of a killer’s mind is never a pleasant place to be.

From there, the novel slid down hill for a good while. Some of these problems might have been due to the age of the story. Davenport is not an easy character to love- or even like, for that matter, especially if you are a female reader who dislikes womanizers. Ugh- too much sleeping around for my taste.Ugh.

But it was the juvenile locker-room banter between cops that was the most annoying and offensive-and the expletives were far too frequemt for my taste. Ugh… again.

But despite all that, Davenport is a good detective, and I could see, despite some incohesive execution, why this series became so popular. I’m hoping that as the series progresses, some of the language, banter, and promiscuity trails off and the writing tightens up a bit. I have the first few books- but won’t look at adding more until I see how the series progresses from here.

Overall, despite the issues I had- most of which were a matter of personal taste-
I ended up liking the crime fiction parts- with Davenport and the killer dueling it out- so the cause is not lost… yet. I'm going to give it my best open-minded effort and hope the series gets better as it goes along because I was really hoping this one would work out.

3 stars show less

I got into these books through my mother. She was (and is still) a huge fan of procedural cop shows on TV and Mystery/thrillers in her literature. These were the books that she gave me that also grew into a love of a good thriller.

Lucas Davenport is a detective for the Twin Cities who is very good at catching serial killers. He is hard edged and a bit womanizing, but he knows his job very well. HE can usually think like the killer and outsmart them pretty well.

The killer in this story is known as the "Maddog" killer for his brutality ( I Think, its been a while since I read these), and he always leaves a note on his victim. These notes are his "rules" for killing:

"Never kill anyone you know. Never have a motive. Never follow a show more discernible pattern. Never carry a weapon after it has been used. Beware of leaving physical evidence, etc.

I think I like these books so much because they show not only Davenport's thoughts and method for finding the killer, but also the killers side of things. The various killers throughout these books have been pretty interesting, but also crazy (obviously since they are serial killers). It has always been a lot of fun to get inside their head for a while.

Another good thing about this book (and all the subsequent novels) is that there is also a lot of attention paid to the personal life of Lucas Davenport. HE starts out these novels as your basic lady loving cop, but throughout out the books he has a child and finds a wife who he sticks with through lots of craziness. I really like that about the books as it makes the characters into real people and not just cardboard cutouts looking for clues.

I re-read these at least once a year and never get tired of them. show less

I've long been a fan of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport mysteries and of the Virgil Flowers series which spun off of them.
Somehow, I missed this Davenport novel. And I believe it was probably the first of the series. While he lacks his usual sidekicks and Rose Marie, his character is already pretty well developed. Rather than being marries to the magnificent Weather, he's an avid cocksman.
But moral ambiguities abound in even this early work.

This is one of those books that entraps you -- it has a great lead character, a great adversary for the lead, action, humor and keeps you engaged throughout the book.

Lucas Davenport is a good guy not a great guy but his flaws are endearing in a way which I think is a credit to Sandford's writing of this character. The character can be simple and complex at the same time and his value of other lives is fantastic -- he has enough experience to know the world isn't a peach but he isn't too jaded yet.

The adversary Lucas is put up against is just smart enough and evil enough that you think "oh my God" he might actually get away with it. He is also evil enough that you are rooting for the good guys entire time.

I just love this book and its a show more wonderful first book in a series. show less