When Lettie Davenport, the adopted daughter of U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport and his surgeon wife, Weather, used to make an occasional appearance in one of Lucas's books, I never warmed up to her much. Then when she got her own series with last year's "The Investigator," I started to take her a bit more seriously. With this, her second book, I started to like her a lot. Seriously.

At this point in her life - she's 25 - she's an investigator for Homeland Security, at least on the surface; under it, she works for a powerful U.S. Senator. Through him, she's asked to go under cover to try to infiltrate a ransomware hacking group known as Ordinary People, ostensibly to prevent another attack; in the process, she meets another hotshot investigator and crack sharpshooter, Barbara Cartwright, and they hit it off. Their camaraderie leads to both friendship and, when Lettie needs more help on her assignment, a professional assist (just for the record, I liked her too). Lettie also picks up an undercover "partner" named Rod Baxter - another very likable dude (the repartee between the two can get quite amusing).

It doesn't take too long, though, for Letty and Rod to figure out there's more to their assignment than they were led to believe - and the difference between the assumed adversaries and the real ones can become a matter of life and death with the slightest of missteps. All in all, it's another fast-paced book with an intriguing, timely plot that kept me entertained throughout. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Don't miss this one!

I requested this book because I am a fan of John Stanford’s books. I did not realize that
I might have read, ‘The Investigator,’ again because it was no longer in my head! It turns
out that Letty Davenport is not forgettable. First of all, she is the daughter of Lucas Davenport,
albeit adopted, and the two are very similar in ways that cannot be taught. With Lucas creeping
nearer to realistic retirement age it’s a good choice for Mr Sanford to make in order to keep this
series alive.
After her stellar performance during an operation in Texas, her extraordinary skills are recognized
and she is deployed to an assignment in California to infiltrate a dangerous group of hackers known
only as Ordinary People. There is nothing ordinary about this assignment or the would=be-hackers.
Even after meeting a group of women sharpshooters and working with those from the Never to be Spoken
Government Agency, Letty and her partners and assembled experts have their hands full trying to
Infiltrate the group and stay alive in the process. When it appears things may not be at all what Letty
has been told, decisions must be made. Fast paced, high energy, foreign enterprises, this is a really
good 2nd installment of the Letty series. I recommend it to fans of Letty Davenport and John Sanders.
I received a copy of this book from the Publisher via NetGalley for review purposes.

I have been reading John Sandford for as long as I can remember. I always enjoy his books, no matter who the main character is, though I have to say that Having Letty grow up and become the main protagonist as a woman brings my heart great joy. Letty is a bad ass who knows what she is doing, takes no shit and follows her dad's lead. This series is on par with the Prey series.

Synopsis:
Letty Davenport, the tough-as-nails adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, takes on an undercover assignment that brings her across the country and into the crosshairs of a dangerous group of hackers.
Letty Davenport’s days working a desk job at are behind her. Her previous actions at a gunfight in Texas—and her incredible skills with firearms—draw the attention of several branches of the US government, and make her a perfect fit for even more dangerous work. The Department of Homeland Security and the NSA have tasked her with infiltrating a hacker group, known only as Ordinary People, that is intent on wreaking havoc. Letty and her reluctant partner from the NSA pose as free-spirited programmers for hire and embark on a cross country road trip to the group’s California headquarters.
While the two work to make inroads with Ordinary People and uncover their plans, they begin to suspect that the hackers are not their only enemy. Someone within their own circle may have betrayed them, and has ulterior motives that place their mission—and their lives—in grave danger.

Review:
This is my first John Sandford novel, and since this is a sequel I was worried I would be confused throughout the story, but this sequel feels like a complete story within itself and the characters feel fully formed. There is a lot fo exposition in this book that give a bigger picture of the world and the details of this undercover work. Letty is an interesting character and the organization she is trying to infiltrate, ordinary people, seems worthy of the efforts she is going to. Overall, the plot of this one felt very analytical and logical, but there was heart and a well thought out conflict throughout the story.

Officially Letty Davenport is still an investigator for the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. However, her real boss is Senator Christopher Colles, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. After a few months of letting everything settle down after her last situation (The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel), he has a new mission for her in Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel.

