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 The Prey Series Hidden Prey Virgil Flowers The Kidd Series Other Novels Etcetera | Hidden Prey Booklist Wes Lukowsky A Russian sailor is the victim of a professional assassination
on the docks of Duluth. Wary of international implications, the governor of
Minnesota asks Lucas Davenport, the chief investigator for the state's Bureau
of Criminal Apprehension, to investigate. Major Nadezhda Kalin, a
representative of Russian law enforcement, assists Davenport. The murder may be
linked to the remnants of a dormant Soviet Union network established between
the world wars but forgotten by the motherland. The descendants of the original
network members have all melded into the American mainstream. Davenport and
Kalin pursue the case through the rural mining towns of northern Minnesota even
as they become the targets of the shadowy assassin. The sixteenth Prey novel is
less harrowing and not as dark as many of its predecessors. It's also more
humorous – even the suicide of a key character is accompanied by a sly,
graveyard one-liner – with deft Davenport observations on the curious
behavior of the opposite sex in general and on Russian women in particular.
Similarities to previous Prey thrillers: high entertainment value; deftly
rendered characterizations; and clever, believable dialogue. Expect another
best-seller and stock up accordingly. The Capital Times May 14, 2004 Sometimes you don't need a fresh idea. You just have to leave
a stale idea on the shelf long enough, and it becomes fresh again. Take the basic premise behind Hidden Prey, John Sandford's
14th novel in his Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. Thirty or 40
years ago, you couldn't come up with a more tired idea for a thriller than
Russian spies living undercover in America. But to resurrect the idea now, years after the Cold War ended
and Russia is ostensibly our ally? That's a nice hook. In Sandford's novel, the cabal of Russian spies living in
rural Minnesota has been largely forgotten about by both their former Soviet
minders and United States intelligence. They're now senior citizens, pillars of
their communities, and figure that their espionage days are long behind
them. What sets things in motion in Hidden Prey is the murder
of a well-connected Russian on the shores of Lake Superior. Davenport, who is
now a sort of all-purpose crimebuster for the state, is sent up north to
investigate, partnered with a female Russian investigator who clearly has
secrets of her own. Then a homeless woman who may have witnessed the murder is
killed in Duluth, and the trail becomes more complicated. Sandford's series started essentially in the vein of Thomas
Harris (Silence of the Lambs). Tortured detective Davenport hunted down
gruesomely creative serial killers on the streets of Minneapolis. But around
the seventh book in the series, Sandford wisely began moving away from the
serial-killer formula, sending Davenport out to catch different species of
killers. And he's also lightened Davenport up considerably, giving him
a happy home life, a more engaging voice and, most importantly of all, a sense
of humor. At this point in the series, Sandford's thrillers seem more inspired
by the police procedurals of Ed McBain than by the slasher fiction of
Harris. In fact, Hidden Prey may even be a little too sedate
for Sandford's longtime fans. Although there are bursts of violence here and
there, including a dizzying foot chase, most of the novel follows Davenport and
his allies as they interview witnesses and patiently piece together clues. Even
the climax, with the killer holed up in a mountain cabin, fails to produce the
expected bang-up ending. But what the thriller lacks in cinematic fireworks it more
than makes up for in careful plotting, believable characters and tough, witty
dialogue. I also love the uniquely Minnesotan details that Sandford, a longtime
Twin Cities journalist, brings to his novels. For example, when the residents
of Hibbing, Bob Dylan's birthplace, refer to Dylan, it's not in the context of
a famous musician or political voice. His name is shorthand for "extremely
wealthy," as in "he's got more money than Bob Dylan." Sandford's also got a fascinating and unorthodox pair of
villains for Davenport to contend with. The killers (and we find this out right
away, so I'm not spoiling anything) are a 92-year-old man and his 17-year-old
great-grandson. The teenager is the trigger man, while his great-grandpa, who
was the leader of the spy ring, gives pointers like he was teaching him how to
