This is the 27th book in the series but can be read independent of the others as I did' The book leads us on a bendy, high speed ride of action, thrill and gruesome details. Great book by a master storyteller

Sandford always delivers with his long-running "Prey" series, and this is no exception. Definitely worth adding to your "Summer beach reads" list this year!

If this had been the first time I had ever picked up a John Sandford book I would have ran out like I did over 25 years ago and rushed to read more by him.

I can't think of any author alive or dead that has managed to keep a series so entertaining for 28 years. The fact that Davenport has aged from a very young detective to a middle aged marshal and remained interesting is even more of a feat.

When I finished the last book (Extreme Prey) I was excited about where the series might lead. After 26 books I saw where it might be heading into an exciting new direction.

After reading this one, I admit, I totally underestimated Sandford. When we first met Lucas we were faced with a young guy that did whatever it took to get some pretty violent criminals off the street. We've always seen that, I suppose, but as Lucas grew older, he seemed to settle down a bit. Maybe not loose his spark, but it certainly didn't seem to burn as bright. He seemed at times to hesitate and take less chances. The bad guys he went after didn't seem quite as bad as the ones he chased in his younger days. He seemed tied down by all the political restraints placed upon him. He seemed just a few steps away from becoming a pencil pusher himself. Often seemed to spend as much time supervising others as he did chasing down the bad guys...

However, with this book all that changed. Some of these guys (and girls) were some of the most violent individuals he's encountered. Lucas was also at the top of his game in this one. He was right in the midst of the action. We've also been introduced to a few new characters and I honestly can not fucking wait to see more of them in the years to come.

I also have to say, Sandford is at the top of his game as well. I will say it a thousand more time before I'm through, NO. ONE. CAN. DO. DIALOGUE. LIKE. SANDFORD. PERIOD. This book is a prime example of it. The banter between the main players of this novel is what Sandford is all about. It's why I've been a massive fan for decades. It's why I've not been bothered with a few less than 5 star books. I think this might be my favourite one to date. No doubt. We saw the young and fearless Lucas. We had the interesting partners. We had the teamwork. We had the dialogue. We had some serious bad guys. We had some bureaucrats put in their places. Plus we had less Weather....hahahaha...sorry, I couldn't resist...now to just get some Letty set in motion with her mad computer skills and we'll be set for life...

Amazing read...seriously...this one blew it out of the water!

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Yet another great book in the Davenport series. Lucas is now a federal marshal and as usual, doing things his own way. This one takes place in the south where he's tracking a cold blooded killer. The only thing hanging me up is that he left one of the story lines open or I missed it. Either way, another thrilling adventure.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on April 25, 2017

Lucas Davenport is adapting to his new gig as a deputy marshal. He doesn’t do the usual boring work that keeps deputy marshals busy — prisoner transport, courthouse security — and his ability to avoid mundane duties causes almost as much resentment as the fact that he drives a Porsche. Even his boss, the marshal in his district, resents Lucas because Lucas doesn’t answer to the marshal. He does help chase the occasional fugitive, but mostly he wants to make his own assignments. He managed this gig because he saved the life of a presidential candidate in the last Prey novel, a fact that apparently disturbed readers of an irrational political persuasion.

The first big job Davenport assigns himself is to track down Gavin Poole, an old-fashioned robber who goes after banks and armored cars and mail trucks. Poole has a lethal girlfriend named Pandora Box (Dora for short). The reader spends some of the novel following Poole and his associates.

Poole recently ripped off a major drug dealer from Honduras, which was not a wise thing to do. Two killers are after him, and the reader spends some of the novel following the killers. They’re quirky, which makes a certain amount of sense since normal people don’t torture and kill for a living, but giving the bad guys some amusing traits is also a John Sandford trademark.

Of course, the reader spends most of the novel following Davenport. For some of the novel he’s teamed with a couple of other deputy marshals. Sandford always give secondary characters believable personalities, and the marshals are a good addition to the cast. The ending hints that they might return in a future novel.

