Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Buried Prey (Lucas Davenport #21)

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 11,338 ratings · 757 reviews

Some secrets just can't stay buried, in the brilliant new Lucas Davenport thriller from the number-one "New York Times"- bestselling author.
"One of the best," said "Kirkus Reviews" of "Storm Prey." "Razor-sharp dialogue, a tautly controlled pace and enough homicides for a miniseries. What more could fans want?"
A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minn...more

ebook

Published May 10th 2011 by Berkley (first published January 1st 2011)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 15, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 5-0, crime-mystery, thriller, lucas-davenport

In the best of the John Sandford’s Prey novels, there are usually two or three scenes where he brings the reader to a kind of momentum nirvana, a point where you’re turning the pages as fast as your eyes can scan the words. These aren’t necessarily action scenes, although Sandford can do action as well as anybody. More often these are points in the story where some break in the case has happened or some other event has left the police scrambling. People are being rousted out of bed. Phones are b...more In the best of the John Sandford’s Prey novels, there are usually two or three scenes where he brings the reader to a kind of momentum nirvana, a point where you’re turning the pages as fast as your eyes can scan the words. These aren’t necessarily action scenes, although Sandford can do action as well as anybody. More often these are points in the story where some break in the case has happened or some other event has left the police scrambling. People are being rousted out of bed. Phones are being shouted into. Police cars are rushing around with sirens blaring. The hunt is goddamn ON! And more than once I have found myself rising out of my chair or sitting up in bed with the urge to shout, “Go! Go! Go!”

With over 30 books to his credit, including this 21st Prey novel, you’d think Sandford would have started to run out of gas at some point. He’s managed this with only a few duds along the way and maintained a level of sheer entertainment that‘s pretty amazing. Even more surprising is that that I think the last two books he wrote, this one and last year’s Bad Blood, are among his very best.

When Lucas Davenport was introduced way back in 1989 in Rules of Prey, he was a hot shot Minneapolis police lieutenant who got called into the high profile shit storm cases that sold newspapers and cost politicians elections. Lucas is smart, tough, and a master manipulator with a natural feel for media and politics that helps him make his bosses look good, but what he really lives for are the cases that allowed him to hunt the worst killers. Over the years he’s advanced in law enforcement and settled down a great deal while still loving to jump into the interesting investigations. Here, Sandford gives us a look at Lucas before he we met him in the first book.

In present day Minneapolis, the bodies of two girls are found buried in a basement during a housing demolition. The case goes back to the ‘80s when Davenport was still a patrolman. Young Davenport liked being a cop but was starting to find patrol boring and thinking about a career change. When the two young girls went missing, he was temporarily assigned to the detectives and sent to go around knocking on doors. Thanks to a little luck and his own ambition, Davenport ended up being a key figure in the case and his career took off. Lucas wasn’t satisfied with the resolution at the time, and with the discovery of the bodies, he fears that he’s responsible for letting a child killer roam free for over twenty years.

The first half of this book is a flashback to the younger Davenport, and as a long time fan of the character, it’s a helluva a lot of fun. Sandford shows us a younger, hungrier Davenport who still has the qualities we’ve always known in the older character, but he makes him a bit rougher along with being more ruthless and reckless. Younger Davenport is still figuring out the detective game, but this first case is his introduction to the thrill of the hunt. It’d turn him into a stone cold junkie for the chase, and Davenport’s addiction to catching bad guys is still present as a middle aged husband and father.

Sandford is still my favorite of the thriller writers you’ll see on the best seller lists, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down yet. (less)

26 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2011 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, cops-and-pee-eyes, miss-trees, five-star-fiction

The best thing about this installment is the 170 pages or so when you get to go back to 1985, three years before the first Prey novel takes place. Lucas is 23, and he's spent three years as a uniformed patrolman. He finally gets his chance to make his bones as a plainclothes homicide dude. This is when he's first getting to know some of our favorite characters like Del Capslock and Sloan. Loved it!
That first case from 1985 resurfaces (so to speak, heh heh) in the present day, and Lucas is all o...more

10 likes · like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Gavin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pulp-detective-spy

With all the grocery-store thrillers cramming the wire racks, few are really worth the time and effort. BURIED PREY is not like those cheap knock-offs. Unlike those other stories, John Sandford's novel has depth, great characterization, superb plotting, and enough twists and turns to keep the reader thinking and engaged.