The National Security Agency would like her to infiltrate a hacker group known as “Ordinary People.”

The group recently took control over the entire Russian train system and had control for months. For weeks they moved freight and equipment wherever and whenever as they wanted with the Russians powerless to stop it or take back any sense of control. As their final act, they completely shut the system down for days about a year before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russians eventually paid a lot of money for them to release their control of the system.

According to two NSA agents, based on chatter and other unspecified sources they will not reveal, the group might be planning to turn the gas off in a northern city. Winter is here and temperatures are way below freezing in a lot of cities of the United States. If the natural gas supply to a city was cut off, many people would die.

The NSA plan is to send Letty and one of their computer people out to California to work undercover. They are to try to meet folks who are in the group. There are some vague leads that they can pursue and once out there and undercover, the NSA agents hope that Letty and their computer guy can obtain more solid leads into the people and what they are planning to do. It is going to take some work, but their computer expert can talk the talk. They need Letty for her gun skills and to keep him safe.

Letty knows from the start the NSA folks are playing spook and therefore not telling her everything. Before long, things get complicated and violently messy. Which is pretty much the way Letty likes it. Not that her undercover partner shares her enthusiasm for guns, blood, and bullets.

Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a complicated thriller and one that develops the Letty character a little more from the first book. She is given a hobby and an outlet that fits her to a T while also allowing her to publicly show off her skills. At the same time, the mission is complicated and constantly gets more complicated. Because of the peril of working undercover, she reveals more of herself to others as the story unfolds.

The result is a fun fast moving read that makes Dark Angel: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford well worth your time. Because the events of The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel are thoroughly detailed and discussed, it would be best to read that book before reading the new book.

My reading copy was an ARC from NetGalley in advance of the April 11, 2023 publication date.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

John Sandford rarely disappoints, and this is yet another great story in my ever growing stack of his novels. Letty’s first outing in The Investigator showcased her really coming into her own and finding a niche for her skills. Dark Angel gives that a little heft and it really pays off for her. One of Mr. Sandford’s best strengths is the way his characters really grow and change organically. We’ve watched Letty grow up from a tough smart kid to a fully capable woman who, like her dad, suffers no fools and is a deadly shot. I have to add that one part of the story made me laugh out loud. While trying to get critical information, she realizes a second too late that her targets have set her up with the FBI. Her rant dressing those agents down while trying to salvage her and her partner’s cover was so much like her Dad’s rants when dealing with the “Feebs” over the years that I had to chuckle! Loved it!
**Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this early copy.**

Dark Angel is the second outing of Letty Davenport, to whom the title refers, and an impressive continuation for the series. I feel that it's more consistently enjoyable from beginning to end as compared to The Investigator which I felt had high points and low points. I still don't know whether I prefer a book to be solidly enjoyable or have euphoric highs and relative lows, but either way they're very much both wonderful experiences.

Several new characters are introduced and make for welcome additions, though many of them seem to be variations on previous characters that Sanford has written. I appreciate that though because there have been quite a few characters who I don't think were in enough of his books, so these kindred spirits do well in continuing their roles. The new additions include multiple powerful women who were interesting to read about. There are a few brief viewpoints aside from Letty's, which I'm quite pleased were included, as I think having other perspectives can often enhance a narrative. A few of the characters have sexual encounters, mostly in passing to where I don't know if they would be called scenes, as maybe one is described in any significant detail. Sexuality is present in his other books and I'm glad to see that having the protagonist and other major characters be women hasn't lead to its exclusion.

This book is about cybercrime and overall I'm happy with the technical aspects presented and the relative sophistication of its depiction. There's a particular focus on hacking and cryptocurrency. Even recent developments such as El Salvador's acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender and the role that plays in money laundering of ransomware attacks is discussed. I don't know whether the primary tech guy is meant to be comedic relief, but that's what I see him as, which is maybe to balance out his tech talk for readers uninterested in such matters. There's action as well, including gun fights, and more than a few people are killed, so it's not at all only about nefarious plans involving technology. As with her father Lucas Davenport, Letty is more concerned with results than strictly following the law, though not quite to the same degree of deviation.

