RIGHTEOUS PREY

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces once more with each other and a host of other law enforcement officials to take down a cabal of white-collar vigilante killers.

The Five, as they style themselves, are a group of Bitcoin billionaires oozing self-righteousness who’ve declared war on crooked politicians, heartless corporate leaders, slumlords, and right-wing radio bloviators. That’s an awful lot of targets, and it’s no wonder that even though The Five issue regular manifestos, progress reports, and teasing hints about where they’ll strike next, the FBI has been helpless to identify and protect their victims. Not surprisingly, the two U.S. senators from Minnesota want Lucas, a U.S. Marshal, on the job, and Lucas wants to work with Virgil, his old protégé at Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. At first their progress is frustratingly slow, but things heat up abruptly when they identify a likely suspect who’s promptly executed by Vivian Zhao, the scheming self-proclaimed economist who’s the brains behind The Five. During a routine inquiry, Lucas and Virgil get an unexpected glimpse of Zhao, who flees the scene and issues an S.O.S. to the surviving members of The Five asking for funds to finance her flight. By now, of course, every one of the conspirators is afraid that Zhao, the only one who knows their identities, will flip on them, and Lucas and Virgil’s race to find the ringleader is complicated by the vigilantes’ race to cover themselves by killing anyone who might betray them, beginning, of course, with each other. Sandford manages the ensuing circular firing squad with brisk expertise, though it’s hard to generate much suspense over the threats to such a despicable bunch.

The most relaxing tale of double-digit murder you’ll read this year.