This is only my second Lucas Davenport novel, so my expertise in this series is limited. The other one I read was RULES OF PREY. In the review for RULES OF PREY, I lauded Sandfo...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 04, 2011 Daniel Audet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finished John Sandford's Buried Prey yesterday and immediately ordered Dark of the Moon, an early addition in the Virgil Flowers series.
Buried Prey, from the get-go is a thrill ride, NO kidding...Lucas is drawn back into a case that has troubled him since his early days as a detective, and troubled him plenty. The bodies of 2 young girls, missing for many years turn up suddenly beneath a house being torn down for new construction. Politics, egos and attitudes played a big part in the wrongful...more I finished John Sandford's Buried Prey yesterday and immediately ordered Dark of the Moon, an early addition in the Virgil Flowers series.
Buried Prey, from the get-go is a thrill ride, NO kidding...Lucas is drawn back into a case that has troubled him since his early days as a detective, and troubled him plenty. The bodies of 2 young girls, missing for many years turn up suddenly beneath a house being torn down for new construction. Politics, egos and attitudes played a big part in the wrongful assumption that a homeless guy in the area at the time was the killer. Lucas knew better then and he knows better now, 10 years later, though it'll take some convincing and Lucas style police work on his part to get the case on the front burner. He knows bungling the case years ago, something he is not totally responsible for, may have cost more young girls their lives and this case resurfacing drives him harder than he's ever driven himself before.
In this latest entry in the "Prey" series Sandford spins a multi layered high octane thriller with such fluid and tight writing it's a virtual author "how-to" clinic. Setting his edge straight out of the gate, and with little preamble we are thrust into a developing discovery, one that stops the police and the entire city in it's tracks as they realize a serial killer has gone undetected for over a decade. He, Sandford, blends a lengthy back-story section into the action seamlessly allowing us personal insight into Davenport that we have not seen before.
Sandford's recurring characters are vivid,determined and likable. The bad guys are so very hateable but well and deeply developed by masterful description, and dialogue. Humor in this book is a beautiful thing to behold, the quips, dry comments, playful jabs among the highly stressed investigators and support characters. Well played sir, well played....
We see little of "that F'n Flowers" in this edition but he makes an appearance here and there. We see through Lucas' eyes as our main POV but again, Sandford is on a level of expertise in this area too that truly gives this book the depth and appeal as we stay in the action, the ups and downs and the chase. As a writer, reading a piece on this level, I can't help but walk away the better for it and feeling like I've been in the presence of a master. I mean this sincerely. I read a lot, I write a lot and I've been around the block more than a couple of times. I can't recommend this book enough.
You know where to find me.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I couldn't wait, couldn't help it. Once you get on a roll with John Sandford's books, well, it's like perpetual motion, physics. I grabbed a spankin' new hardcover of "Buried Prey" yesterday on a bike ride to the beach and still sweating, started reading it right away. Lucas is yanked back into a case from his early days, a case he has deep regrets about. The bodies of 2 young girls, murdered years earlier, wrapped in plastic and buried under a house are discovered as our story opens. Lucas intends to find out who and why and he won't stop till he does. I'll let you know as I race through his latest edition of the Davenport "Prey" series. I can tell this is going to be a great ride!(less)

5 likes · like · see review

May 19, 2011 Giovanni Gelati rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lucas Davenport just knows how to find his guy and solve a mystery doesn’t he? I really love this novel for so many reasons, let me count the ways. But first, let’s just jump into the synopsis:
“A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long.
In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big...more Lucas Davenport just knows how to find his guy and solve a mystery doesn’t he? I really love this novel for so many reasons, let me count the ways. But first, let’s just jump into the synopsis:
“A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long.
In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth. “
The flashback for me was really fun and exciting to read: a young Davenport making his way through a crime, going from the streets to detective and showing up the best they have right off the bat. The insights into his character, the trip back down memory lane, and the regrets that have burden him those many years, all great stuff and fuel for the present as he tracks down a killer that had gotten away. The action is tense, the story moving, the pages just kept turning; the cast of characters is just amazing. Time in and time out the “Prey” novels just keep growing and growing. Whether or not you groove on Lucas Davenport like I do, there are far too many good, strong supporting characters here not to like many of them. The fact that John Sandford can also weave a nice, tense, plotline into all that is an added bonus. I like that although there was a heinous crime to be solved in this one, the complexity of the characters and their emotional makeup was more the central part of the novel. I really enjoyed the evolution of the cast, the care that was displayed, and the level of skill and deft hand used by the author.
Things have changed around here. I am now the published author of “Down Low- Dead” with Vincent Zandri, “The Jersey Shore Has Eyes” with Big Daddy Abel”, “G.S.I Gelati’s Scoop Investigations Psychotic Detectives” with Thomas White, and the soon to be released “Who Whacked The Blogger” with Benjamin Sobieck, “Thad and The G-Man’s Most Awesome Adventure” with Thad Brown and “Hotel Beaumont” with B.R. Stateham. All the stories are available @ Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Smashwords. I am also the host of the wildly popular The G-ZONE blogtalk radio show. Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 10, 2013 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crimedetnoir

