A Review: Mortal Prey by John Sandford

Hardcover: 354 pages
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group May 2002
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399148639
ISBN-13: 9780399148637



John Sandford is one of my favorite authors. His "Prey" series, featuring Minneapolis supercop, Lucas Davenport, never disappoints. As quoted in the Chicago Tribune, "You know life is good when you have a new Lucas Davenport thriller to escape into."

This is the 13th installment of Sandford's popular "Prey" series. Our villainess, Clara Rinker is an evil, ruthless woman who is the best hit woman in the business. But there is a side of her that you can't help but feel sorry for...even Lucas has a soft spot for Clara. Abused as a child, she does what she has to do to survive. Whether it's dancing nude, running her own bar, or killing for hire, she does it with expertise.

If I had to offer one criticism, it would be that the ending was almost like an afterthought. After page after page of suspense and pursuit, what could have been an exciting climax to the story was dealt with in a mere 14 pages.

Synopsis--from the author's website:

Years ago, Lucas Davenport almost died at the hands of Clara Rinker, a pleasant, soft-spoken, low-key Southerner, and the best hitwoman in the business. Now retired and living in Mexico, she nearly dies herself when a sniper kills her boyfriend, the son of a local druglord, and while the boy's father vows vengeance, Rinker knows something he doesn't: The boy wasn't the target – she was – and now she is going to have to disappear to find the killer herself. The FBI and DEA draft Davenport to help track her down, and with his fiancée deep in wedding preparations, he's really just as happy to go – but he has no idea what he's getting into. For Rinker is as unpredictable as ever, and between her, her old bosses in the St. Louis mob, the Mexican druglord, and the combined, sometimes warring, forces of U.S. law enforcement, this is one case that will get more dangerous as it goes along. And when the crossfire comes, anyone standing in the middle won't stand a chance....