John Sandford - Naked Prey

Three stars. Solid and enjoyable.

The latest Lucas Davenport novel is a relatively weak addition to the series, I felt. The web of criminal behaviour on show is more complicated than previous Prey books. The killer doesn't feel so dangerous and deranged as other villains in the series--he comes across more as an ordinary criminal who has just gone a few steps too far over the line. Davenport himself is less edgy and intense, and he and Del Capslock do an oddly nonchalant buddy act throughout the book. The danger just isn't personal. Most of the book takes place in the far North of Minnesota, well outside of Davenport's normal stomping grounds, and it made me wonder why this was a Davenport novel at all, and didn't feature a local, more story-appropriate detective as the hero. Oh well.