Book Review: Broken Prey

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Broken Prey     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
John Sandford
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Police Procedural   Serial Killer
Series: Lucas Davenport # 16
G P Putnam's Sons, 2005, 385 pages

Lucas Davenport is called to the banks of the Mississippi - a young woman's body has been found there. She has been brutally slashed over her entire body, and her remains seemingly "posed" by her killer. A few days later the bodies of a father and his young son are found in their rural home - the father also "posed" in the same manner as the young woman.

Nearly every investigating officer agrees that this is not coincidence, but how exactly are these three murders connected? Suspicion begins to fall on former inmates of Minnesota hospital for the criminally insane. Events and personalities connected with hospital eventually provide the answer to the puzzle, but Sandford provides an excellent ride on his way to making the solution clear.

There are enough red herrings to make a great big salad to salve the hunger of the most ravenous seafood afficiando. Sandford also dishes up car chases through the Minnesota countryside, an ambitious reporter who may be helping but also may be hindering, trips to interview the befuddled former patients who inhabit the street corners of Minneapolis, and painstaking analysis of the growing number of crime scenes.

There are a few scattered tongue-in-cheek moments, too. Sandford returns the salute his character received at the hand of Lawrence Block in BURGLAR ON THE PROWL, and the book ends with a plaintive but hilarious query, which ties in with a project of Davenport's which has consumed some of his attention while he investigates.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM