Author: John Sandford

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The Devil’s Code

The Devil’s Code

I was happy that Sandford revisited the Kidd series even after seeing success in his Prey novels.  Kidd isn’t the normal type of hero you see in these books and that is what I like about it.  With a criminal for a main character, a group of hacker as backup, and a cocaine addicted love interested, Sandford is able to come at the thriller in a unique angle we don’t get from a lot of other books of the genre. The story itself isn’t overly unique, but it is well done.  Evil company CEO has pulled the wool over the US governments’ eyes and is using the technology he sold them to his own end.  To keep his activities from being noticed, he frames Kidd and his cohorts and sic’s the government on them as a distraction.  We’ve all seen this plot before.  Where the story takes a twist is… Read more »

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Easy Prey

Easy Prey

What starts off as a dicey crime scene and a dead supermodel becomes more confusing when the cops find a second body stuffed in a closed.  Drugs, artists, angry families and socialites make Easy Prey one of the more confusing of the prey series, but in a good way. While the last several installments of the prey series have been more action/thriller based this book swings the plot back towards the mystery side of the street.  While previously we have known exactly who the bad guy was in Easy Prey, Sandford keeps that information not only hidden but completely obfuscated with a truck load of red herrings.  Honestly I am torn between the two styles this series seems to jump between and each has their merits.  I will say it took me longer to really get pulled into this book then it has with his previous work.  I am not… Read more »

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The Fools Run

The Fools Run

In The Fools Run Kidd, the artist, computer expert and sometimes criminal, is hired to retrieve stolen technology and destroy the defense contractor responsible for the theft.   With a thief named LuEllen backing him up Kidd finds that there is much more at play then simple industrial espionage. This book involves computers and was written very early in the digital age, something that might bother a lot of people reading this book years after it was written.  While it doesn’t bug me I can see how the dated technology could throw some readers.  It is important to note that the computers in the book are a plot point and not the real focus of the book.  Like Sanford’s other work The Fools Run is more about Kidd’s ability to think his way around situations. This book really gives you what readers of other Sandford titles have come to expect; an… Read more »

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Sudden Prey

Sudden Prey

Review by Travis Starnes In the 8th installment of the Prey series John Sandford has decided to kick things up a notch.  Up till now Lucas Davenport has faced a cavalcade of psychopaths who have all had self-preservation at the top of their list.  In this book however Davenport has to face off against criminals targeting cops for all out revenge and a do or die attitude. So far the Prey series has really worked for me.  The stories have all been connected enough that I can feel the thread between them but with plots and even a tone that is different from book to book.  It’s not often a series manages to pull that off and Sandford has does it with flying colors.  As usual this is not a “who done it” type of book, as we see the story from both the perspective of Davenport and the people he is… Read more »

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