This is my first exposure to the Lucas Davenport (set around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul) series, and I think I picked a good one to start with (although very much out of sequence).

The writing is taut with some well written dialogue. The book begins in the present with the discovery of the bodies of two girls who disappeared in the mid 80s. Lucas worked that case back then as he was transitioning from a patrolman to a plain clothes detective. I enjoyed how Sandford basically stuc...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 24, 2011 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I newer realize the depth of my midwestern roots so keenly as when I read John Sandford. In every one of his novels he includes a description or reference which makes me think, "Oh, yes, I know what you mean, or the place you're describing." In this one, near they end, Lucas Davenport describes a motel clerk who speaks with a Fargo accent. The details adds nothing to the plot, but I love such reminders of my old home. This novel begins with a horrifying opening scene, followed by a long flashbac...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 05, 2012 Beth Allen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've read all of the "prey" books by John Sanford--this one is the twenty-first Lucas Davenport novel.

Davenport, an investigator at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is on another case, this one a cold case that has haunted him since being a rookie police officer.

Buried Prey, like all of the prey books, is a fast-moving, solid story that did not let me down. If this story has a weak point, the section of the book titled "Then," which highlights the original case of two missing girls...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 29, 2011 Steve Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lucas Davenport is back - and a rookie!! Great read with some seriously funny passages. Guest appearance of Virgil Flowers too.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 10, 2013 Phoenix added it · review of another edition

This was a high paced engaging thriller as is Sandford's wont. While I find the character of Davenport overblown and bigger than life, he is still within acceptable boundaries. A personal fluke which I rather dislike is the penchant for fashion, although I'm sure it is a literary device meant to be woven into the fabric of the character. I have read almost all the prey series and they are so good that each time I see one I am psyched and want to obtain it, cannot resist pulling it off the shelf...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Eric_W rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: police-procedural

Finally Sandford returns to the focus on investigation which he does well. While late in the series, this book takes us back to Davenport's very early days as a cop, and it's one of the better books, since the emphasis is on investigation.

While a block of old buildings is being torn down as part of a redevelopment project, the skeletons of two girls are dug up while working on the foundation for a new building. That triggers Davenport's memory back many years before, when he was a uniform cop, t...more Finally Sandford returns to the focus on investigation which he does well. While late in the series, this book takes us back to Davenport's very early days as a cop, and it's one of the better books, since the emphasis is on investigation.

While a block of old buildings is being torn down as part of a redevelopment project, the skeletons of two girls are dug up while working on the foundation for a new building. That triggers Davenport's memory back many years before, when he was a uniform cop, two young girls disappeared. Driven to both find evidence of the girls and to track down the "perp" and to get noticed by the brass so he can get out of uniform, Lucas works 24/7 chasing down every possible lead, but they consistently run up against dead ends. And the girls are never found. The one major suspect is tracked down, but - well you'll have to find out for yourself which suspect I reference.

Fast forward to the present and the skeletons, Lucas, despite that it's a Minneapolis Police case, with renewed energy, starts his own re-investigation. It's the hunt that provides interest for me and the killer in Buried Prey is especially devious which makes the chase that much more interesting. It's when Sandford starts in on the peripheral personal relationships that I have difficulty controlling my snooze control and anti-barf mechanisms. But then Richard Ferrone's excellent narration brings it back.

