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Invisible Prey
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Invisible Prey
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Invisible Prey
Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

Invisible Prey

Written by John Sandford

Narrated by Richard Ferrone

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Lucas Davenport returns in one of the most startling Prey novels yet from the number-one-bestselling author.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 15, 2007
ISBN9781429585996
Unavailable
Invisible Prey
Author

John Sandford

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of thirty-three Prey novels, two Letty Davenport novels, four Kidd novels, twelve Virgil Flowers novels, three YA novels co-authored with his wife, Michele Cook, and five stand-alone books.

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Reviews for Invisible Prey

Rating: 3.8426574498834496 out of 5 stars
4/5

429 ratings24 reviews

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I couldn't finish it. Not as good as his other books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    'Invisible Prey' is the 17th book in the Minnesota state detective Lucas Davenport series. I found this book to have a mellower Lucas, married with a young son. This story integrated a local murder investigation with an unseemly investigation of a Senator having sex with a minor in an election year. Several times, the murder was put on the back burner to free up Lucas for the political investigation.

    When a rich elderly woman and her older maid are both bludgeoned to death, Lucas is asked to help with the case. As he looks into it, he comes across some other cases that are similar. With the way his mind works, he is able to fit puzzle pieces together to convince others that the cases are linked. The only problem is finding proof as well as finding the culprits. As is normal in the Prey stories, the reader knows who did it. We see their story running parallel to the police investigation. As the police close in, they devise plans to get away or distract the police. This is where the two plotlines come together. The thieves/murderers are pretty smart, as most are that Lucas comes up against, but he is smarter. Fortunately, Davenport has a free hand to run investigations across police jurisdictions due to his standing with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Department of Public Safety, and the support of the Governor's office. Once Art, Antiques, Quilts and furniture are identified as things that were either stolen or have a common thread, the chase is on as to whether the culprits will get away or Lucas will solve the case first.

    Many of the same characters show up in this story and they are always entertaining. "That F....ing Flowers" who gets his own series later is an eccentric detective. He is often towing his boat behind when he shows up when called. There is a new character, an intern named Sandy, who does a lot of background work for Davenport. She is a bit in awe of him, but begins to develop a backbone as the story progresses. I hope she is in other books. Overall, a good detective story. This is definitely not a police procedural, as they break so many rules in the story, but it is a fun mystery. This fulfills my letter "I" in the ABC read your own books, challenge.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Apparently this is the seventeenth book in this series but it is the first one I have read. For some reason I had always thought that this "Prey" series involved vampires and I just don't do vampire fiction. That was an erroneous assumption and there are no supernatural beings in this book (except for the lead investigator being supernaturally brilliant at solving crimes). Looks like I'm adding another author to my list of favourite mystery writers.Lucas Davenport is an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (or BCA for short). He mostly works outside of the Twin Cities region but when a wealthy widow and her maid are killed in the city the governor asks that Davenport be involved. Constance Bucher collected art and antiques and quilts and some items may be missing from her home so the motive for the killings may have been theft. Davenport is trying to figure that out but he is also dealing with another case that involves a State Senator who is accused of having sexual relations with a girl under 16. The political overtones of that case are causing some serious headaches. The murder case becomes even more complicated when Davenport learns that another rich widow in Wisconsin was killed some years ago and that the two women knew each other. While Davenport is unravelling the threads the reader knows who committed the murders so the book becomes a will they be caught mystery rather than a whodunnit. That doesn't take any suspense away from the plot.I've only been in Minneapolis/St. Paul a few times but I feel like I know the general outlines of the locale of this book. It certainly makes me want to visit again. I especially would like to see the Walker Art Center and its sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen which is mentioned in this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Two women, an elderly heiress and her maid, are brutally bludgeoned on a dark and rainy night in a home in St. Paul's most element neighborhood. Lucas is dealing at the moment with a very politically sensitive investigation of a local politician who may have had just a bit too much to do with the minor daughter of his current paramour. But the old woman's murder, especially because of it's brutality, carries some poltical weight too, so Lucas looks in on the scene. The two disparate investigations - a sex scandal and a double murder - ultimately become involved

