Storm Prey

A gang of bumbling bikers have robbed the hospital's pharmacy - accidentally killing the pharmacist while doing so - at the direction of a drug-addled hospital insider. Lucas Davenport and his crew are drawn into the investigation, and Lucas has a personal stake in the outcome as his physician wife Weather works at the hospital, and may be a witness able to identify at least one of the perps.

The story rocks along in an engaging manner, involving the reader not only in the crime that Lucas is on course to solve, but also in the fates of a pair of twins conjoined at the head at birth whom Lucas's wife Weather is trying to surgically separate.

The two plot lines progress in tandem, and are great counterpoints to each other. We also see the show more protagonist of one of Sanford's other series - Virgil Flowers - involved in this story in a peripheral role, yet another fun element.

I would be very surprised if any lover of the work of Lee Child or Harlan Coben, (which I am), wouldn't enjoy John Sandford's work. show less

I must admit my enthusiasm for these books have waned a bit since first discovering Lucas Davenport 20 years ago. I preferred Davenport to be dark and brooding and over the years he's become middle aged and settled. Despite that, somehow this book was strangely satisfying. The crooks are far from sensational. The action not entirely riveting. However the writing was exceptional and once again I felt like I was visiting old friends. If you're thinking of jumping in on this series I'd start with "Rules of the Prey". If you've read these before, don't miss this one.

Another good one. Strange that this series hasn't gotten stale. Yeah sure, we've had some bumps and Davenport has been domesticated, but the stories are still compelling. I really like the way Sandford handles both aspects of the crime; the criminals' point of view and the cops'. Both play off each other in ways that build suspense despite knowing what both sides are doing. Very deft.

Ever reliable John Sandford comes up with another winning Lucas Davenport story. I just love his ear for dialogue, the easy bullshit the men give each other, the way their friendships work and feel real. I feel like I've known Lucas for years now, and am happy that he has settled well with Weather (though he really does have minimal interactions with his kids) and he's that rarest of all beasts - a cop with a happy family life - which is not necessarily what one would have predicted for him from his earlier books.

The crime loosely involves Weather - there is a robbery at her hospital and she saw the robbers as they drove out. Much of the book is also devoted to her work, on a difficult and traumatic separation of conjoint twins, which show more was also fascinating.

Sandford gets the details right, and pulls you into the rhythm of his character's lives. I've read every single Prey book, and it's always a good day when a new one comes out. show less

I am stupidly dedicated to the Prey series and I will probably always love me some Lucas Davenport. And Virgil Flowers. But I've been wondering: what happened?? Why is the Prey series now a run of the mill mystery?

Lucas is incredibly intelligent, shrewd and will kill you if he needs to. He used to go up against some intelligent, shrewd killers in previous books but the last few have been disappointing. He's having to go against some of the dumbest damn people ever. There's no mystery or challenge anymore.

The hospital that Weather works at is robbed with the pharmacy wiped clean. Someone dies in the process and everyone is up in arms. The Mack brothers and an inside doc are the criminals and they are all as dumb as bricks. And drug show more addicts to boot. Fabulous.

For a regular ol' mystery, this is good. For a Davenport book (with that Fuckin' Flowers even!!!) it's just not that good. Lucas needs better villians to go up against. No more stupid rednecks. show less

I finally finished this book last night, late. Reading it is all I've been doing since I started on it Friday night. It has ruined my sleep. I missed most of the US Open coverage on Sunday and pretty much neglected my family duties in order to see this book through to the end. I did get the lawn mowed last night though.

Its got motorcycle gangs, red necks, skinheads, psychopaths, cocaine addicted doctors, complicated craniatamies, pistols, gunshots, hand grenades, double crosses, double double crosses, and a string of innocent and not so innocent victims scattered across Minnesota and several detectives who just can't seem to get ahead of the game until the very end. Its a testament to the losers among us who can create so much chaos for show more so little gain.

This book is great. I give it four stars out of four. I got a free copy from the library. The Kindle version is priced too high at $12.99 show less

Well...a mixed reaction. Although I am not surprised after having read a few of the earlier reviews. Shheesh I have to avoid doing that from now on. Anyway here is my take. I'd agree with those who are fed up with Weather (and perhaps even THE weather)She is a useless drain an anti climatic antihero. the combined arrogance of all the characters also grates upon my nerves. Lucas Davenport being the biggest of them all. Too smug, too sure, too...TOO. I'm pleased I've read most of his novels but they have become increasingly tedious. The plot of this particular story was interesting and I felt it held the attention span and was fast paced enough to keep one turning the pages. The let down, mentioned by others was the shallow depth of the show more villains. The were rather subhuman in intelligence and presented no real challenges. Just once it might be nice to see some loose ends or a surprise ending. I know everyone likes a happy ending, but I would not have been overly sad to see Weather or the overly slick lady's man, Virgil Flowers, get blown away just to add a little twist of wowism to an otherwise dreary plot. I know I said tat it was an interesting read and it was, it just lacked the sparkle of yore that I had been used to. Finally, Lucas Davenport the big boss, the big guy and the big mouth, does not cut it for me any longer. I need a realistic hero, one who screws up, makes mistakes and does not run around in hand stitched Italian footwear. show less