fly-fish. They're like something out of an Elmore Leonard novel, adding a
bizarre splash to another entertaining entry in one of thrillerdom's most
enduring series. The Cincinati Enquirer May 25, 2004 The amazing thing about John Sandford is that even when he's
not at his best, and he's not in Hidden Prey, he's still better than
most. Still one of the best there is at police procedurals. Like all Prey novels – this is his 16th –
it stars Lucas Davenport, former Twin Cities detective, now an investigator
with Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a statewide agency that takes
over when local cops request help. Kicking him off the Twin Cities force was a smart move on
Sandford's part because it makes the entire state Davenport's hunting ground
– more grisly murders, more depravity, more truly hideous characters to
track down. Hidden, for example, takes him from Minneapolis to Duluth to a
gaggle of cities East of Nowhere. Nice little travelogue, that. His prey this time is a cell of Russian spies – led by a
90-something-year-old Grandpa, of all things – that has been inactive
since the Cold War. They're living in Duluth and trying to protect their
secret. "Protecting their secret" translates to killing people who are on to
them: the Russian sailor who may or may not be a foreign agent; the street
person who may or may not have witnessed the sailor's murder. You know from the very start that Carl is the killer. He one
of the book's best characters, a high school senior reared by Grandpa (actually
his great-grandfather) to be a hired killer. Carl is complex and well drawn, a curious mix of teenage boy
concerns – as in charging hormones, identity confusion – and killer
instincts. All this leaves him torn between growing up, loyalty to
Grandpa and a growing sense of guilt over the murders. Not so with Grandpa, the book's other superbly drawn character
– no remorse, no regrets, no feeling for anything, really, except for his
disabled wife and grandson Carl. Where Sandford stumbles is in trying to make us believe any of
this really matters. With the Cold War a distant memory, would anyone care if
someone was a former spy? Heck, it would probably be a plus, making for much
better poker night yarn spinning. The Russian government, of course, cares a great deal. That's
why it sends Nadezhda Kalin, a spy masquerading as a Russian cop and having a
terrible time with English, creating a communications gap that makes for some
great one-liners. Oh, and Nadezhda's beautiful and a little bit easy, so you get
some pretty snappy sexual tension between her and any number of law enforcement
types. But not with Davenport – he's now married to Weather and
has a year-old son. Davenport isn't at the top of his game here, either. His detecting skills are just fine, as always, but he seems to
be going through the motions. Not much passion there. Likewise, there aren't as
many of his "just this side of illegal" methods going on. Where Sandford excels is in his picture of police work –
the mountain of false leads, the constantly changing direction of an
investigation, the minutiae that probably isn't important needs to be tracked
down anyway. The step-by-step process of an investigation is presented here in
excruciating detail. Now, if he could only make us care about a bunch of geriatric
spies. Grand Forks Herald May 16, 2004 Since Rules of Prey in 1989,
John Sandford has been one of the authors who has refined the formula for the
perfect thriller. His 15 novels with Minnesota police detective Lucas Davenport
erupt with nonstop action with three-dimensional characters in an authentic
Midwest setting. Lucas – tenacious, rich and quite handsome – has
become one of the genre's most recognized police detectives. Only Jonathan
Kellerman's Alex Delaware and Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes are as
recognizable to readers. In Hidden Prey, Lucas gets a history lesson when he
investigates the shooting of a Russian on the shores of Lake Superior. The man
was a former KGB operative whose father is a powerful oil mogul. Not only is
Lucas assigned to the investigation in his new role for Minnesota's Bureau of
Criminal Apprehension, but so is the Russian government, which sends its own
investigator. Lucas learns that Minnesota once had a large secret group of
Communist sympathizers who, during the Cold War, helped Soviet spies cross into
Canada. Sandford skillfully injects "Hidden Prey" with subtle
parallels between secret cells of communists and today's war on terrorism.
