The Days of PREY Tour! Silent Prey by John Sandford... a Review

John Sandford's Days of PREY Tour

Hop on board! It's The Days of PREY Tour! On May 18th, John Sandford will publish his 20th Prey novel, Storm Prey! Leading up to the release of Storm Prey, TLC Book Tours & Penguin Books, are hosting a fun event, The Days of PREY Tour, in which participating reviewers have each taken one of John Sanford's previous Prey novels, and will review it via a questionnaire, that will establish a time line for the series, and lead up to the latest book! It's a nostalgic trip back to the beginning of Lucas Davenport, and a great way for anyone not familiar with the previous PREY novels to get acquainted. So, you can follow the tour in order of the date the books were published and follow our guy Lucas Davenport as he makes the rounds with the ladies, clothes and murder to see how he's changed...

The book I'm reviewing is the 4th in the Prey series called Silent Prey....

Year Published: 1992

Tell us about Lucas Davenport...

What is Lucas doing when he first appears in the book? Set up the scene.

Lucas is driving like a maniac doing 107 mph in his Porsche on the back roads of Wisconsin, where he has a lake cabin, driving home to Minnesota. We find out that while he was in Wisconsin he drove 80 miles to Duluth to buy books because there are "no real bookstores in his corner of Wisconsin". How can you not like a guy who drives 80 miles to go to a bookstore! I liked him immediately!

• Give us a sense of time and place...

The story takes place in the present, starting out in Minnesota, but Lucas heads for New York City almost immediately.

• Lucas's occupation or professional role...

Lucas is an ex-cop. He left the Minnesota Police Department and is now on his own, with his own company Davenport Games and Simulations. His business was primarily computer games but now is now leaning more towards computer simulations of police tactical problems. It's going quite well too, because he thinks he might actually need to rent office space.

• Lucas's personal status (single, dating, married)

He's single, recently broke off with the mother of his daughter, but he's still got an eye for the women, and it looks like he's got a thing for Lily, a cop who he had worked with in the past that was now on "the case" in New York City.

• Lucas Davenport is a known clothes-horse; did you notice any special fashion references?

Right from the get-go you find out he wears a gold & steel Rolex, along with a dark blue dress shirt , silk jacket ($500), khakis & loafers ($200), which make him stand out a little with the cops he's working with, and seem to rub the locals at a bar the wrong way one night too! (you'll know what I'm talking about when you read this book!)

• Avoiding spoilers, what was the crime/case being solved?

Well, this time Lucas is in for solving two crimes. First he's brought into the Bekker case. Lucas previously captured Bekker, who is a serial killer, in a previous novel. But in the opening scene of this book Bekker escapes and he's back to his bloody ways. The Bekker case is really a front for the other investigation he's involved in which is a series of murders, that appear to be professional hits, and the only link that all the hits have is a leak in the police department in NYC. He's suppose to investigate these murders on the sly.

• Does the title of the book relate to the crime? Yes!
• Who was your favorite supporting character, good or evil?

I loved Lily. Strong and yet vulnerable (especially when it comes to Lucas!) She's one of the good guys.

• What was your favorite scene or quote?

One of my favorite quotes was by Lily, who said to Lucas, "I'm such a goddamed slut". Why did I like the quote? Well, Lily's not some shy flirty girl, she goes for what she wants. But you'll laugh when she says it, because she's not a slut at all... there definitely is more to her feelings about Lucas than sex.

• Finally, how do you envision Lucas Davenport? If he were to be portrayed in a movie, what celebrity would play him?

This is hard... the actors I see playing Lucas are older than the 44 that Lucas is... I think of Harrison Ford for his rugged good looks, or maybe Daniel Craig...

Silent Prey was a fast paced thrill. A police procedural with a softer side at times (I don't want to say romance, but along those lines), and the added excitement of a deranged serial killer. What more could you ask for?! John Sandford can write, and he knows how to capture your attention and hold on to it! Interesting characters, that have great histories, this is a novel you can read without having read a single PREY novel, Sandford gives you just enough background so don't feel left out, or you can enjoy seeing an "old" character pop up again.