EXTREME PREY
By John Sandford
Having recently been critical of Sandford's novels—his early ones were my favorites—I was thrilled to find Extreme Prey to be a real page-turner!
Lucas Davenport takes a job investigating a threat to a presidential candidate who is making her political rounds in Iowa before the caucuses begin. Davenport no longer beds every woman he meets, a fact I found refreshing, although, oddly enough, I saw a review that mentioned this fact made the book boring.
Having spent a lot of years living in Iowa, I particularly enjoyed following the trail with Davenport as he visited so many small Iowa towns trying to find the culprits. The suspense carries the reader quickly through the book to a nail-biting final scene at the state fair. A great read, one I highly recommend to lovers of suspense.
Things authors can learn from Extreme Prey:
- There is always a fresh approach to a long-term series.
- Always have a few characters that are sympathetic.
- Have interesting characters! The Purdy family was excellent, and even had one member who was a sympathetic drunk.
- Have the main character visit lots of different places searching for clues, and interview many kinds of people.
- Keep the suspense and conflict at a steady pace, don’t slow it down with lengthy back-story or family drama. In Extreme Prey, the reader sees just enough about Davenports own family to understand where he’s coming from.
Dear Readers,
As a long-time Sandford reader, I was happy to be able to share a glowing review for one of his Prey series’ books. Glad I hung in there. Hope you will enjoy reading Extreme Prey. If you’ve discovered another suspense book we should know about, please comment.
Hope, you’re enjoying the summer,
Hello; I decided to visit because you shared a tweet by Ryan Biddulph that mentioned me. I like to say thank you and it looks like you could use a few comments. I love john Sandford. I often wonder if he didn't start the series with agent flowers because he too was bored by lucas's character being in a committed relationship. But one thing you can say about Sandford. He writes a good sex scene and his characters have partners with a wide variety of ages and body types. There are no stick figure models in either of their beds. :) Just finished the one where Lucas retires from the BCA. Love how he quit his job. We all wish we could do it that way. Thanks for sharing, Max
ReplyDeleteHI Max,
DeleteYeah, Sandford loves his male characters to be irresistible to the opposite sex! I think I've read everything he's written. Do like his writing and you're right about his sex scenes. They aren't overly drawn out like some, and still keep you n the story.
I've never quit a job that way, either. Got kicked out of a job that way once--gave my two-week notice and they showed me the door.
Nice to hear from you,
Marla