Book Review: Chosen Prey

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Chosen Prey     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
John Sandford
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Police Procedural
Series: Lucas Davenport # 12
Putnam, May 2001, $26.95, 416 pp.

Colleagues respect St. Patrick University associate professor art historian James Qatar for his collective works. This includes one book and several scholarly articles published in highly regarded journals and magazines. Unbeknownst to his peers is that Professor Qater has a second life in which he hunts blondes, has sex with them, and kills them.

When an early victim is found, the police link her to photographs that are part of Qater's hobby of creating pornographic works with women he knows but who don't really know him. Being a political appointee, Minneapolis Deputy Chief of Police Lucas Davenport expects to lose his job within six months when the mayor retires. Lucas intends to use his time wisely to catch the killer.

John Sandford is one of the top authors of police procedurals due to his three dimensional characters that consistently turn the "Prey" books into great reads. The hero is a flawed individual with a complex and realistic personal life that places demands on him even as he risks everything because he believes in the value of justice for all. CHOSEN PREY is the best of a great series. The audience knows the identity of the killer early on, but watch in fascination as Lucas tries to do likewise while balancing his complex personal life.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner