The Series Continues in "Invisible Prey"

Well, it is back to work for me. I recently had the pleasure of attending the Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats conference in Dallas thanks to publicist extraordinaire, PJ Nunn. I got to meet her as well as her fantastic husband (who may be as twisted as I am in the humor department) along with a bunch of other great folks. I also got to tell that Texan wannabe Earl Staggs how to drive as he gave me a ride both days to the convention. I won't bore you with the details as I always find those gushing deals a bit off putting myself. Suffice it to say, I had an absolute blast and thank once again PJ Nunn for making it happen. You are the best!

And now, back to the books with……


Invisible Prey
By John Sandford
http://www.johnsandford.org
G. P. Putnam's Sons
http://www.penguin.com
2008
ISBN #978-0-399-15421-8
Hardback
388 Pages

The latest installment of the "Prey" series written by John Sandford finds Lucas Davenport involved in the world of high value antiques. Early in "Invisible Prey" Lucas and his team are called to a home near Lucas' own home where two elderly women have been murdered. The mansion is in disarray in what appears to have been a simple robbery gone horribly wrong. However, Lucas with the help of others, begins to figure out it isn't and the chase for the clever killers is on in another enjoyable page turning read.

While Lucas and his team have no idea who the killers are, readers know from the beginning. It isn't long before their complete identities are known to the reader as well as most of their motivations for their crimes. As a result, this novel while enjoyable does not contain anywhere near the suspense found in other books in the long running series. Since Lucas almost always captures his suspects one way or another the only real question for readers is how he will do it. With characters long since fully formed there are no mysteries in that realm either.

The end result is a novel that is good, but not great. A novel that is enjoyable, but is one of the weaker ones in this strong series.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2007