Hidden Prey – Book Review (John Sandford)

Hidden Prey is the 15th book in the Prey series, a suspenseful crime-thriller series written by bestselling author, John Sandford.

Hidden Prey Book Review

This Prey novel follows the brilliant detective Lucas Davenport, trying to bust a Russian spy ring operating right in the middle of Minnesota.

The plot is complete with fascinating characters popping out from the KGB, local Russian mafia and even criminal activities detected out of a local McDonald’s by Del Capslock.

It all starts when a Russian is killed in Duluth, on his ship on which he is a First Officer and his laptop is stolen. A Russian spy, Nadya Kalin, posing as a police officer, meets with Lucas Davenport and his team.

Nadya is sent from her country to cooperate with the American police force to solve the murder. She is sent on the job after the Russian government gets pressurized by the victim’s father, a prominent Russian to find out who killed his son.

The interactions between Nadya and Lucas bring out many interesting clues and she is shown to be as bright as Lucas in solving cases.

Nadya is attracted to another police officer, Reasons, on the job and when he gets killed the situation turns very bad.

The author paints a clear picture of how such things effect family. How the dead officer’s wife reacts to it and the ensuing fight between the wife and Nadya is almost funny, if not for the tragedy. Even Lucas Davenport has to get involved and stop the situation getting any further detrimental.

Lucas Davenport exerts certain influence to steer the investigation to start making things happen in his own way as usual. Following various clues and multiple murders that cover the killer’s tracks, the police is led to believe that they have got their killer, but again Lucas has his doubts.

Good plotting

The characters are well developed and many funny incidents have been included in the natural flow of the story.

Weather Davenport destroys their garage door by ramming into it at over speed on their driveway. Lucas is glad that his Porsche is not damaged. The comedy around it is smooth and natural, no one says anything about a lady’s driving 🙂

A young boy, still in school is trained by his family to be a killer. How cold their thoughts can get and how even mere children were induced to kill, the mentality of a spy is brilliantly portrayed by the author.

It turns out that a lady witnesses the Russian’s murder and hides very cleverly. How such people behave and tend to protect themselves is vividly shown by the author.

The witness gives crucial clues to Lucas and at the end he finds out who the real killer is. How a rich person can get hooked to unwanted substances, drugs and such things and end up as a street bum is shown clearly, invoking our thoughts meaningfully.

The Verdict

This book is full of espionage, cool twists and is surely a thrill to read. So, pick out a cozy spot and enjoy this spy feast from the master thriller author, John Sandford.

More reviews

For the review of the next book in the Prey series read Broken Prey.

For the review of the previous book in the Prey series read Naked Prey.

For the complete list of Sandford’s Prey series books, check List Of Prey Series Books.