Sandford, the pseudonym of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp,
carefully weaves this into a plot that travels at his trademark break-neck
speed. Kirkus Reviews As the brilliant Prey series (Naked
Prey, 2003, etc.) moves adroitly to number 15, Lucas Davenport
discovers and exposes your basic family Soviet spy ring. Homogeneously American
on the surface-hardworking dads, dutiful soccer moms-this family of
subversives, headed by a former KGB colonel, has been for 70 years secretly
diligent on behalf of the Soviet Union, undeterred by the Soviet Union's
demise. At first, the murder of Oleg Moshalov seems unconnected to the group's
efforts, seems, in fact, fairly routine, a bit confusing as to motive, to be
sure, but not much more so than homicides often are in the early stages of an
investigation. Even after Oleg Moshalov is correctly identified as Rodion
Oleshev, ex-KGB agent, the various antennae involved remain at rest. And then
suddenly there are the Russians demanding action, clamoring for results, and
flying a cop from Moscow to Duluth to make certain the Americans understand
that they're serious. All of which means that Lucas Davenport, still settling
into his recent appointment as major-crimes troubleshooter for Minnesota
Governor Elmer Henderson, is about to be activated. Russian cop? Well, not
quite, Lucas decides almost at once (cops don't flinch at the sight of corpses,
though intelligence officers might). He manages to bear up under the deception,
however, since Major Nadezhda Kalin-she of the delicious diastema between her
two front teeth-turns out to be Ninotchka for the new century. To charm,
smarts, and guts, add investigative flair, and what you've got is a matched
pair, the Kalin-Davenport team, essential for coping with a crafty, resolute
villain desperate to elude the denouement he really always knew was in store
for him. Deft,action-packed, and slyly funny. Just when you thought the silky
smooth Sandford couldn't possibly get better, he does. New York Daily News May 30, 2004 Lucas Davenport doesn't really need the job after making
millions in computer gaming. But as an army of satisfied fans know, author John
Sandford's leading character won't give up the sleuthing talents he honed
earlier as a cop. Now a Minnesota special state investigator – resourceful,
tough and as persistent as a bulldog – Davenport is again up to the lapels
of his fine-thread designer suits in blood and intrigue. A mysterious Russian seaman is murdered in a Duluth freight
terminal, an act witnessed by a homeless woman who once was a lawyer. She
steals $50,000 hidden on the Russian, escapes the killer and sets off a bloody,
twisted chase that will lead Davenport to a gang of Soviet-era spies living on
old dreams in rural Minnesota. What makes all of this work so well is that Sandford, who has
written 15 previous Prey thrillers, entertainingly mixes humor,
cynicism and some unusually colorful secondary characters. The main ones here
are a female Russian intelligence officer assigned to help untangle the mystery
and a 92-year-old holdout Cold War killer. Hidden Prey is a welcome change from the avalanche of
thrillers about Islamic terrorists, and, with its offbeat locale and
square-shooter hero, another in a superior series. Once again, let us prey. Publishers Weekly 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. Washington Post There are reasons why John Sandford's At a time when every other cop in America is sniffing around
for Islamist terror cells, Sandford involves Davenport with the nefarious deeds
of a Russian spy ring that has existed in northern Minnesota since the 1940s
and is led by an old Bolshevik who is no less lethal for being 92 years of age.
