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.


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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!