As much as I find the Prey series a pleasant way to kill time, I'm always disturbed by the undercurrent of support for vigilantism. He surrounds himself with colleagues who can keep their mouths shut about his own law-breaking, which he justifies in the name of the law. Lucas wants to be on the scene first when they find the killer so he can kill him. No attempt to verify that he has the right person or even thought of a trial. (I suppose that's just evidence of Davenport's arrogance yet he is the instrument of the innocent Scrape's (sp?) killing.) When those charged with enforcing the law take it into their own hands we are perilously close to despotism.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Marsha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I chose a John Sandford - Lucas Davenport book to cleanse my palate after reading too much of a more contemporary novel. Sometimes a girl just has to go slumming. Delving into a Lucas Davenport book is like eating a big double cheeseburger. You know you should choose something more chic, but the dialogue and the internal monologues of the character just can't leave your mind. I read the dialogue in Sandford's books with a certain amount of awe. He could write a book with only dialogue and it wou...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2012 Gloria Feit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Discovery of the bodies of two young girls, murdered 25 years earlier, sets the stage for a look at the popular protagonist, Lucas Davenport, both as a rookie patrolman and later as the seasoned investigator of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension a quarter of a century later. Soon after joining the Minneapolis police department, Lucas worked with the Intelligence Division on a couple of murder investigations, especially the case of the two young Jones Girls.

He became so involved in the work that...more

like · see review

Nov 27, 2011 Fennecgirl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh how I have missed you Lucas Davenport! I've been sitting on this book for quite some time, as I knew based on description, a good majority of the book would be reminiscent of pre-domesticated Davenport. I sat on this book quite frankly, because I dreaded reaching the end, and knowing this is likely to be the last I see my favorite, but aging, detective in his glory days again.

Ever since Davenport married, he's lost some of his roughness that made him so attractive in the earlier series. This...more

like · see review

Aug 23, 2011 Jmrathbone rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

BURIED PREY starts with the discovery of the remains of two girls who were murdered 25 years earlier and buried under a basement floor. They remains are found when the building in which they were buried is being torn down. Lucas Davenport is on the scene and learns that this murder was the first one he worked on while still in uniform. His work on the case led to his promotion to detective. As he stands at the crime scene, he remembers how it all went down 25 years earlier. I like the way Sandfo...more

like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Ilsa Bick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although Sandford’s one of my favorite writers, I’ve found the last few entries of his Prey series kind of flat. At first, I chalked it up to his starting the new Virgil Flowers series (one which has to grow on you, I think) and then to exhaustion. Buried Prey is his 21st novel featuring Lucas Davenport and even a writer as inventive as Sandford must be running out of tricks. So I wasn’t expecting a great read, just a good one.

I was wrong–and I’m so glad.

Buried Prey revolves around the discovery...more Although Sandford’s one of my favorite writers, I’ve found the last few entries of his Prey series kind of flat. At first, I chalked it up to his starting the new Virgil Flowers series (one which has to grow on you, I think) and then to exhaustion. Buried Prey is his 21st novel featuring Lucas Davenport and even a writer as inventive as Sandford must be running out of tricks. So I wasn’t expecting a great read, just a good one.

I was wrong–and I’m so glad.

Buried Prey revolves around the discovery of two girls, long dead, who’d disappeared way back in 1985 when Lucas was still a patrol cop. The murderer was ostensibly caught, but Lucas had never been satisfied with the way it all went down. The novel is divided into two parts, past and present, and I have to say that I loved revisiting the characters and relationships that made me fall in love with Sandford in the first place. Forget the murder mystery, although it’s quite good and very believable and–in its own way–a little pathetic. After all, what happens to killers as they age? What Sandford rediscovers by looking back is the freshness that’s been missing from some of his latest efforts and, to a degree, his Virgil Flowers series. It’s not necessarily the mysteries or shoot-outs or sheer number of characters that drive a story. Sandford’s work is always at its best when he gives Lucas his life, not simply a series of (somewhat interchangeable) people who trot in and out of the narrative. I will say that there was only one major disappointment here, and that revolves around who dies. You see it coming a mile away. My fantasy is that this will somehow change Lucas, though–not into winding down and pulling back–but getting right back into the mix. The BCA was a necessary move, but Lucas belongs on the streets and in the trenches.

I also find it fascinating that, this year, both Sandford and Lee Child have chosen to go back in time with their characters. Child’s book, The Affair, isn’t due for another two months (wah!), but these writers might be responding to the same impulse: we are who we’ve known.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 James Thane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who loves crime fiction

Shelves: crime-fiction

This is the twenty-first John Sandford novel to feature Minnesota detective Lucas Davenport, and it's one of the best books in a truly great series.

