Golden Prey (A Prey Novel)

Another great read by Sanford. Spoiler alert.This one starts with Garvin Poole. Poole is a door kicker and a shooter, A man who has no problem killing to take what he wants. He's got gold which he's selling a piece at a time. But its getting harder to sell it. Poole has been on the fifteen most wanted by the FBI for years though lately, with no action he's fallen off that list. Many have tried to catch him but so far, none have been successful.Sturgill Darling is a friend of Poole's. Darling is a planner and a thinker. He's spent the last nine months following the drug dealers. He's found out where their counting house is. Its where all the money will be before it is shipped out via boat to Honduras. He calls Poole and the two of them decide that the money, in the millions will be theirs.They do take the place and the four guard who are there are killed. A six year old girl comes running from the back and Poole decides no loose ends. He kills the girl even though he and Darling are wearing masks. Darling doesn't like it but what's done is done. They now have the millions which they split 50/50 and they both head for home. Poole to Dallas where his girlfriend Pandora Box is waiting and Darling back to his farm and his wife.Lucas Davenport now works as a US Marshal Service. He quit his former job with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and is now a floater for the US Marshal's office. His fellow Marshals and his commander Oder don't know what to make of Lucas. They all know he made the move to the Marshals Office because of Michaela Bowden who is running for POTUS and is a shoe in for the win and Lucas saved her life. Its purely political and the other Marshals resent the fact that Lucas is untouchable. A Lucas who is currently Aux Vases, Missouri at a bar called Cooters.Lucas isn't your average cop. For one thing he's filthy rich. Money he made inventing software. He is also married to Weather who is a doctor and has three kids. Letty, the oldest, is in her second year at Stanford. Lucas enjoys the hunt which why he's now a US Marshal. He gets bored easily and the Minnesota job was beginning to bore the hell out of him Davenport is all about the hunt. The trickier and harder the hunt the better Davenport likes it.Lucas takes a girl who introduced herself to him at Cooters, Shirley MacDonald called Triste to his motel room of course Lucas has no intention of doing what Triste thinks he wants to do. He also isn't the least bit surprised when she undresses herself and starts screaming bloody murder. He also isn't surprised when cops break down the door and he is arrested.One of the cops gets physical with Lucas and Lucas would like nothing better than to beat the ever loving crap out of this loser cop but he has a role to play so takes the slaps and punches.Of course he lands in an interrogation cells letting them all know he's afraid of being hit again. The Sheriff, Robert "Bob" Turner by name then tries to hustle Lucas. Its a trick the Sheriff and his men have done many times before. Only problem for them is that Lucas and his fellow Marshals know all about the blackmail in this Town. The Sheriff is very surprised when Marshals appear and he and his deputies are all under arrest.Marshal Duffy, part of the crew who arrested the Sheriff and his boys, tells Lucas about Garvin Poole and his fifteen kills one of which is a six year old girl. This is the kind of case Lucas Davenport is looking for.So begins one damned fine read.This one has Lucas, Bob, Rae who are two of the quick response team members, a team who will be assisting Lucas on the hunt for Poole, a Poole and Box who decide getting out of Dallas where they live would be the smart thing to do, a Poole who finds out the drug cartel is looking for the money he and Sturg stole, a team of Kort and Soto who are on his trail, a Kort who tortures answers from the victims and then kills them, a Kort who's a fat slob that her partner can't stand, a Soto who's the brains of the team, a hacker who will hack anything for a price, a Lucas and his team who are looking for leads, the dead parents of Poole, a Lucas and team who are interviewing friends and associates of Poole, a Lucas and team who are on the trail of Soto and Kort, a shootout between Soto and Lucas, a Soto who is killed when he's captured by Lucas, a Kort who does the killing, Darlings Alabama farm where he is an actual farmer, a Sturgil who also hid the money on that farm, a Sturg who only told his wife who is the love of his life, a Sturgil with three grown kids, a Sturgil and Poole who will team up to try and beat the odds, a shootout an and old fort, two women who are dug mules for the cartel who will free Box, a Box who was captured by the police, an RV, a Kort who is also along for the ride, a Kort they all hate, a Kort Box will plant a screw driver in Korts forehead, a Sturgil who will be killed and Lucas Davenport doing his best to kill the bad guys, save who he can and stay alive.One awesome read. Five Stars ant then some.

I like Lucas Davenport books I through I had read them all but I hadn't read this one and like all the rest I loved it and going to see if I missed any more!

Another Lucas Davenport great book. Sandford has been entertaining me for years.On another note why does amazon require so many words.

All the Prey books are well written with great story lines. They not only keep you attention but also keep you guessing.

Lucas Davenport has a new job as a federal marshal, with a twist. Thanks to his political connections, Lucas can pick and choose his cases, which causes some resentment among other marshals who have to do such menial tasks as escort prisoners and provide security on board passenger jets. Lucas only wants to “hunt,” which means hunt the baddest of the bad.He gets his wish when a “shooter” robs a drug cartel counting house, killing five people, including a six-year-old girl, whose grandfather was one of the counters. The shooter gets away with seven or eight million dollars.Those readers who loved Lucas's crew back at the Minnesota BCA have a treat in store. Lucas can't handle this case on his own, as the people who pulled this robbery have machine guns. The federal marshal service sends him two deputy marshals, Bob and Rae. Lucas pictures the old comedy team by that name. He doesn't realize that Rae is a tall black woman who started two years for the Connecticut basketball team. There's a lot of ribbing going on among the three. During a lull in the case, they stop to look at magazines. Bob, a stocky little fellow who's smarter than he looks, buys a photography magazine; Rae is into South American art. The snazzily dressed Lucas picks a men's fashion mag. He says, “I guess I'm the dumb one.” But the biggest clue comes from a neighbor of the gunman whom they track mainly through technology, such as phone records. He knows there was a graduation party next door to the shooter's former digs, and they'd hired a videographer. Sure enough the killer truck's tags show up on the video.The other impressive thing about Sandford's new direction is Garvin Poole's legitimate affection for his girlfriend. One would think that Garvin Poole would be a sociopath, but he really loves her and risks getting caught to save her when she's apprehended, even tough she's capable of stabbing another woman in the frontal lobe with an eight-inch screwdriver when they get into a tussle.The cartel is also after the man who stole their money; they send two hit men after him, using the some of the same methods the marshals are using to find him. One of them is also a woman. Sandford likes to do that once in a while. He's wants to show that women are just as good at detection and malice as men. There just seem to be more of the maclious type in Davenport's world.This is more of a thriller than we're used to in the other Prey books. Weather and Lucas's family are barely mentioned, although his home office is still Minneapolis. Sandford indicates that Bob and Rae will be back, as Lucas tells them he'll ask for them if he finds another interesting case.

Every one of Sandford’s Lucas Davenport novels has been a page turner, and Golden Prey is no exception. Murder, mayhem, and money - those are three magic ingredients that contribute to a story, and this novel has all three in abundance. From the moment the first murder takes place through countless more bodies from more than one killer, but all linked together, the story builds and climaxes with a classic shoot-out in Texas. A really excellent read!

great read

Sandford’s characters come alive on every page, as does the countryside they operate in. A visual treat. A joy to read as per usual. Congrats Mr Sanford!

I love John Sandford’s Prey series. Lucas Davenport is my favourite law enforcement officer. Anyone who loves a good book with lots of action read this one.

I read this one in two days, at some stage pissing my wife off for not - whatever it was I forgot. High speed craziness. And Davenport with his wolverine grin hunting.

I have read every book of the Prey series and this one did not disappoint.