Thursday, August 4, 2016


EXTREME PREY 


 By John Sandford 







     Having recently been critical of Sandford's novels—his early ones were my favorites—I was thrilled to find Extreme Prey to be a real page-turner!
     Lucas Davenport takes a job investigating a threat to a presidential candidate who is making her political rounds in Iowa before the caucuses begin. Davenport no longer beds every woman he meets, a fact I found refreshing, although, oddly enough, I saw a review that mentioned this fact made the book boring.
     Having spent a lot of years living in Iowa, I particularly enjoyed following the trail with Davenport as he visited so many small Iowa towns trying to find the culprits. The suspense carries the reader quickly through the book to a nail-biting final scene at the state fair. A great read, one I highly recommend to lovers of suspense.

Things authors can learn from Extreme Prey:

  1.  There is always a fresh approach to a long-term series. 
  2.  Always have a few characters that are sympathetic.  
  3.  Have interesting characters! The Purdy family was excellent, and even had one member who was a sympathetic drunk. 
  4.  Have the main character visit lots of different places searching for clues, and interview many  kinds of people. 
  5.  Keep the suspense and conflict at a steady pace, don’t slow it down with lengthy back-story or  family drama. In Extreme Prey, the reader sees just enough about Davenports own family to  understand where he’s coming from. 

Dear Readers,
    As a long-time Sandford reader, I was happy to be able to share a glowing review for one of his Prey series’ books. Glad I hung in there. Hope you will enjoy reading Extreme Prey. If you’ve discovered another suspense book we should know about, please comment.

Hope, you’re enjoying the summer,

 Marla