#1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford’s “haunting, unforgettable, ice-blooded thriller”* that introduced Lucas Davenport… The killer was mad but brilliant. He left notes with every woman he killed. Rules of murder: Never have a motive. Never follow a discernible pattern. Never carry a weapon after it has been used…So many rules to his sick, violent games of death. But Lucas … to his sick, violent games of death.
But Lucas Davenport, the cop who’s out to get him, isn’t playing by the rules.
“Terrifying…Sandford has crafted the kind of trimmed-to-the-bone thriller that is hard to put down…scary…intriguing…unpredictable.”—Chicago Tribune
“Rules of Prey is so chilling that you’re almost afraid to turn the pages. So mesmerizing you cannot stop…A crackle of surprises.”—*Carl Hiaasen
“Sleek and nasty…A big scary, suspenseful read, and I loved every minute of it.”—Stephen King
“A cop and a killer you will remember for a long, long time.”—Robert B. Parker
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John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series hit a sweet spot for me in that the locale is one I am fairly familiar with, the character development is excellent, the subject matter is deadly serious but laced with humor and humanity.
This isn’t the best of the Prey books, but it’s the first, and every great adventure begins at the beginning. Each book can stand alone, but it’s better to get the story as it happens.
John Sanford is one of my favorite authors. I began reading his “Prey” novels more than twenty years ago, and I haven’t stopped. His characters are great, the dialogue is witty and natural, and his storytelling is fantastic; it’s as if you’re sitting in a room listening to someone tell a story. Pick it up and thank me later.
I love all of John Sandford’s “Prey” books. You can’t beat them for hard to put down books. It is my favorite series!!
I love Sanford’s books, especially the ones about Lucas, and “that f#+€ing Flowers”. I have to say that every thing of his that I have read over the years is Ggrrreat! I have a paperback copy of everything Sanford has written, and I don’t begrudge the space they take up. I have also re-read every thing he has written at least three times. I find something new and interesting with each re-reading.
Love his books
Years ago, when I lived in Minnesota, I discovered this book. I read it, liked it and later, bought another in the series. I think it was book 5 or 6 in the series. There seemed to be a decent amount of time passage between the two novels, so I stopped reading the second book, deciding to find the others in the series before I continued reading. Here it is, 7/8 years later and I just realized that I have the first 13 novels of the set, along with about 4/5 more after #15. Obviously, it was time to start over.
I enjoyed meeting Lucas Davenport for the first time again. The story was interesting, with a flair for the outrageous that kept me reading. This is guy-lit cop fantasy and I know it and embrace it. It was a mildly disturbing read for entertainment purposes and entertain it did.
The story lags in places. Too much detailing and bit player information at times, but it wasn’t the type of overload that brings the story to a complete halt.
Had the flow of the story and the ending been a bit better, this might have been a 5 star read. However, I was able to put it down and go to sleep and 5s don’t allow for such.
I hope the Prey novels continue in this vein of over-the-top antics and rich cops, without becoming stale the way the Stone Barrington books did.
I read this book in 7th grade because my dad knew I was bored with “age appropriate” books. I credit Rules of Prey with turning me into a life long voracious reader. Exciting, witty, frightening! The birth of one of the best characters in fiction.
A very good John Sanford. Keeps one’s interest.
The beginning of Lucas Davenport. I won’t tell you how many years ago I read this. I will tell you that I still read buy the new ones in the series. Lucas is as far from perfect as one can get. But he loves women, truly just loves the species, and he hates to see people hurt. Give this one a shot, if nothing else the technology flashbacks will be fun.
Minus one star for cruelty to animals.
Rules of Prey is the first of a series of at least 25 books featuring Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis cop. I didn’t like Lucas very much. Yes, he is brilliant, but he also doesn’t play by the rules. In fact, the story opens with him under surveillance by IAD.
It wasn’t clear (at least to me) what role Lucas plays in the PD. He’s not in the Homicide Division but is called in to lead a hunt for a serial killer. Nevertheless, the story was captivating with the cat-and-mouse game between Davenport and the “Mad Dog”. I plan to read others in the series.
4 stars for a well done police procedural thriller. Since the killer is identified at the beginning of the book to the reader, it is a thriller, not a mystery. The suspense lies in the police trying to identify and stop this serial killer before he kills again. Louis Vullion is a very smart killer. He is a lawyer and familiar with police procedures. He plans his kills meticulously, being careful not to leave any DNA or other clues.
The Minneapolis Police Department realizes that there is a serial killer in their city and they have both the homicide squad and Lucas Davenport investigating on parallel tracks. Davenport is also a very smart man, and 1 of the best detectives on the force. He is independently wealthy, because he designed several popular software fantasy war games.
The book is written from alternating POVs–Louis and Lucas.
Although this library book is 479 pages, I read it in 4 days, because it becomes hard to put down after about 100 pages. John Sandford is a pen name for Minnesota journalist John Camp.
Two quotes:
Davenport on a tv reporter: “He looked down at Annie McGown. Channel Eight. Dark hair, dark eyes, upturned nose. Wide mobile mouth. World class legs. Wonderful diction. Brains of an oyster.”
Davenport on fantasy games: “Every fantasy game in the world, he thought, had a bunch of computer freaks with swords wandering around Poe-esque landscapes with red-haired freckled beauties with large breasts.”
I look forward to each of Mr. Sandford’s books featuring Lucas Davenport and/or Virgil Flowers, and this is one of the best.
The first novel in the Lucas Davenport series takes off like a rocket and doesn’t let up as Davenport tries to track down a canny serial killer the media has dubbed “the maddog.” I’m not generally fond of serial killer tales, but this one’s a grabber.
Chilling murder mystery.
I love all of his books! Very entertaining
another great Prey book from Sanford!
An early episode of the 2 dozen Lucas Davenport series.
For me, the series got better a few books in from this, but this is where it started and it remains one of my favorite procedural series nonetheless. Sanford really finds his footing in the third or fourth book and from there the series is great for a long run, until the final few books when it falters a bit as Sanford seems to run out of material and experiment with Lucas Davenport US Marshall, which never quite works.
Great book
Good addition to series