In previous Sandford books I've had issues with the internal consistency of its vague chronology, which may be my most common complaint overall for books. Fortunately, that isn't a problem here at all. I think this may be the only Sanford book that's precise about when events occur and the duration of time between them. At some times it's known literally to the day of when various events take place. It's not that I want that in books, but if it's going to done, it ought to be done well. There's a good reason for that, because I believe this is also the first Sandford book where the characters are involved in currently ongoing major geopolitical events. I found myself being pleasantly surprised, and certainly intrigued, by where the story eventually goes. Letty skipped the small time crimes and went straight into events of international importance. She and her crew are highly competent and I don't see anything wrong with that.

What I appreciate the most about this series in comparison to the Prey and Flowers series, which are both enjoyable in their own ways, is how much agency the characters have and how integral they are to the events of the story. Nothing that happens would've happened without Letty being involved. I feel this series has a more grounded sense of realism by comparison, which may not be what some want and feel it's somewhat more boring that way, but I also like this sort of narrative as well. The relatively few Sandford books that I didn't really like were often because it seemed the character would bumble around for a while and then the case would resolve itself, to where it doesn't seem to matter if the character is involved. That isn't the case here as the characters are highly competent with clear objectives and goals. They know what, when, and how they want to approach their problems.

I'm very much enjoying this new series and I look forward to the next book, probably more than the Prey series at this point for me personally, as I think Sandford is putting more effort and passion into these since they're a rather different pace and kind of story. Which is not to say I'm not looking forward to his other works, because I am. This series is refreshing and I hope Sandford continues it for as long as is reasonably possible. I have confidence that whatever Letty's next adventure is, it'll be entirely worthwhile.

I received this advance reading/review copy (ARC) from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons through NetGalley. I appreciate being allowed to read it and have provided my thoughts on the book as anyone ought to do for having received early access for free.

John Stanford's character Letty Davenport has grown on me in this second book! Maybe it was the addition of her Women's gun club crew, or the Russia/Ukraine connection, or the hackers! Not sure but great character development (even the bad guys). Exciting story with alot of suspense in the final pages. I also appreciated the epilogue. Keep them coming!

This is a great romp of a read. It will make an ideal summer holiday beach read. The introduction of the Peace-makers sets up a great potential for a fun new series!

In this second installment of John Sandford’s newest series, Letty Davenport, daughter of Sandford’s much loved hero Lucas Davenport of the U S Marshal’s Service, re-emerges as a young super heroine in a joint effort of Homeland Security and NSA.
As the job is revealed to Letty, she will be seeking to infiltrate a group of hackers, Ordinary People, who are likely planning to compromise a water supply in the USA. Letty’s partner will be Rod Baxter, a computer genius and specialist. He appears chubby and lackluster at first, but turns out to be a whiz at what needs to be done. I’m hoping Sandford makes him a series regular.
As the two go deeper and deeper it seems that the information they have been given about their enemy is far from the truth. International espionage and intrigue abound, as Letty, Rod and the “ good guys” face an opponent both diabolical and ruthless. To tell more would spoil the page turning action and surprises. The international situation is right up there In current world news. Suffice it to say the book becomes more James Bond and less police procedural.
Letty, as she is portrayed, is almost too indestructible. Against all odds, she lives up to her reputation to defeat forces that would seem beyond her age and experience potential.
This book is a solid four star read with enough action to keep me glued to the pages. Sandford’s writing skills continue to make him a favorite of mine. My thanks to #netgally and publisher #penguingroupputnam for a free copy of Dark Angel in return for an unbiased review.

Dark Angel continues with the Letty Davenport storyline. The story revolves around Letty being part of a undercover joint task force to root out a group of hackers and stop them from possibly shutting down a natural gas plant in a Northern city. As usual there are some underlying issues that the federal government is not telling the team about until the last minute. I felt that the story moved at a decent pace and was pretty entertaining. Some of the book has the ripped from the headlines feel but that just makes it more interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Dark Angel is an appealing novel that held my interest from the start. Letty Davenport makes for a good lead character in John Sandford's second novel in the series. There's plenty of action that is well depicted. My only complaint would be the pages that end the book. Once the main plot is finished, the author goes on to relate some pretty meaningless follow-up. I didn't need to know about Letty's sexual proclivities.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Those of us who are already fans of John Sandford will probably have read "The Investigator", the first in this series, in which we are introduced to a grown-up Letty Davenport. "Dark Angel" continues her exploits, where she and her partners infiltrate a group of hackers at the request of her bosses in Homeland Security and the NSA.
I eagerly anticipate the next one!

