Easy Prey

May 1, 2000
The 12th entry in Sandford's ever-entertaining Prey series (Certain Prey, etc.) finds Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Lucas Davenport again rambling through a murky case with his unique combination of gutsy intelligence and aw-shucks attitude. Fashion model Alie'e Maison has been found dead in a back bedroom, seemingly strangled at a chic party. Then--typical of Davenport's luck--the body of a second woman tumbles out of a closet just as the investigating cops get ready to leave the scene. There's no shortage of suspects who could have killed Alie'e: her boyfriend, for instance, recently dropped in favor of a lesbian lover, or her brother, a backwoods holy man who disapproved of his sister's lifestyle. There are Alie'e's parents, who could be trying to cover up a history of sexual abuse; the local drug dealer who supplied Alie'e with heroin; and the oily banker who appears to be the money behind the drug dealer. As many of these suspects get murdered, one by one, including those connected to the second victim in the closet, it's clear that the killer remains at large. That makes Davenport and his colleagues look foolish in the eyes of the media horde descending on the case. To make matters worse, Davenport's having women trouble again, torn among three beauties who want to bed him. As always, it's a joy to follow this rare cop who gets led more often by his gut instinct than by clues. His humor, understated and perverse, can be wildly funny, and the people he runs across are shrewdly conceived originals, cut from fabric way at the back of the bin. BOMC main selection; simultaneous Putnam Berkley Audio; author tour.

May 1, 2000
The throaty voice of veteran audiobook reader Conger lends Sanford's latest Lucas Davenport thriller a sense of immediacy. Minneapolis detective Davenport is called to a wealthy socialite's house, where the bodies of a supermodel and another woman have been found in a bedroom after a party. Shortly afterwards, relatives and associates of the model, who came from a humble Minnesota town, begin experiencing grisly deaths. With suspects that range from the model's ultrareligious brother to a suspected drug runner, the story takes several unsuspected twists before its resolution. Conger handles the text perfectly, sounding as if he has a coffee cup in one hand and a cigarette in the other while rendering the staccato and often obscene language of Sanford's rough-hewn characters. The recording also inserts background sound effects in interesting, albeit seemingly random, situations to enhance its presentation. A subplot involving Davenport's romantic interludes is tiresome and extraneous, but Conger's excellent rendition of the investigation's many turns will keep listeners engaged to the end. Based on the Putnam hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 20).