Stolen Prey – Book Review (John Sandford)

Stolen Prey is the 22nd installment of the thrilling crime series, the Prey series, written by John Sandford.

Stolen Prey Book Review

This Prey novel opens to a grim scene of a cop getting mugged by a pair of robbers armed and waiting for him outside a lone ATM.

That police officer they mug is none other than our protagonist and super cop, Lucas Davenport. This shows that no one, not even the law enforcers are spared from the dirty world of robbery and crime.

The ATM robbery is a minor track in this novel and is followed up by Virgil Flowers, who is also an excellent investigator, and a friend of Lucas Davenport.

Lucas has to put a cast on his wrist for more than 3 months after the ATM robbers injure him. He has a new daughter with Weather, Sam is a toddler now, and Letty is interning at Channel 3 where Lucas’s ex-girlfriend, Jennifer works.

Money laundering

The main track of this plot runs around money laundering. A gang of Mexican killers brutally slain a family. This triggers the investigation led by Lucas Davenport’s team.

All the ugly deaths happened because some money disappeared and the ‘Criminales‘ back in Mexico need to get their hands on it.

People get ruthlessly tortured and killed throughout the story, all in relation to finding the whereabouts of the money. Everything finally boils down to greed of a few people.

The Verdict

John Sandford vividly shows how a basic evil like greed preys on humans and can result in horrible crime.

A mole in the investigative team results in horrid deaths. And gangs in slums making criminals out of normal people, form a saddening underline in this story.

Bone, a character from a previous Prey novel, Secret Prey, forms a major character in this book too. He explains to Lucas the various tricks in money laundering, changing money to gold and such bank trivia.

At the final shoot out, Letty Davenport gets hurt by one of the killers and Lucas becomes worried sick. Weather, Lucas’s wife, is worried about Letty and fears about psychological breakdown.

The author brings out the emotion between a father and a daughter very beautifully.

On the whole, this novel is a good thriller. Pick it up on a lazy evening to while away your time in an interesting and intricately woven plot.

A must read for crime-fiction lovers.

More reviews

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

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

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