    Sanford identifies the killers early to the reader and then plays very adroitly with us as Davenport attempts to discover who they are. John Sanford plays the mystery and the reader along beautifully. As the last hundred of pages or so rush by, Davenport starts closing in, though it isn't until close to the end that we're sure the killers will be found before Davenport himself becomes a victim.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a Lucas Davenport novel. He works for the Minneapolis Police department as an investigator. There are a few murders of old people and some of their belongings have been stolen. They appear un connected but Lucas and his team do a bit of digging. There are a couple who help the Police valuing old antiques and they set this up in an elaborate scheme. Fake Quilts are also added into the mix that pushes the price up and becomes a tax dodge for some mystery doners. OK book this.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I consider John Sanford's Prey series light entertainment. The story and characters are not as harsh and deep as I normally like (think Chandler, Spillane, Thompson), but there's nothing wrong with being entertained without the depth of the social and human conditions. This is why I gave the book 4 stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Vintage police thriller featuring Lucas Davenport untangling a series of unsolved murders committed by some really unlikely felons.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    not the best John Sandford
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great story line filled with twists, turns and dead ends. Lucas Davenport is a man with a mission. Murders are stacking up, seemingly not related except by the thinnest of threads. Antiques belong to a whole different world than that in which he is comfortable and knowledgeable. A crash course takes him into the museum, the homes of the wealthy and the back rooms of dealers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lucas Davenport is called into a investigation where several elderly people have been killed and it looks like they are connected to the world of antiques. Can Lucas find out who is involved before someone else is killed?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    At first it appeared to be a routine and random home invasion gone wrong. Two elderly women violently dead, missing electronics, smashed antiques... except the thieves took the wrong types of things, the usual suspects are turning up innocent, and the random burglary is only one in a series of not-so-random break-in/homicides. Davenport knows there's something else going on, but he can't quite put his finger on it.Cleverly plotted and difficult to put down.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not as exciting as some of the other Lucas Davenport novels, because this one is about quilts and artwork. Still, Sandford's writing is always seamless and tight. He always tells a good story, just some better than others.Loved this observation: "The thing about Botox is that when you've had too much, you then have to fake reactions just to look human--and it's impossible to distinguish real fake reactions from fake fake reactions."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another Great Book by a Super Author. I will give Mr. Sandford credit for keeping his creative writing skills hone. In my opinion, he did allow himself to fall into the trap of a number of these mass market mystery/thriller authors by just keep cranking out these second rate stories every 2 months. In the Invisible Prey, I was impressed with Sandford's ability to bring out the world of art and antiques into the story while weaving in various murders that happened over a number of years. The readers will find Detective Lucas Davenport investigating the Minnesota State Senator Burt Kline. The senator has been accused of having sex with a minor. Special note: the book contains an overly abundance of foul language which I don't care for. I felt the story held its own without the constant splattering of offensive language. Overall the characters in the story were well developed and along the way Sandford dropped a sprinkling of humor which I always enjoy in a story. The story is a great beach read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've been a fan of the 'Prey' series from the first, and the stories are still as interesting, but I'm finished with Sandford. His increasing and gratuitous use of foul language in both this series and even more so in the Virgil Flowers series, has lost him, at the least, this one reader!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Davenport is called in to investigate two murders in an old mansion full of antiques. Nothing seems to be missing until a teenager starts looking around and notes missing pieces. This is linked to a series of similar murders with missing valuables. Good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although not my favorite of the Prey books, this is still very much a page-turner. It has been quite a while since I left off reading the Lucas Davenport books but I don't think that it is just me. This installment seems to have a different air about it. The scenes with his family did not flow or seem very realistic to me. Even so, Davenport is still one of my favorite crime fighters!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Invisible Prey is the 17th outing with Lucas Davenport. He's back and stuck in the middle of a nasty political quagmire. A Congressman has had a teenager point her finger at him and claimed sexual intestacy, necessitating an investigation into possible statutory rape charges. The Congressman is politically powerful, and the 'sex' stories seem a little like a get rich scheme. Next, comes an apparent murder/burglary but the clues don't really fit together. Eventually, similar cases are brought to light and Lucas believes it's more than a couple druggies looking for some quick cash.This book fits well with the Davenport we've grown to like, it is very similar to the early novels as far as the pacing, tension and puzzle solving. This is another great addition by Sandford to the Davenport collection.