Twenty-five years ago, Davenport was a beat cop with a taste for fine clothes, fast cars and attractive women. He was also smart, ambitious and determined to excell, preferably as a detective, but if not, perhaps as a lawyer. He gets the chance to prove himself when two young girls go missing. Lucas, along with some other patrolmen, is assigned tempo...more This is the twenty-first John Sandford novel to feature Minnesota detective Lucas Davenport, and it's one of the best books in a truly great series.

Twenty-five years ago, Davenport was a beat cop with a taste for fine clothes, fast cars and attractive women. He was also smart, ambitious and determined to excell, preferably as a detective, but if not, perhaps as a lawyer. He gets the chance to prove himself when two young girls go missing. Lucas, along with some other patrolmen, is assigned temporarily to plain clothes to assist in the investigation.

Davenport is determined to make the most of the opportunity and he attracts the attention of a powerful patron who's impressed with Davenport's early work on the case. Sadly, though, the missing girls are never found. A suspect is identified and the case is declared closed, although Davenport is not entirely comfortable with the official solution to the crime.

In the years that follow, Lucas becomes a local legend and becomes the most brilliant detective the state of Minnesota has ever produced, occasionally bending the rules and sometimes meting out his own rough justice, but always getting results. Through the years, he has risen through the ranks and is now head of the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. And finally, after all that time, the bodies of the two missing girls are uncovered, buried under a concrete slab in a building that is being demolished.

Davenport finally has the chance to revisit the crime that got him started as a detective and the solution to which has always bothered him. This time, he will let nothing stand between himself and the truth, no matter the consequences.

The consequences are indeed painful, and those readers who have followed this series since Rules of Prey are in for a great ride. Like all of Sandford's books, this one has great comic moments that never detract from the serious business at hand. It has some great action scenes, a very interesting climax, and in the end, it may just break your heart. But once you start it, you won't put it down and you'll never forget it.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2011 John Haugh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sandford cranked it up a notch in this book, first by using and interesting then & now structure to the book. He uses the modern day event of uncovering two girls' bodies to bring us back into Lucas Davenport's life as a patrol man just starting to get exposure with the homicide's detectives. The author obviously has great affection for the Eighties time frame, and writes of it effectively with nice musical grace notes like when Madonna first got hot.

Sandford continues to push this book abo...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2011 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

John Sandford never fails to deliver taut action and a gripping murder mystery. I especially loved how this book contrasted the rookie policeman Lucas Davenport with the seasoned veteran he has become. When two young girls went missing in 1985, Lucas was already trying to figure out a way to become a detective and leave patrolling the streets behind. A case this big was just the opportunity Lucas was waiting for. He quickly makes himself useful to the lead investigator and even turns up a few le...more

like · see review

May 10, 2011 Luanne Ollivier rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

John Sandford is the author of a series I've followed for many, many years. His latest book in the Lucas Davenport series is Buried Prey. (Released today)

Davenport has been a cop in the Minneapolis area for many years, working his way up the ladder. He currently works for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA, often troubleshooting for the governor. But a case from the past is literally unearthed and Davenport is forced to confront the unthinkable. Was the wrong man convicted of the...more John Sandford is the author of a series I've followed for many, many years. His latest book in the Lucas Davenport series is Buried Prey. (Released today)

Davenport has been a cop in the Minneapolis area for many years, working his way up the ladder. He currently works for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA, often troubleshooting for the governor. But a case from the past is literally unearthed and Davenport is forced to confront the unthinkable. Was the wrong man convicted of the murder of two young girls? Has the real killer been preying on children for the last 25 years?

The disappearance of the Jones girls in 1985 marked the beginning of Lucas's career as a detective.

"In the first year as a cop, working patrol and then, briefly, as a dope guy, he'd felt that he was learning things at a ferocious rate: about the street, life, death, sex, love, hate, fear, stupidity, jealousy and accident, and all the other things that brought citizens in contact with the cops. Then the learning tailed off. Now investigating, the feeling was back. He was crude and he knew it, but it was interesting and he'd get better at it."

