About the Author

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of twenty-six Prey novels, most recently Extreme Prey; four Kidd novels; nine Virgil Flowers novels; three YA novels coauthored with his wife, Michele Cook; and three stand-alones, most recently Saturn Run.

Reviews

Praise for John Sandford’s Prey Novels
 
“Relentlessly swift...genuinely suspenseful...excellent.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Sandford is a writer in control of his craft.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
“Excellent...compelling...everything works.”—USA Today
 
“Grip-you-by-the-throat thrills...a hell of a ride.”—Houston Chronicle
 
“Crackling, page-turning tension...great scary fun.”—The New York Daily News
 
“Enough pulse-pounding, page-turning excitement to keep you up way past bedtime.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
“One of the most engaging characters in contemporary fiction.”—Detroit News
 
“Positively chilling.”—St. Petersburg Times
 
“Just right for fans of The Silence of the Lambs.”—Booklist
 
“One of the most horrible villains this side of Hannibal.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
 “Ice-pick chills...excruciatingly tense...a double-pumped roundhouse of a thriller.”—Kirkus Reviews

Sandford gets back to basics in this stellar 14th installment of his hugely popular Prey series, focusing on the long-standing duo of Davenport and Capslock. As the novel begins, the indomitable Lucas Davenport (now happily married, a contented father and bored out of his mind) is slogging through the northern tundra of Broderick, Minn., to inspect the naked dangling corpses of a white woman and black man ("They were frozen. Like Popsicles.") that have shocked the locals as well as Minnesota's governor with the ugly specter of a lynching. Davenport, now more or less a free agent for the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension ("I kick people's asses"), is unleashed by the governor, giving Davenport and his scruffy sidekick, Del Capslock, a chance to escape their square city lives and catch the villain(s) while staving off the media vultures, Sandford's trademark subplot. As in previous novels, the original crime (rendered in a truly horrific opening sequence) is merely the gateway to a deeper, more insidious criminal enterprise, this one an international labyrinth of stolen cars, drugs, gambling and kidnapping. Some truly vicious familial machinations in the small town contrast well with Davenport's staid and stable home life. Another pleasant surprise is the precocious Letty West, whose awakening teenage sensibilities make an impression on Davenport. Sandford's usual background details (readers will learn how to run a muskrat trapline and how an Indian casino operates) are deftly woven into the fabric. This latest installment in a series now a decade and a half old is vintage Sandford. (May 12) Forecast: It's a safe bet that this top-notch effort-issued in a 500,000 first printing, and a main selection of the Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and BOMC-will hit number one. 21-city author tour; audio rights to Recorded Books. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Praise for John Sandford's Prey Novels

"Relentlessly swift...genuinely suspenseful...excellent."-Los Angeles Times

"Sandford is a writer in control of his craft."-Chicago Sun-Times

"Excellent...compelling...everything works."-USA Today

"Grip-you-by-the-throat thrills...a hell of a ride."-Houston Chronicle

"Crackling, page-turning tension...great scary fun."-The New York Daily News

"Enough pulse-pounding, page-turning excitement to keep you up way past bedtime."-Minneapolis Star Tribune

"One of the most engaging characters in contemporary fiction."-Detroit News

"Positively chilling."-St. Petersburg Times

"Just right for fans of The Silence of the Lambs."-Booklist

"One of the most horrible villains this side of Hannibal."-Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Ice-pick chills...excruciatingly tense...a double-pumped roundhouse of a thriller."-Kirkus Reviews