I've really enjoyed all of the Prey books, the Flowers novels, and now the Letty series. If you are a fan of fast-paced, intelligent and compelling mysteries, and you are not reading Sandford's work, you're missing out!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

Letty Davenport, the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, is very good at working with firearms. Both Homeland Security and the National Security Agency are eager to use her in an operation to infiltrate a hacker group called Ordinary People. With her computer skills and firearm expertise, she soon finds herself, along with her partner from the NSA, at Ordinary People's headquarters. Her skills stand her in good stead in this technical thriller.

Letty Davenport has become one of my new favorite go to "undsercover spy" heroines.
Letty, the adopted daughter of Investigator Lucas Davenport, has been tasked with infiltrating and taking down a gang of hackers who are looking to take out a national grid network. She and her partner, Baxter, head out to CA to begin the act. Russia is involved and the players are mean, tough and ruthlessly determined to come out on top, at any cost.
Lots of action, intriguing insights into the world of computer hacking and web piracy.
The characters working with Letty are well defined, interesting, quirky but likeable and wry, at times.
Letty #3 ......soon??

Letty Davenport is only a few months down the road from her first big assignment, one which resulted in a difficult takedown of a very nasty militia group (see The Investigator). And then the phone rings. She’s presented with an offer she can’t (almost literally) refuse. Her US Senator mentor and the bosses at Homeland Security along with a group at the NSA want her to go undercover with a very reluctant NSA computer expert to infiltrate a hacker group called Ordinary People before they turn off the gas in an undetermined northern city, potentially killing hundreds. But before long, Letty and Baxter both agree: there’s something else going on and they’re not being read in on the true purpose of this op.

What follows is a high energy, action packed read, full of John Sandford’s usual masterful mix of character and plot driven storytelling with equal doses of humorous banter and edge-of-the-seat action resulting in a truly gripping read - for me, a very literal page turner.

For anyone who is already a John Sandford fan, you will be no stranger to Letty Davenport; she is certainly living up to her potential in this new series. If you haven’t yet read The Investigator, book one of the series, you should rectify that immediately: it’s a hugely entertaining book.

If you are new to the exciting world of John Sandford’s books, you can read Dark Angel and The Investigator (either one or both) as stand alone books if you wish. But I’ll bet you end up curious about Letty’s back story and will want more details. You can find them starting in Naked Prey (number 14 in the Prey series). In it, she steals the show as a 12 year old of immense charm, cunning, intelligence and bravery. You can follow her journey to the present day Letty in subsequent Prey books(and meet the fabulous Virgil Flowers along the way). Mr Sandford is a master of character development and growth, one of the things that make all his books such compulsive reading.

So to all fans of high adrenaline, intelligent crime/thriller story telling, if you haven’t yet read the Prey series and the spin off Virgil Flowers series, they are very worth adding to your reading lists. Dark Angel, as book two of this new spin off series, is a very worthy addition to his list.

To sum it up, this book was, for me, an immensely enjoyable and satisfying read. If you pressed me to critique anything, all I could say was that I wish it was longer. I can’t wait for the next book (and I live in hope that one day Letty will join her dad, Lucas Davenport from the Prey series, and Virgil Flowers to all work together on a case, preferably one that SHE is in charge of- hint, hint to Mr Sandford who probably doesn’t read these reviews anyway!).

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Dark Angel was a nice read regarding sending main charecter Letty undercover. The way the plot started out was enjoyable and I enjoyed the way the story dove tailed with current events.
Unfortunately, I still don't understand the relationship here between the Senate/NSA etc where Letty et al get their marching orders. Maybe if I had read the first book? Otherwise an enjoyable read , just requires some suspension of belief.