Sandford has a dry and droll sense of humor that infects most of the characters, good guys and bad guys alike. Some of the action takes Davenport to Texas and the southwest, far removed from his usual Minnesota environs. That gives Davenport a chance make wry comparisons of the states and their people.

The last quarter of the novel is essentially an extended chase scene that culminates in an extended shootout, but few writers manage those elements as well as Sandford. The action makes the story race forward, but not so quickly that the characters don’t have time to poke fun at each other. In short, this is a solid entry in a series that consistently entertains.

RECOMMENDED

I was wondering how John Sanford would move on with Lucas and this was a great introduction. I enjoyed the great writing but really liked that the story moved out of Minnesota and covered other parts of the country. Storyline was well constructed, easy to follow, made sense, and was very creative. I pretty much read the book at one sitting which is something I normally can't/don't do. Great read. Keep them coming.

In Golden Prey Lucas Davenport is U.S. Marshall. He changes jobs like some people change underwear. He’s independently wealthy and so can go and do whatever he wants. The opening scene with Davenport propositioning an underage hooker seems fish from the start, and it is—just a teaser for his new job as a Marshall.
A Biloxi, Mississippi, drug-cartel counting house gets robbed leaving behind five dead bodies, including that of girl. Davenport is called in, and the case is a mess since the cartel assassins are as smart as a bunch of rocks. However, the rocks do a lot of damage before Davenport can save the day.

A change of scenery from past Prey books (trading Minnesota for the South/Texas) but a welcome addition to the series - compulsively readable and highly recommended.

GOLDEN PREY by John Sandford is the 27th book in the Lucas Davenport/Prey series that finds Lucas starting another chapter in his law enforcement career as he’s become a U.S. Marshal after leaving the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and he finds that there is some initial resentment of the political influence that resulted in him getting the job.
Lucas adapts as always, finding ways to get the most out of the people he's assigned to work with, along with impressing those he works for by utilizing his creative ways of matching wits with the criminal element he's in pursuit of by using any resources available that are often unconventional and innovative.
Garvin Poole is a legendary hit man who has been laying low and has fallen off the map along with his love interest named Dora Box (as in Pandora’s) until he is contacted by a former partner in crime by the name of Sturgill Darling who has carefully planned a heist requiring Gar’s skill set.
Sturgll, Garvin and others belonged to the “Dixie Hicks” that have pulled off jobs in the past, usually with casualties resulting both for victims and the crew which has reduced in number by attrition.
Pursuit of those involved in the heist and subsequent murders is an action packed journey for both Lucas and fellow officers, and for Garvin, Sturgill, and associates that intensifies when a male/female hit squad for the cartel joins in the pursuit of Gar to recover the stolen money and exact revenge.

John Sandford has once again written a fine book in this impressive series that is notable for being consistent from book to book. Several interesting and unusual descriptions of the people in his stories makes for a departure from stereotypical characters in novels of this genre, such as Lucas being an ex-college hockey player that has made a fortune designing video games and law enforcement training programs yet continues to work pursuing criminals because he's addicted to it. Garvin has gained notoriety for his creation of “partscasters” which are electric guitars assembled from parts and customized with unique features and paint jobs, something not normally associated with a hit man and is not unlike Lawrence Block’s Keller collecting stamps.
Recommended, of course, but I must say here that it would be best to start at the beginning of the series with RULES OF PREY and work your way through the series as you get to experience the development of Lucas and other characters from book to book as is true with most series.
4 stars as usual.

Lucas Davenport is aging well. Loved he's with the Marshall Service now....means he'll be able to chase bad guys all over! Minnesota bad guys are different from Florida bad guys!

Sandford's novels are always a pleasure to read, and this was no exception. He's fine-tuned his literary skills to the point where it's hard to find any flaws at all. Taut plot, engaging characters and spot-on dialogue puts this book on my top shelf, where all the other "A-Listers" reside. Recommended.

