Sandford's talent for conveying the quotidian horrors, tedium, and heavy-handed humor of urban police procedure is as sure as ever in streetwise hero Lucas Davenport's seventh outing (Night Prey, 1994, etc.). Andi Manette, a carriage-trade psychiatrist, and her two young daughters are the victims of a violent daylight abduction. Because Manette is the daughter of an influential Minnesota poi and the estranged wife of a wealthy developer, Davenport, deputy chief of the Minneapolis PD, winds up in charge of the high-profile case. The kidnapper, a vicious but resourceful psychopath named John Mail, was once a patient of Manette's while confined in a state institution for the criminally insane. Before the abductor's identity becomes apparent, however, Davenport needs to check out several suspects who might stand to gain from Manette's death. A computer-game freak, Mail soon begins phoning Davenport (an off-duty entrepreneur who launched his own simulation software company) to taunt him with clues. The detective eventually realizes his quarry is getting inside information from someone in Manette's family circle, which includes her partner — a nasty piece of work who has been bedding down with the septuagenarian paterfamilias. The suspense and dread build steadily as Davenport closes in on Mail, who has been beating and raping Manette in a farmhouse well beyond the Twin Cities limits. Will Davenport (who's been lured into a couple of near-fatal traps by his crafty adversary) be able to engineer an endgame before the madman kills his three captives? And what can Manette and her children do to help save themselves from mortal peril? A shocking but credible climax provides most of the answers, and Davenport ties up the last loose ends in a satisfying postlude. Nonstop action, an offbeat milieu (the wide, weird world of computer gamesters), and a host of three-dimensional characters — all make for one of the best Preys yet.
Pub Date: May 11, 1995
ISBN: 0425152898
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Chilling.
A glaciologist seeks refuge in Antarctica.
A nearly two-year stint at the British Antarctic Survey’s base on South Georgia Island, halfway between the Antarctic mainland and the Falklands, seems like the perfect job for Cambridge graduate Felicity Lloyd. The landscape is breathtaking, the wildlife like no other in the world, and ever changing glaciers provide vital opportunities to investigate the effects of climate change on humankind’s future. But Felicity has another secret reason for choosing to pursue her professional passion in what may be the most remote place on Earth. She hopes that Freddie, who’s stalked her nearly her whole adult life, will never find her there. The trouble is, she can’t remember much about Freddie or the reason for his obsession with her; her memories are jumbled and distorted, with chunks of time missing from her consciousness the size of the icebergs she studies. Dr. Joe Grant, the psychologist she sees in Cambridge, tries to help her recover her lost moments, but just when he seems to be getting close, Felicity shuts him down, preferring to work out her problems alone in the frigid south. Leaving Felicity to handle her issues on her own, however, may no longer be an option for Joe once his mother, DI Delilah Jones, begins to connect the deaths of some of Cambridge’s homeless to Felicity’s blackouts. Bolton (The Craftsman, 2018, etc.) provides her readers with shivers worthy of her setting, although true aficionados of the psychological thriller may find the secret of Felicity’s illness a bit too easy to recognize.
Chilling.Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30005-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.
A new fitness regimen allows Hannah Swensen (Carrot Cake Murder, 2008, etc.) to exercise her ingenuity along with her abs when she finds a dead body in the local health club’s Jacuzzi.
Hannah isn’t used to having her suitor, Detective Mike Kingston, give her amateur investigations his blessings. But then, she’s not used to having to eat skinless chicken breasts night after night instead of feasting on the treats she and Lisa Beeseman serve up daily at The Cookie Jar. So even though her diet and exercise plan—undertaken in a last-ditch attempt to fit into the Regency dress she ordered for her mother’s book launch—is a drag, her newfound freedom to probe the death of fitness instructor Ronni Ward is a treat, not in the least because Ronni’s demise puts paid to her shameless flirting with every man in sight. Not only Mike, but Hannah’s sister Andrea’s county-cop husband Bill and Lisa’s local-cop husband Herb are barred from the official investigation because they were just too close to the victim. In fact, Norman Rhodes, Hannah’s second-string beau, may be the only man in Lake Eden Ronni hadn’t tried to bed. His immunity to Ronni’s charms, along with his own charming modesty, raises his stock in Hannah’s eyes, and before long the two of them are whipping up Bonnie Brownie Cookie Bars in his custom-designed kitchen while watching security tapes to see who might have taken Ronni for her final swim.
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7582-1022-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