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    'Invisible Prey' is a well thought out piece of crime fiction. Lucas Davenport, the central character in the 'Prey' series is once more thrown in to the midst of a complicated crime. What makes this, and each 'Prey' novel is the approach and the plot. The plot here is no run-of-the-mill serial killer story, but an interesting and clever piece of narrative. The approach is also different. In fact for the first third of the book it seems that Davenport will be dealing with two completely separate crimes. Sandford has deviated from the standard path of the genre and created a compelling and thoroughly believable crime thriller. The finale isn't as strong as it could have been although it maintains it's well written feel of reality and there's not as much suspense as in other 'Prey' novels. On the bright side it is pacey, witty, sneaky and filled with likeable characters (and some despicable ones too). Highly recommended indeed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not a bad go-round. Once the penny dropped for me as to whom the villains were I sometimes get exasperated waiting for the hero to figure it out, but not this time. Davenport put it together fairly quickly and it was really fun and suspenseful watching it come together. Sandford did a great job teasing that out, but not so much that it became boring. The ‘ah ha’ moments were some to savor. Another thing worth savoring was the time when the criminals knew Davenport was on to them and they started to plot against one another. Waiting to see who would act first was really a fun experience and timed very well. One thing I was a bit miffed at is how things ended for Jane. She deserved more suffering and it was too quick for how much Sandford made us hate her. Better emotional pay off was really needed. I did like the fact that Weather and the brats were largely ignored though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Lucas Davenport, special agent for Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is trying to deal with the sensitive investigation of a local politician who has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor when his boss calls him in on another case that occurred in one of St. Paul’s richest neighborhoods. Two elderly women have been found bludgeoned to death in a home filled with antiques. Although robbery is the suspected motive, not much has been taken, so Lucas asks his intern, Sandy, to cross-match crimes of a like nature. What she discovers takes Lucas back to a cold case and has him researching the antiquities venue as he follows a twisting investigation that leads him away from the killers. Although this is not the best in the Prey series, it is a good read. The two plots at times seemed to compete with one another, which made the read seem somewhat convoluted. Sandford is strong with characterization and the addition of Sandy, the intern, was a bonus, along with Detective Flowers, both of whom this reader hopes to see in future books. Sandford’s tendency to drop designer names grows tiring at times (can’t someone just once wear a simple shirt and pants?). One major disappointment for this reader is Davenport’s laid-back mellowness compared to the earlier books, where he was sharper, with a dangerous edge.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ok, now I just gotta say, I'm probably imagining this, but here goes anyway. About two years ago, I got an idea for an "Author's Quilt". I contacted lots of my favorite authors through email, and asked them if I mailed them a square of fabric, pen and return envelope, if they'd sign it. I sort of ran out of time, and to date haven't sent all of them out yet, but one of the authors I contacted was John Sandford. He was a bit more elusive than most, and the person I corresponded with pretty much told me that he wouldn't be able to do that, however if I took the fabric to a book signing, Sandford would most certainly sign it. Since Sandford had a book signing the next evening in a mystery book store in Thousand Oaks, I headed to T. Oaks. I wasn't able to go to the signing, but I wrote him a letter, and asked the woman in the store to give it to him. In the letter I said that I was a quilter, and described what I'd planned to make. A few days later, I received the fabric square in the mail and put it away for later use. Fast forward two years, I just finished reading the newest Lucas Davenport book, and quilts are all over this book. Quilters, quilt groups, antique quilts, forged antique quilts, along with the usual murder, mystery and mayhem of Sandford books. Hmmm....coincidence? Or perhaps....inspiration?......hmmm... (Oh...and the book's pretty good, typical of the Davenport/Prey series, I enjoyed it.....)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Invisible Prey is yet another solid, enjoyable entry in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series. This one’s a bit caperish, centering on a series of carefully-planned art-and-antiques robberies (with some murder thrown in). A subplot involving a politician who’s been, umm, friendly with an underage girl intertwines with the main story, and it’s good for some, ah, release of narrative tension. Anyway, Sandford lets on very early whodunit, as is often the case in this series. I see this as one of Sandford’s great strengths. He’s an effortlessly confident storyteller, which allows his other strengths as a writer to shine above and beyond the simple plot. Foremost among these, I think, is Sandford’s ability to portray his villains. For much of Invisible Prey we readers spend more time with the killers than we do with Davenport and the other cops. And it works: he manages to characterize his bad guys as ordinary walk-of-life types who never the less discover the thrill of the kill. He’s also very good at portraying the ways they eventually mess up, make crucial mistakes, and spiral downward into desperation. I don’t know how realistic this is – most criminals must be far stupider than Sandford’s – but it makes for fun reading.Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sandford is the consumate professional and this book glides by with ease. It's a keeper but I have a few quibbles - as the 17th (!) in the series, it was slightly more formulaic than past books and Sandford doesn't know what to do with the Davenport's children, esp the wonderful Letty West, introduced to us in Naked Prey and woefully under utilized ever since. However, you are in the hands of professional and you can relax and enjoy the prose and the occassional witty description that raises this series way above the rest.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Fast paced, police procedural. Not his best prey. Gotta love that Davenport !!!!!!