I've read all of his books and enjoyed every one. Part of me likes the spin off of Virgil Flowers stories, and the fact that Lucas is now with the Marshall's. The other part of me misses the whole gang solving crimes together. Look for to the next John Sanford novel.

GOLDEN PREY
John Sandford
Putnam Books
ISBN 978-0-399-18457-4
Hardcover
Thriller

I was in the middle of another book when I received an advance copy of GOLDEN PREY for review. I passed it off to my older son, who is a huge fan of Lucas Davenport, not to mention Virgil Flowers and, actually, all things John Sandford. GOLDEN PREY had been in his possession for but a few hours when I received a text from him stating “I think (GOLDEN PREY) is the best one yet!” I am here a couple of weeks later to report that my son is correct. If GOLDEN PREY doesn’t make you an instant fan of the series, or return you to the fold, you may not have a pulse.

GOLDEN PREY marks yet another brand new turn in Lucas Davenport’s law enforcement career. Davenport’s long-running career with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) came to an end following the events chronicled in GATHERING PREY. This left him free to join the presidential campaign staff of the Minnesota governor, whose life he subsequently saved during EXTREME PREY. He was handsomely rewarded at the end of that august work with a new position in the Federal government, which brings us to GOLDEN PREY, the latest work in the Davenport canon. GOLDEN PREY finds Davenport jumping with both feet into a dream job with the U.S. Marshal’s office, one in which he can choose whatever case he wants, wherever it is. Sandford spent the conclusion of EXTREME PREY setting up the premise, so that those coming from that book to this one need utilize only a very mild suspension of disbelief. While Sandford never seemed to exhaust Minnesota as a vein for mining cases for Davenport, his creation now has the theoretical run of the whole country, and run it he does --- or at least the southern end of it, from Biloxi, Mississippi to Texas --- in GOLDEN PREY.

Think of the basic plot of GOLDEN PREY as involving the theft of a bee’s nest off of a farm. The perpetrator will have an angry farmer after them as well as a platoon of extremely browned off bees. Substitute a cartel cash-counting house for a beehive and that’s GOLDEN PREY in a nutshell. Two very dangerous guys --- both very well known to law enforcement --- raid the house and make off with several million dollars, leaving carnage behind in the form of five bodies, including the six year old granddaughter of one of the inhabitants. As one can imagine, this does not put the duo in the cartel’s good graces, and it sends out a pair of trackers in the form of a very odd couple to dispatch the murderous killers and retrieve the cartel’s ill-gotten and roughly-lost gain.. The pair of hunters can’t stand each other, of course, and, as painted by Sandford, their mutual dislike is highly believable. One of the subplots of GOLDEN PREY is wondering if and when one of the pair will kill the other before they complete their job or afterward. One can’t help wondering if they will kill each other before they get the job done. They create absolute and total mayhem, however, as they follow the trail of the two miscreants, extracting clues as to their whereabouts the hard way and enjoying the cringe-inducing methodology of their work way too much. Lucas, meanwhile, finds that he now has two targets, those being the robbers and their pursuers. This makes for a very violent but nonetheless entertaining romp through the south, across Louisiana and into Texas, as Lucas and a combination of state and federal law enforcement cohorts trail follow two trails and at times are themselves followed. Sandford changes the narrative points of view frequently, keeping things moving at breakneck speed and thus providing enough action and endings for a couple of books, at least. The result is a book that clocks out at near four hundred pages, reads like it is one-third as long, and leaves the reader wanting more, more, more.

There are any number of memorable characters and vignettes in GOLDEN PREY. I don’t think that I will ever pull up to a gas station pump again without thinking of one extended scene near the very end of the book. There are others as well, including the very ending, which no doubt had to be rewritten when real world events overtook Davenport’s. Here, as there, it’s all good. Hopefully Davenport will continue to enjoy his new job as much as I did. Very strongly recommended.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2017, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

Oh John Sandford, you got me again. The first few pages made me think Lucas Davenport was somehow reverting to his old self. What happened to Weather? Did quitting his job send him off the rails? I vowed to stop reading if he was reverting to his pre-Weather days (even though I knew that wouldn't be true). Thankfully Lucas was just on a new job! Davenport is a new U.S. Marshal, free of all the things he hated about his last job.

