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Certain Prey by John Sandford, John Sanford
Book Summary InformationAuthor: John Sandford, John Sanford Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Published) Format: Bargain Price Published: 1999-05-10 ISBN: N/A Number of pages: 339 Publisher: Putnam Adult
Book Reviews of Certain PreyBook Review: Just okay Summary: 3 StarsThis entry in the Lucas Davenport series starts out great, with a professional hit-woman coming to town. And, for the first half of the book, the pro killer and the crazy lawyer who hired her make a good pair. By midway, the story has collapsed in on itself a bit, and becomes plodding. It tries, but never quite pulls itself out of the slump.
There aren't any real pieces of character development, in terms of the main characters, in this book, and that felt out of place. If the author had replaced Lucas and Co. with another set of generic characters, this one would have worked quite well as a stand-alone.
Summary of Certain PreyLucas Davenport confronts an entirely new kind of adversary in this harrowing new "Prey" novel. Her name is Clara Rinker, an attractive, pleasant Southern woman--the best hitwoman in the business. But when she's hired for a job in Minnesota and a witness survives, that's when Davenport gets on her case--with no idea of the toll that it will take on him. In the 10th installment of his popular Prey series, John Sandford (a.k.a. John Camp) pits his popular antihero, Lucas Davenport, against a pair of cunning killers unlike any he has encountered before. Attorney Carmel Loan is preternaturally beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious. When she becomes infatuated with fellow barrister Hale Allen, she isn't going to let a little thing like his being married get in her way. A quick meeting with an ex-client sets up the hit on Hale's wife, Barbara. The professional killer, Clara Rinker, is one of the best in the business. Smart, attractive, with a gentle Southern drawl, no one would suspect her of being a top Mafia hit man... er, hit person. When she takes the Allen assignment, she figures it will be easy money for a day's work. But things go wrong from the beginning. Loan's ex-client made a tape of the meeting, and is shaking her down for money. Worse, the shooting of a witness--a cop--brings deputy inspector Lucas Davenport into the case. Somehow Davenport has not only linked Loan to the killing, but seems to have a lead on Rinker as well. Carmel and Clara team up to clean up the loose ends, which includes getting Davenport off their back by whatever means necessary. Like all of Sandford's books, Certain Prey is a fast and furious ride. Fans of previous Prey books will find Davenport a little older, a little more wary, but no less sharp-witted and determined. Though parts of the plot may stretch the limits of credulity and the dialogue falls a little flat in places, this is still a wonderfully crafted thriller, possibly one of the best of 1999. Certain Prey cements Sandford's standing among such luminaries as James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, and Thomas Harris. --Perry Atterberry
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