Today's review

Satisfying but not thrilling..., October 12, 2009

Another satisfying outing from John Sandford. The series has gone on for quite a long time, lost its edge as part of the psycho thriller chiller genre, but still an enjoyable read. John Sandford has quite the character in Lucas Davenport, but I do miss some of the old associates or past partners in crime, namely the nun. Anyway, this one is interesting but I feel that perhaps the whole series might be winding down and need to be retired.

In this book, Lucas is faced with tracking down a sophisticated robbery ring who stop at nothing, even murder, to get what they want. In addition, he's dealing with a side story about a guy who is possibly setting himself up to assassinate someone at the Republican convention in Minnesota - maybe even John McCain himself.

I like the setting -- it's always fun to read a book set in a city that one is familiar with. I'm comfortable with the cast and crew -- some of whom I miss but others who have been around a long time. Weather still there as faithful wife -- not sure how she has enough energy to operate day after day and they don't seem to have much marriage going on -- but it seems to work. A glitch and an annoyance in this book was that of the ward, Letty. They are supposed to be adopting her -- she's 14. Frankly the fact that she is allowed to be running around Minneapolis and St. Paul unsupervised as she does is completely unbelievable from a parent's standpoint. Letty is involved in yet another side plot with a paraplegic pimp and his hooker. I did find that somewhat disconcerting and took it into consideration when rating the book.

All in all, it's a decent read and fans of Lucas and John Sandford won't miss the latest in this "prey" series. I do wish he'd get back to writing edgy thrillers though.