Lucas takes on an old case to track down a killer who likes to steal a lot of money and kill people in the process. No one has ever been able to track down the criminal called Poole, but Davenport is determined he is going to be the one. There is a lot of action, excitement and shooting in this book. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The 400 pages went by super fast, and it left me wanting more. Well done!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy...

Lucas Davenport, U.S. Marshal.

Interesting development in John Sandford’s Prey series. And, as Golden Prey is Marshal Davenport’s first “adventure” as a member of the U.S. Marshal Service, it, too, is very interesting.

Garvin Poole is a really bad guy. But, when he steals money from the Honduran drug cartel – killing 5 people, including a 6 year old girl, in the process – he crosses some guys who are, perhaps, even “badder”. And, they want their money back. Marshal Davenport just wants Poole.

We accompany Lucas as he tracks Poole across the south. Although some of his previous cases involved some inter-state elements, they were nothing like the jurisdictional freedom Lucas has as a federal marshal. And in Golden Prey, Lucas ends up in my home state, the great State of Texas, making it even more fun for me to tag along. But, can he find Poole before the very nasty cartel assassins?

I am a long time Sandford fan. A few years ago, I became disenchanted, as he seemed to have forgotten, or confused, the backstory of a character. I continued to follow his Davenport and Flowers series, however, and was very pleasantly surprised to find that the last few books released in both series reflect the John Sandford of old – Sandford is back and on top of his game. Golden Prey, however, seems to fall somewhere in the middle. The book feels a little rushed and chaotic. Although it might not demonstrate Davenport’s meticulous logic, as he progresses step by step through the plot, it still includes typical Sandford humor.

Overall, Golden Prey is an enjoyable experience. I look forward to future adventures with Lucas Davenport, U.S. Marshal.

What can you say about book 27 in a series? You hope it will be new, different, exciting. Well Golden Prey was all of these! Lucas is now a federal marshall with free reign to investigate whatever strikes his fancy. The problem is, nothing is speaking to him. He doesn't have his network of informants anymore, so he isn't hearing about anything big. In the midst of helping out an investigation he hears about a guy who was thought to be dead but just committed murder, and not for the first time. This book is full of action and some hard core violence. It's very much Lucas and still very new. I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for 28!

What a fantastic suspense. I love The Lucas Davenport series but I have missed a few of the book and must go back and catch up. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Many twists and turns in the well written plot.

Lucas Davenport has moved on from his job at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to a deputy US marshal position. His relationship with some high powered politicians not only landed him this job but some extraordinary perks. He is allowed to pick and choose his assignments, gets to bypass much of the bureaucracy, and is given personal upgrades when he travels… not a bad deal particularly since Lucas just wants to hunt down criminals. The downsides are the travel to unfamiliar parts of the country which takes him away from his family and of course the danger involved.
Garvin Poole, is a lifelong outlaw who, with the help of his friend Sturgill Darling, robs a Central American drug cartel of several million dollars and kills everyone in sight including an innocent child. Lucas takes the assignment to find Poole and starts by interviewing his family near Nashville, Tennessee. But the family is also the target of the drug cartel’s mercenaries who torture and kill Poole’s parents. While chasing the mercenaries, Lucas wrecks and totals his Mercedes SUV. His boss assigns two more US marshals to Lucas to help even out the firepower… Bob and Rae. Bob is the stereotypic tough-guy federal cop but Rae, although just as tough, is a tall muscular, smart Black woman who formerly played basketball for UConn. Lucas’s skills in ferreting out and confronting the bad guys and his willingness to share his perks with his posse soon gain him their respect.
But the mercenaries are smart and deadly, too. They quickly figure out the US marshals are closing in on Poole and start monitoring Lucas’ cell phone. The hunt soon turns into a race to find Poole and Darling in Texas leaving a plethora of dead bodies along the way.
Golden Prey has all the plotting, pacing and action we’ve grown to expect from Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series. But I feel like Sandford is trying too hard to extend the series… milk the last dollar out of the character. Lucas is now in his late fifties and the physical punishment he incurs and quickly recovers from no longer rings true. At one point, Lucas challenges Rae to a one-on-one basketball game. After one win each they set off to apprehend a suspect… a bit implausible for our aging hero. This has been a fantastic series but perhaps it’s time.