The first part of the book is set in 1985 and we get to see a young Davenport. It was so much fun to watch Lucas begin what we know is a long and colourful career. One of my favourite supporting characters has always been Del Capslock. In Buried Prey we are privy to the first pairing up of Lucas and Del. Their witty banter has continued to this day. The tone is set for what we know of Lucas today as well - his way with women, his obsession with clothes and his 'outside the box' methods.

"Lucas, on the other hand, was a poor leader. He simply wasn't interested in what he considered the time-wasting elements of operating in a bureaucracy. He was intuitive, harshly judgmental, and would occasionally wander into illegalities in the pursuit of what he saw as justice. In doing that, he preferred to work with one or two close friends who knew how to keep their mouths shut, didn't mind the occasional perjury in a good cause, and knew when to blow him off, if he got too manic and started shouting; and would shout back. Lucas's cops were outsiders, for the most part. The strange cops."

The case itself is excellent. Is the homeless man they're chasing innocent or are they being pointed in the wrong direction deliberately? And by whom? Cops? Part two of the book brings us to present day. Davenport is again working with his old team Capslock, Jenkins and Shrake. I always watch for the reference to Virgil Flowers - that f*****g Flowers - one of my favourite characters, who now has his own series. Lucas's personal life always provides a great second story line, but I'm still not sold on Letty -Davenport's adoped daughter.

Sandford has a winner with Buried Prey. The plot is excellent, the writing tight, the action non stop and best of all, I get to see a side of a character I've enjoyed for almost 20 years. Highly recommended.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2011 Gaby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-and-mystery, mystery, thriller

I love detective novels and gravitate towards those with characters that draw me in. John Sanford's Detective Lucas Davenport is a memorable sort.

* independently wealthy - he started designing computer games in college and the revenue stream from his game designs keeps him living well
* impeccably dressed - a clothes horse with an appreciation for expensive suits
* impressive physique - a lifelong athlete, he played varsity hockey and almost went professional
* a natural - he has a feel for inv...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 27, 2012 Deborah Vespo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book begins where a neighborhood is being torn down for new development in Minneapolis. When one particular house is being torn down the two bodies of young girls are discovered, both wrapped in plastic and buried under concrete in the basement. When the discovery is made Lucas Davenport enters into the picture, one look and he knows exactly who they are. The story takes us back to when Lucas was a rookie cop who is on the verge of becoming a detective. We find out how he was part of the tea...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2012 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lucas Davenport has been haunted by an unsolved double murder occurring during his early years on the Minneapolis police force. Two young girls had been abducted and they had never been found. Evidence seemed to point to a homeless man, who was brought in for questioning and then released. When new evidence showed up and the police went to bring him back in, he attacked the police with a metal bar and was subsequently shot to death. Lucas was never convinced that the suspect was guilty .
It is...more

like · see review

Dec 03, 2011 Bruce Snell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the 21st book in the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford. I liked everything about this book - from the opening paragraph and its poetic look at the machinery of urban renewal, to the resolution of the case there was nothing that I would have changed.

The book starts with the discovery of the bodies of two young girls murdered over 20 years ago in the first case Lucas worked as a detective. Lucas has always felt a little guilty about that case because he felt it was unsolved but reso...more

like · see review

May 21, 2011 Kaje Harper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This latest entry in John Sandford's Prey series finds BCA detective Lucas Davenport revisiting the first case that took him from uniform to detective in 1985. The mummified bodies of the two missing girls show up under a demolished house 25 years later, and the easy solution to their disappearance, which only Lucas seemed to distrust at the time, is shown to be false. The hunt for the real killer begins.
Half of the book is a flashback to the early days of the case. It is a fascinating look at a...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Carol MacInnis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Twenty years ago. Lucas Davenport was a cop for three years and was hoping to move up the ranks soon. But now Lucas and his partner Fred Carter have been called down to the Mississippi where two young girls (Nancy & Mary Jones) have been known to play along the river and are now missing. Quentin Daniel, the Homicide Detective arrived on the scene and realizing the magnitude of the search has Lucas working alongside Daniel's team on the case. Knowing Lucas had not been promoted but is merely...more

like · see review

Apr 09, 2012 Lilith K rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I borrowed this book from a friend and it was my first venture into the world of Lucas Davenport...and I was not impressed. This being the 21st book I'm sure there is established character development that I had missed out on. But in this particular book I didn't get much of a feel for him.

