John Sandford Delivers Another Page-Turner

Rob Taub   |  

Apr 26, 2021

An off-duty Coast Guardsman is fishing with his family when he calls in some suspicious behavior from a nearby boat. It’s a snazzy craft, slick and outfitted with extra horsepower, and is zipping along until it slows to pick up a surfaced diver . . . a diver who was apparently alone, without his own boat, in the middle of the ocean. None of it makes sense unless there’s something hinky going on, and his hunch is proved right when all three Guardsmen who come out to investigate are shot and killed.

John Sandford has written thirty-one Prey novels and they keep getting better. Rather than staying with the same formula, Sandford gives his hero Lucas Davenport new teammates to work with in different locations that keep his stories fresh, which certainly holds true for Ocean Prey. Davenport works with familiar characters from his past like US Marshals Bob and Rae, while Minnesota lawman Virgil Flowers gets thrown into the mix in this page-turner when he goes undercover as a scuba-diving drug smuggler.

This is Sandford at his best and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I nearly read it in one sitting.