Stolen Prey – Author John Sandford – 101,355 words, $27.95 HC / $12.99 E
The one thing that makes John Sandford stand out is his Pulitzer Prize winning writing. Oh. And his thrilling stories. … And his deep, developed characters. Right. Three things that make him stand out are his writing, his stories, his characters, and his compelling conflicts. That’s four. Four things that make* … OK, fine. Lots of things make Mr. Sandford stand out.
One thing that strikes me every time I read one of his books is the criminal element. Each character becomes part of the criminal conspiracy for reasons that are realistic and believable, maybe even a bit sympathetic. And each one of them is an individual so real you could swear his/her character was based that second cousin your family never likes to talk about. (“What ever happened to the Sweeney’s kid?” “Shush, we got comp’ny.” “No we don’t.” “Shush anyway.”) Not only are the criminals distinct and realistic, but so are the interactions, and struggles, between them.
In this Lucas Davenport story, there are lots of criminals. An almost confusing array, with competing agendas and surprising alliances. In the hands of a lesser author, one would need to chart the various factions and viewpoints. Mr. Sandford’s Pulitzer Prize was not awarded for confusing readers. He lets the reader ride shotgun with eight different criminals and god-only-knows how many policemen without eliciting a single ‘wait, what?’ (Quite an accomplishment when this reviewer is involved.) Recently, I castigated another famous author for having too many POV’s, losing us in unnecessary side stories and diversions to nowhere. Not the case in Stolen Prey. In this story we follow the dim witted killer who talks to saints and find ourselves hoping he finds a happy ending. Come to think of it, one might argue, he did. In another group of criminals, we follow a woman so anxious (for good reason) that we want to reach into the story and save her from the mistakes she’s making. “No, honeychild, that is a bad decision.”
And the cops? Their interactions are slices of life common to any mega-corporation or government agency. We’ve all witnessed the familiar situations that range from friendly aide to stingy power trips. Mr. Sandford’s work should be standard deconstruction material for Creative Writing classes. He defines perfection.
Stolen Prey is not a mystery. There are no surprises. Instead, there are two gut-wrenching shockers. The kind that, not only didn’t you see coming, but you were comfortably distracted from by kinda-humorous sub-plots. That is, if you call blowing up a barn with a .50 caliber machine gun while tweakers run for their lives ‘humorous’. Yeah? Well, it is the way Sandford tells it. Anyway, this story follows the classic Alfred Hitchcock method showing you the problem that the hero is ignorant of and letting you bite your nails worrying about it. Here again, Mr. Sandford excels. There is more than one scene where you will read along and say, ‘No! Lucas, for cryin out loud, don’t say anything in front of _____!’
Luckily for us, our favorite loose-screw, Virgil Flowers, makes an appearance (you guessed it, he’s involved in the barn-thing). But long-time fans will see another character itching for a break-out series. We’ve noticed this character building a background and skill set to go it alone for several books now. Hopefully there will be another series coming soon featuring this character. If Mr. Sandford is willing to cut into his fishing time and crank them out, I’m dying to snap them up. Side note: There are 222 cuss words in here; 69 of them are the F-word, down from the all-time high of 270 in Shadow Prey. Found that gem on his site. If you’re one of my friends from church, let’s just keep that stat between us, OK?
My final analysis — Buy & read this book. Don’t be cheap, get the hardcopy, chase him down on tour and get him to sign it for you.
(Yes, I know the picture at the top is the wrong one. I found it on his website, laughed and the snarky, smartass in me said, “yeah, gotta post that one.”)
Peace, Seeley James
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* My apologies to Michael Palin and Monty Python. Where would intellectuals be without you? Probably pondering Descarte: I drink, therefore I am.