Well I did but I didn't much care for him. After the introduction of the bodies, the book is divided into two different time frames. We see Lucas at the beginning of the crime in his younger days and then we...more

like · see review

Nov 16, 2011 Q. Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No witty opening here, but dang, that is a long list of John Sandford/Lucas Davenport books with “Prey” as the last word in the title. I just finished “Buried ____.” Wanna guess what the ____is? Starts with P and has r after P. Has y at the end. So that’s Pr_y. Prey! Yep :)

This book is a middling to fair read. On a five-star system, I’m torn whether to give it two stars or three. Three is too high, but two is too low. I’m gonna say two stars, because I’d expect something better from a veteran wr...more No witty opening here, but dang, that is a long list of John Sandford/Lucas Davenport books with “Prey” as the last word in the title. I just finished “Buried ____.” Wanna guess what the ____is? Starts with P and has r after P. Has y at the end. So that’s Pr_y. Prey! Yep :)

This book is a middling to fair read. On a five-star system, I’m torn whether to give it two stars or three. Three is too high, but two is too low. I’m gonna say two stars, because I’d expect something better from a veteran writer such as Sandford.

Okay, so “Buried Prey” on its surface deals with what happens before and after two girls’ bodies are dug up. Turns out the bodies belong to an old case Lucas Davenport worked on. Flash back to that entire case, which is about half the book and concludes when police kill the main suspect, a guy Davenport is pretty sure isn’t the actual bad dude. The second half deals with present time.

My blaaaaahs with the book:

(1) It reads more as a recital of events than as a novel. He did this. He went there. This happened. This new character said this. Then they went to this person’s office and then interviewed this suspect. Then they saw a judge for a search warrant. In other words, pacing was flat.

(2) The entire back-in-time segment was unnecessary. First, there was no immediacy. We knew what was gonna happen. There was no need to know the nitty-gritties, and it’s not like Sandford’s voice could save the day here. I have read several books with this setup, and it worked. Sandford just could not make it work, and there was too much of a coincidence joining two separate cases. Sandford would have been better off interweaving necessary back story with present-time story (not that present-time story was any better).

(3) Precious little interiority, and what little there is does no good. I don’t feel a connection to any of the characters. A major character gets killed off, and her killing falls very, very flat because of the lack of emotional connection.

What little decent interiority there was belonged with the killer. I felt more connected to him than any of the other characters. The killer had flaws and was not flat or perfect like the other characters.

Middling prey, indeed.(less)

like · see review

May 18, 2011 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011

Hmm.

The Lucas Davenport books are pretty much the only suspense series I still read, and it's become a yearly ritual to read the latest Prey novel every May. The marking of time and all that. Buried Prey is another reliable page-turner from Sandford; you don't read the book so much as inhale it. And I applaud Sandford for changing up the formula a bit: This installment is centered squarely on Lucas, with the first half of the book flashbacking to when he was making his bones on the force and th...more

like · see review

Aug 26, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Terrific thriller. A complex murder mystery that takes place over many years. This book is fun in that it shows the early career of Lucas Davenport when he is a patrolman on the Minneapolis Police Department and is drawn into a murder investigation. Because the police want to have as many people looking and knocking on doors as possible they temporarily make Lucas a intelligence detective. Lucas helps the department close the case and in the process solves another murder, shortly thereafter he i...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Finished	17	92	May 11, 2013 02:46pm

combine
Other Editions (17)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

158 users

Thriller

50 users

Mystery > Crime

37 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

24 users

Suspense

16 users

Mystery > Detective

15 users

Mystery > Murder Mystery

4 users

Adult Fiction

2 users

Mystery > Noir

2 users

Novels

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About John Sandford

John Sandford was born John Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American Studies in 1966. In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He was in th...more

More about John Sandford...

Books by John Sandford

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Buried Prey

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Buried Prey

“First she got Jesus, probably fifteen years ago, and that didn’t work out, so she tried Scientology, and that didn’t help, but it cost a lot of money, so she tried Buddhism and yoga, and those didn’t work, so she started drinking. I think that helped, because she’s still drinking.” — 4 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Buried Prey
avg rating	preview: Buried Prey Goodreads rating: 4.19 (11338 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10772902-buried-prey?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305029821l/10772902.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10772902-buried-prey?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Buried Prey by John Sandford[/url]

Buried Prey (Lucas Davenport #21)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website