Fresh off the Pershing Bridge shoot out, Letty Davenport is back at her job for the Department of Homeland Security on a stake out where she meets Barbara Cartwright, a spook working for the Unspecified Agency assigned to the same project. This fateful meeting works in Letty’s favor on her next assignment: going undercover to infiltrate a hacker conglomerate responsible for hacking into a Russian train network. When the assignment turns into a protection detail, Letty calls for backup – Cartwright, and John Kaiser, her partner from the Pershing assignment.

Dark Angel, the second installment of the Letty Davenport series by John Sanford, is an action-heavy thriller, packed with mystery and great character interactions. Sanford stays true to the Letty Davenport we came to love in The Investigator – a young, socially awkward operative with unrivaled gun skills and a drive for justice. Sanford brings back reader favorites of John Kaiser, Senator Colles, and Billy Greet; along with an interesting batch of supporting characters from the hacker conglomerate and the members of the women-only gun club to which Letty and Barbara belong.

I give Dark Angel 4 out of 5 stars. I have been anxiously awaiting the continuation of Letty Davenport’s story. This book was enjoyable, but I did find myself frustrated with the plot at times. The novel began strong with the surveillance operation and the set up for the undercover role Letty will take on. However, portions of the storyline felt forced such as the shootout at the automotive shop – Letty’s involvement did not necessarily further the story or character development. This scene also had continuity challenges – a bullet hits Letty’s shoe, but she walks away unharmed and with no further reference to any damage or replacement made by the character. I also found moments of the final gunfight to be unbelievable – Letty is within feet of a combatant who knows her location, has a weapon, and is a good shot; yet the combatant does not take the shot. The characters also all walk away from that fight without wrapping up the hacker’s involvement well. Sanford’s inclusion of recent foreign political situations does help to immerse the reader in the story’s timeline.

I recommend this novel to fans of Sanford’s other works. I would also recommend this for fans of action and thriller reads. This shoot-em-up thriller delivers the action his writing is known for. While the story revolves around computer hacking, the story is not heavy in technical computer terms and is an easy read. The background information from the first book in this series could be helpful to readers, but this novel can be read as a standalone book as well. With violence and death depicted in the action sequences, Dark Angel would be well suited for audiences 13 and older.

In the second thriller featuring Letty Davenport, the young investigator and expert markswoman is asked by the Department of Homeland Security to infiltrate a group of hackers. The official story about preventing a possible attack on an unspecified municipal gas supply never rings true to Letty, but she takes the job and teams up with her assigned computer-expert partner, who turns out to be better than she expected at the undercover assignment. (Yay for characters who defy obvious stereotypes.) Letty is used to being overlooked or underestimated because of her age, and she uses this to her advantage as the case progresses. Along the way, she forges new alliances with colorful new characters who help her in this effort, which turns out to have important geopolitical implications straight out of modern headlines. I hope some of the new friends retain in future installments of this series. It’s fun to read about Letty’s incredible shooting skills, but once she is done impressing people on the range, the scenes involving brains and clever investigative strategies are more fun than the inevitable grand finale shootout. Similarly for the almost instant availability of whatever and whoever Letty needs, thanks to highly-placed DHS/NSA help; that’s impressive, but it’s more exciting to see what Letty can do with what she has before the cavalry shows up. Of course, Letty holds her own in this dramatic thriller, and I look forward to many more adventures with Letty and company.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group/Putnam for a digital advance review copy.

John Sandford’s latest crime thriller, Dark Angel, in the second in the Letty Davenport series. Although I really enjoy just about anything Sandford writes, I must admit i prefer the Prey books and the Virgil Flowers series. I’m hoping it is just a matter of getting to know the new lead character a bit better.

In Dark Angel, Letty goes undercover to investigate a hacker group called Ordinary People, who have already hacked in to the train lines in Russia. It was interesting to see the Russian invasion of Ukraine play into the story line. Dark Angel was action packed with likable interesting characters. It is well written, easy to read, entertaining and engaging.

I would definitely recommend this to all fans of crime thrillers. Well worth the read. And while you are at it, if you haven’t read the Virgil Flower books or the Prey series, you will want to give those a look.