I’m a sucker for pretty much any Sandford books, whether it features Lucas Davenport or Virgil Flowers or (occasionally) both. The plotting is sharp, the characters are well developed (and more so with each title, as we come to know more about their lives with each new case). So, I was happy to receive an advance copy of the latest Lucas Davenport “Prey” book, Golden Prey, from Penguin Group/Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In this latest entry in the series, Lucas has moved out of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and is now working for the U.S. Marshals Service, able to pick his own cases and follow them wherever they lead (which doesn’t endear him to the nominal head of Marshals’ office in Minnesota).

The crime spree opens with the robbery of a Honduran drug cartel’s money counting house in Biloxi, MS. During the crime, five people are killed, including a six-year-old girl – and millions of dollars in cash is taken. Lucas heads up a team including what I consider potentially recurring memorable characters to search for the “Dixie Hicks” who took out the counting house. At the same time as his team’s search is going on, The cartel sends their own people (including a crazy bitch torturer known as the “Queen of Home Improvement tools” and a couple of lesbians, all of whom are on the hunt.

Even though we pretty much know going in that Lucas will solve the case and there will be lots of action, some witty dialogue, and more information about what makes Lucas tick, it is a fun ride.

I always love the scenes where Lucas has to fly, and is sure every takeoff and/or landing will result in a fiery crash. I also love the way he dives into the local cultural quirks – this time, in the South. “He went to sleep thinking about frits and especially okra. Who in God’s name was the first guy to stick an okra in his mouth? Must have been a brave man, or starving to death…”

Then there are the vivid descriptions, as when he goes to interview a good old boy who lives with his cockatoo in a small house: “The place smelled heavily of Campbell’s Chunky Hearty Bean with Ham soup, a touch of the consequent flatulence, with a subtle overtone of newspaper-and-bird-shit.”

Like I said, it’s a fun ride. Sandford’s books are reliable entertainment, and this one is no exception. It’s more than four stars for sure, but not quite five stars, as the complex chase required a few too many turns that bordered on deus ex machina. I’ve been told I am an easy grader, so it’s gotta be four stars!

I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

<b>His best one yet!</b> This is the first of the new Lucas Davenport novels by John Sandford in which Davenport has left the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and joined the US Marshalls Service. Sandford is an accomplished writer, so I expected a well-written police action yarn, and I was not disappointed.

One of the features of the author’s writing that I like a lot is that his villains are not one-dimensional dummies. They are evil, to be sure, but they are also thinkers and planners who are credible matches for the skills of an accomplished detective like Lucas Davenport. Readers do not have to ask themselves why the bad guys do things that are so stupid that it is easy for the cops to catch them. They become believable as criminals, and the cops who catch them are not simpletons who stumble around until, by sheer strokes of luck, they manage to apprehend or “neutralize” them. In addition, Sandford’s dialogues are very realistic and believable. Yes folks, that’s really the way a lot of people talk — in the Midwest, and in the South, at least.

This story is a real thriller. It is non-stop action from the beginning of the book to the end. Davenport and his team chase a couple of robbers and killers called the “Dixie Hicks” across the South and into Texas, where the story ends in an exciting conclusion. The Honduran drug cartel has been robbed, and they want their money back. They hire some killers of their own, and the violence begins in earnest.

I have read all of the author’s Lucas Davenport novels, and they are all pretty good. But this one is the best of all of them. It is an entertaining pager-turner that you will find difficult to put down. I recommend it to those who enjoy crime and police thrillers.