Books › Phantom prey
Phantom prey
First published 2008 · 613 pages
A gritty, fast-paced descent into an urban underworld where a cynical detective hunts a killer who seems to vanish into thin air.
What it feels like
Reading this thriller feels like riding shotgun in an unmarked police cruiser through the dark streets of a freezing city. It is a propulsive, gritty experience that pulls you into the eerie fringes of urban subcultures, balancing the methodical satisfaction of a police procedural with the adrenaline spike of a serial killer hunt. The prose is punchy and dialogue-heavy, driven by a wry, pragmatic protagonist who anchors the dread-soaked atmosphere with sharp competence. As the body count rises and the killer's identity remains frustratingly elusive, the tension tightens into a knot of genuine suspense. It will thoroughly delight readers who crave hardboiled detective fiction, dark psychological stakes, and a relentless cat-and-mouse game that refuses to let up until the final page.
- Mood
- tense
- eerie
- dark
- dread-soaked
- Tone
- cynical
- gritty
- wry
- pragmatic
- suspenseful
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- urban underworlds · obsession and madness · the toll of violence · hidden identities · pursuit of justice
- The writing
- Punchy, dialogue-driven, and sharply observant, with a gritty, unadorned edge.
- The arc
- Starts with reluctant curiosity, builds into intense, high-stakes obsession, and culminates in a gripping, violent confrontation.
- Who it's for
- Fans of hardboiled police procedurals and serial killer thrillers who enjoy a smart, slightly cynical protagonist with a penchant for bending the rules.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- murder
- gore
- mental illness
About the book
Lucas Davenport has had disturbing cases before— but never one quite like this, in the shocking new Prey novel from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author.John Sandford's most recent Davenport novel, Invisible Prey, was hailed as "one of his best books in recent memory" (The Washington Post); "as fresh and entertaining as ever" (Chicago Sun-Times); and "rivetingly readable" (Richmond Times-Dispatch). But this time, he's got something quite special in store.A widow comes home to her large house in a wealthy, exclusive suburb to find blood everywhere, no body—and her college-aged daughter missing. She's always known that her daughter ran with a bad bunch. What did she call them—Goths? Freaks is more like it, running around with all that makeup and black clothing, listening to that awful music, so attracted to death. And now this.But the police can't find the girl, alive or dead, and when a second Goth is found slashed to death in Minneapolis, the widow truly panics. There's someone she knows, a surgeon named Weather Davenport, whose husband is a big deal with the police, and she implores Weather to get him directly involved. Lucas begins to investigate only reluctantly—but then when a third Goth is slashed in what is now looking like a Jackthe- Ripper series of killings, he starts working it hard. The clues don't seem to add up, though. And then there's the young Goth who keeps appearing and disappearing: Who is she? Where does she come from and, more important, where does she vanish to? And why does Lucas keep getting the sneaking suspicion that there is something else going on here... something very, very bad indeed?Filled with his brilliant trademark suspense and some of the most interesting characters in thriller fiction, Phantom Prey is further proof that "Sandford is in a class of his own" (The Orlando Sentinel).
Description from Open Library.
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