Russians, spys, cops, street person, murder! Makes you wonder if something like this could have happened. Exciting, didn't want to put it down!

Kept me interested throughout. Good international thriller.

I have read John Sanford for years. His "Prey" books are the very best, and this one was no exception.

A Russian is killed with a fifty year old bullet. Davenport and a Russian cop join together and trace a trail of evil that runs back to the cold war.

Great reading. Terrific storyline. Fast paced.

Started off slow, hard to get into story, because various characters showed up suddenly without any apparent link to each other-or to the plot. Almost gave up reading book when suddenly, everything began to fall together. Almost seemed like the first part of the book was written by another author, and the second part was true to John Sanford's style. A very odd book, not up to his usual standards.

Det. Lucas Davenport has battled some real demons over the past 15 Prey novels and drifted in and out of lust and love with a host of women. But now he's happily married to the lovely Weather; has a nine-month-old son, Sam; and takes care of his 12-year-old ward, Letty West. Sure, he's got a measure of the old angst, but he's growing accustomed to the good life, spending quality time alone on the couch drinking beer and watching TV golf. His new job is running the Office of Regional Research at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension where he looks into various crimes and "fixes shit" for the governor. So when a dead Russian shows up on the docks in Duluth, Lucas is assigned to shepherd the lady investigator, Nadya Kalin, being sent by the Russian government. From the very first pages, the reader knows it's teenager Carl Walther who has killed the Russian. What makes the book intriguing is the manner in which the sagacious Davenport goes about uncovering the rest of the co-conspirators-a gang of Minnesota-based Communist spies headed by Carl's grandpa, 92-year-old ex-KGB colonel Burt Walther. That Sandford makes this unlikely plot believable is a mark of his mastery of the technical aspects of the mystery form and a testament to his overall writing skills. Readers will be pleased with this relaxed version of the moody Minneapolis investigator. In past novels, the womanizing Davenport would have romanced the good-looking Russian lady, but the new Davenport is content to play the part of friend and protector and go back to his cozy family with an unstained and remarkably contented soul.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW

This is another GREAT Lucas Davenport story. I feel like I know this guy in person after so many great books!! Gotta love him!!

This is a pretty good example of what I call a good book. I enjoy a good suspense or mystery, but without un-needed sex or gross details. My interest stayed high with this book and I enjoyed having a good read.

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We're admittedly big Sandford fans, having enjoyed the entire preceeding set of "Prey" adventures starring Lucas Davenport. Promoted to a position where he works on anything with political overtones at the behest of the Minnesota governor, Lucas is soon embroiled with the murder of a Russian stranger down at the docks, and in escorting Nadya, an "investigator" (read, spy) sent over from Russia to look into the matter. Her presence adds both a great deal of suspense to the story, as we're never quite sure whether she's "legit" or not, as well as many funny lines as she puzzles over American colloquialisms.
We readers soon know the shooter is young Carl, grandson of Grandpa Walther, a communist spy who has been running a ring of families engaged in Russian "assistance" in northern Minnesota for some six decades!! A clever analyst and fearless assassin in his own right, he's teaching teenager Carl the tricks of the trade, including heartless executions. So while there's no doubt whodunit, not to mention some more murders along the way, the clues and hunches Lucas pursues to uncover the spy ring and the killer keep the novel moving at a fun pace. A slightly moralistic twist at the end even gives one pause for thought about truth and justice.

It's surprising Sandford can keep these characters and stories fresh after some 16 or so in this series. While Lucas has settled down with wife Weather, and young son and ward, Letty, (who got barely more than a mention), he is still a smart and clever fellow and one whose success we care about. We thought the humor generated by the consternation of the Russian lady over various comical English sayings (like how does a foreigner translate something like "keep in under your hat"!) was a light-hearted touch, breaking up the contrasting horror of the various slayings and suicide populating the plot. Lastly, a sub-plot involving a "bag lady" who witnesses the first crime, was so interesting, we wish it had been expanded upon even further.

So kudos to Sandford on his latest "Prey" -- it's a book very well done and thus enjoyable entertainment!

Good Read

GREAT !!!

I always enjoy the "Prey" books, but this one just didn't grab me.

every story John Sandford writes is very SUSPENSEFUL AND INTRIGUING.
HE NEVER LETS ME DOWN

Another good Prey book.

Another great book from one of my favorite authors

Theories abound when a Russian gets himself killed on the shore of Lake Superior-shot with fifty-year-old bullets. But when it turns out he had very high government connections, state troubleshooter Lucas Davenport gets the call. Well, Lucas and a mysterious Russian cop with secrets all her own. Together they'll follow a trail back to another place and another time, and battle the shadows they discover there-shadows that turn out to be both very real and very deadly.

Not John Sanford's best Prey book. But a good read anyhow

Great series.

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