Finished 9-29-11, rating 4.5/5, mystery, 390 pages, pub. 2011
#21 in the Prey series
Series main character Lucas Davenport has been in Minnesota law enforcement for all 21 novels. He started as a detective and now works as an investigator for Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He’s married to a surgeon and has three children with another on the way.
What makes him special? Lucas is a tough guy who doesn’t mind bending the rules to catch the bad guy. He has the smarts to track down leads and the muscle and charm with the ladies to make them talk. He’s also filthy rich and a clotheshorse.
This is what Sandford said about him in 2004, “I’ve always thought of him as a kind of sociopath who is slightly warped. Of course, Davenport changed a lot throughout the stories, he became calmer… ”
Supporting Cast His police friends Del, Jenkins, Shrake, Marcy and Sandy are all on the case. A pregnant Weather and adopted daughter Letty try to keep him from doing something stupid. Should I tell you that one of them won’t be in the next book? Oops. Forget I said anything.
The story Two young sisters disappeared in the 1980’s and were discovered buried under a house in 2011. The sisters were the first case Lucas worked on and a good portion of the book is a flashback to that case with a young Lucas getting his first big break. Now that the bodies have been discovered he is ready to find the murderer who got away.
How does it stack up with the rest of the series? I fell in love with Lucas in the first half of this series, but felt that the last few have been uninspired. This one is as good as some of the first and it feels like the series is back on track.
Can it be read as a stand-alone? I always think it’s better to read a series from the beginning, but because of the flashback section I think this is one of the rare occurences where it would be it okay to read alone.
Who should read it? Fans of police procedurals and fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
This was from my personal library. I picked it up (and way too many other books from my wish list) from Border’s for practically nothing.
Stacy's Books 
I read one John Sanford and liked it, but it was the kind of thing that if I got one sent to me I would read it and like it, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to get it!
That’s a lot of books in one series! I’m glad it seemed to you more like the earlier ones.
I love the Lucas Davenport series and never realized the Jack Reacher series is similar. I need to check out the Reacher series!
There are so many books in this series! At least this is one I can read as a stand alone. I read of the other ones before, long time ago, and it was quite good. Thanks for the review 🙂
Jack Reacher? I’m in. My brother reads this series, I think.
I really want to try JSandford but am put off by the # in series, I will never catch up but I feel like I am missing something.
I do think I am going to read Storm Prey though, so many great reviews, then I can decide and I will go beginning until I catch up.
I keep hearing about this series. I’ve never read one … I need to change that!
Eek! 21! I think I’m on 3! But, I have almost all of them, so they are available to me whenever the mood strikes. 🙂