If this sounds like comedy, it does offer some extremely dark humor, but the
fact is that Burt Walther is deadly serious and mean as a snake. Aided by his
well-indoctrinated teenage great-grandson, Burt leaves at least eight corpses
in his wake before Davenport finds him out. In the novel's first chapter, three characters are ill-met by
moonlight. Thirty-something Annabelle, once a lawyer, now a crack addict, is
drinking cheap wine "on the southernmost shore of Lake Superior, a huge
butterball moon rising to the east." Teenager Carl Walther appears from the
shadows. He has a gun and has been sent there by his grandfather on a mission
of some sort. ("Remember what Lenin said: 'There are no morals in politics:
there is only expedience.' ") A Russian named Oleshev arrives by cab. The
teenager shoots the Russian, the crack addict screams and starts to run, and
the boy gives pursuit. She fights him off with her knife, and after he flees
she takes the $50,000 she finds in the Russian's money belt. In a dozen pages,
Sandford has given us a dead Russian, a teenage killer with incomprehensible
motives, and a newly rich crack addict desperate to get out of Dodge. And we
haven't even met Grandpa yet. We turn with relief to Lucas Davenport, home in Minneapolis
sprawled on the couch with a beer in his hand. His 9-month-old son, Sam, sleeps
nearby. A bit of comic relief (sexist, some would say) ensues when Davenport's
new wife, Weather, the distinguished surgeon, crashes her car into the garage
door and he is at pains to agree with her that it was not her fault, that the
garage door opener clearly malfunctioned. But the fun ends when Davenport's
boss calls and says they've got a dead Russian in Duluth, that he may have been
a spy, the FBI is involved and he's got to get up there. Up in Duluth, more surprises await. A homeless woman has been
garroted – strangled with a wire that almost took her head off, more of
the work of Grandpa and young Carl, who mistook the unlucky woman for the
witness who saw him kill the Russian. The other surprise is Nadya, a sexy
Russian cop who has come to investigate the death of her countryman. Except
that Davenport knows she's not a cop as soon as he sees her flinch when she
views the Russian's body in the morgue – real cops don't flinch. Nadya
confesses – she's an intelligence agent, under pressure to satisfy the
dead man's powerful, Putin-connected father. An FBI agent solemnly warns
Davenport that Nadya might try to seduce him. ("They're very, very well
trained.") Davenport escapes Nadya's clutches, although a local cop working
with him does not, a fatal error. We meet the other members of Grandpa's long-dormant,
multi-generational spy ring; several of them operate Svoboda's Bakery in
downtown Hibbing (and probably sold Bobby Zimmerman his first apple Danish 50
years ago). Sandford serves up more murders, more surprises, more comic relief
and a quite cynical view of law enforcement, so much so that at the end
Davenport is not even sure if he wants one of the murderers punished. Sandford is the pen name of John Camp, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist who was for many years a reporter in the Twin Cities.
He turns 60 this year and is at the top of his game in Hidden Prey,
taking a truly bizarre story and making it work. What does it mean, this tale
of an ancient, half-mad Bolshevik who keeps the faith? Nothing, as far as I can
make out. It's just good, dark, perverse, bloody fun. There are crime writers
who are more challenging than Sandford, who plunge more deeply into the human
condition, but it's hard to think of anyone who is more consistently
entertaining. You want to know the only thing wrong with this guy? He makes it
look easy. The Wichita Eagle May 23, 2004 At 46, Lucas Davenport isn't quite sure whether he is ready
for domesticity as he settles into married life and adjusts to fatherhood. So
when the troubleshooter for Minnesota's governor is called to investigate the
death of a former KGB agent, found with three holes in his head and heart on
the shores of Lake Superior, Davenport is happy to escape his chores. In Hidden Prey (G.P. Putnam, $26.95), John Sandford has
given a whole new twist to his immensely popular Prey series, as he skillfully
blends dark humor and the macabre in scenes worthy of a Coen brothers movie.
Among the memorable characters are a 91-year-old Soviet spy, the patriarch of a
family of spies long forgotten by their fallen communist masters; his
17-year-old great-grandson, well-versed in the art of killing; a homeless
woman, who was once a lawyer; and a seductive Russian cop. The result is pure
delight, especially as Sandford allows his hero to show signs of aging, even
getting out of breath and suffering a stitch in the side while chasing a
killer. |
13 May 2008  The Prey series, the Virgil Flowers series,
the Kidd series, The Night Crew, Dead Watch, The Eye
and the Heart: The Watercolors of John Stuart Ingle, and Plastic
Surgery: The Kindest Cut are copyrighted by John Sandford. All excerpts are
used with permission. All original content on the website (excluding the message
board and some other specifically disclaimed text) is copyright © 2008 by
Roswell Anthony Camp. Please do not steal anything from these pages. If you
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