This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fast-paced, clever, and I couldn't put it down. In some ways Letty seemed to be the Lucas Davenport character, except younger and female. This is understandable, though, since Letty was raised by Lucas and was always a bit of a kindred spirit to him. It was a great book and I am excited to see that there will be additional books in this series. I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading more books in this series as well as others by this author.

I’ve been a John Sandford fan since the Prey series started in the late 1980s. Back then, Lucas Davenport tracked down gruesomely grisly serial killers and brutally despatched them with grim efficiency – before falling onto bed with any attractive woman who could be extracted from her underwear.

Since then Lucas has aged almost gracefully into a seasoned manhunter with rather less graphic gore and rather more fidelity towards his spouse, and author Sandford has successfully spun off another character – Virgil Flowers – into his own series. The Prey books went seriously wobbly for a while but have recently improved – if that’s because Sandford now works with a writing partner (so the rumour goes) then I’m all for it.

But I never liked Sandford’s ventures into other territories – the hacker Kidd and the news team in The Night Crew fell flat. Likewise, his adopted daughter’s earlier appearance as an adolescent in Gathering Prey felt forced and fake. She wasn’t a real character, just an awkward plot device.

So I wouldn’t have automatically picked up The Investigator – the first book in a new series featuring that very daughter, Letty Davenport – but when the opportunity knocked I was willing to give it a go...

…and I was entirely gratified by how great it is. Sandford has created a credible niche for Letty as a politician’s agent, and given her the credentials of Homeland Security and a broad-ranging brief. The story takes her directly into the present political turmoil, referencing online conspiracy networks, citizens’ militias and the dark undercurrent of insurrection which appears to be tugging at America’s soul. It couldn’t be more timely.

Some people may struggle with the youth and maturity of this hard-faced ‘strong female protagonist’. There’s no doubt that Letty looks and sounds a lot like the younger version of Lucas – but then, he’s her adopted father and her life’s role model, so why wouldn’t she? Similarly, she was forced into wielding weapons as a child and had to be self-sufficient before most teenagers hit puberty. No wonder she’s a badass.

Letty feels eminently believable to me – and I like the notion of an independent young woman who is a capable and competent as her male counterparts, and who does not need to fall back on feminine wiles to achieve her aims.

It helps that the plot barrels along at a rapid pace, without pausing for tedious domestic am-dram, and that Letty’s opponent is an equally interesting woman of strong will. Sandford also strategically fills in her back story for people who haven’t read the earlier books (and to remind me, because I had forgotten large lumps of it!) So I’m converted. Roll on the next one!

8/10

If you’re already a follower of Sandford’s Prey series then in all likelihood you’ll have come across Letty Davenport. She was adopted, aged fourteen, by cop Lucas Davenport - the star of that series - and his surgeon wife Weather, after a tough start to her life. She’s confident, feisty and a crack shot with a handgun. Here, in the first book in which she’s in the lead role, we find her working in the office of a US Senator, Christopher Colles. But she’s bored; the job hems her in and it’s all just way too dull. On the point of quitting, Colles offers her a more free ranging role – complete with a gun carry permit! Oh yes, this looks like it’s going offer significantly more job satisfaction.

At this point I have to confess my mixed feelings regarding Letty: on one hand I really like her, uber-confident and glowing with positivity and also an in-your-face attitude to anyone who isn’t immediately on her side. But - and it’s a pretty big but – is it really conceivable that any twenty-four-year old could display quite the level of worldliness and nouse and be so absolutely cold blooded as Letty shows herself to be throughout this tale? I’m not sure I quite buy it. However, leaving that aside for the moment, having accepted her first assignment she and an ex-Delta Force master sergeant, with whom she’s forged an uneasy partnership, set off on the trail of some stolen oil. Actually, it isn’t so much the missing oil, but rather the suspicion that the proceeds of the theft might be used to stir up trouble that’s prompted their mission.

I’m a big fan of Sandford’s writing and in his hands this story gradually morphs from an interesting and often amusing account of Letty landing on her feet and directing traffic pretty much from the start, to something darker and more sinister. And because we can see what’s happening from the point of view of both the investigators and the criminals, we have a pretty good idea – although not in a detailed way – of what’s potentially coming down the line. The set-piece action scene, when when it arrives, is significant in size and scale, with Letty having a front row seat. By this point I was right with her and though it might be argued that the whole concoction is somewhat unlikely (actually, highly unlikely in my view) it was certainly dramatic and well told, and I was willingly dragged along with it.

Letty is a mini Lucas Davenport and is referred to as such regularly here, so to some degree I wonder why the author chose to insert her into this story rather than Lucas, and perhaps his sometime sidekick Virgil Flowers? I suppose Letty’s youth and, to some extent, her inexperience add a slightly different texture to events. Like many other writers of long running series, there’s also the temptation or sometimes even the necessity to freshen things up without casting the formula aside completely. This adventure ended in a way that suggests a loose end might still need to be tied off, and with another Letty Davenport book due to be released shortly, I think there was enough here to draw me back for a second outing from the junior Davenport. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Details, details. Author John Sandford doesn't leave them out of The Investigator. As a reader, I sure wished that he would because this story is too long. Given that it is not that interesting, the excess detail made it a bit of a slog. I am a fan of Sandford's other works, but The Investigator doesn't match up.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. But you present this as a new work when it was actually published ast year.

By twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action than most law enforcement professionals. Working a desk job for US Senator Christopher Colles, she’s bored and ready to quit. But when her skills catch Colles’ attention, she is offered a lifeline: real investigative work. Texas oil companies are reporting thefts of crude. Rumour has it that a sinister militia is involved. Who is selling the oil? And what are they doing with the profits? Letty is partnered with a Department of Homeland Security investigator, John Kaiser. When the case turns deadly, they know they're onto something big. The militia has an explosive plan… and the clock is ticking down. Letty is truly the case of the Apple not falling far from the tree. She takes after her father, Lucas Davenport in many ways but is also her own unique character who is growing into quite the investigator. I hope there are many more Letty books in the future. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

After enthralling readers worldwide for more than three decades with the exploits of Lucas Davenport, John Sandford now begins a series starring Letty Davenport, Lucas’s twenty-four-year-old adopted daughter, with The Investigator. Letty has an ivy league master's degree in economics, is extremely attractive, and is a cool-headed killer; and she is bored by her desk job with Senator Chris Colles who is also the Chairman of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. When Letty submits her resignation, Colles puts it promptly in the shredder and offers her a job as a researcher for DHS – a job that promises excitement and will permit her to carry a gun. Another DHS agent named John Kaiser, an ex-Army master sergeant in his late forties, is assigned as Letty's partner – unwillingly, of course. The pair’s first mission is to investigate the ongoing theft of crude oil from a few oil companies in Texas: while the quantum of the oil being stolen is negligible, the money it could generate is substantial, and DHS is worried about what the thieves are buying with it. Letty and John start with a search for a missing oil executive, and their discoveries lead them across south-west Texas on the trail of a border militia headed by a woman known as Jael that has attracted ex-military people with strong anti-immigration sentiments. The militia has been arming itself for over two years with the stolen oil money and is on the verge of carrying out some big, audacious act at an unknown location on the Mexican border. The government agencies are unable to deploy any forces due to the lack of concrete information, and Letty and John are the only ones who could do something about it, provided they stay alive to do so.

I haven’t read any of the novels featuring Lucas Davenport, which is a shame, and seeing how Sandford has designed Letty, I have developed an urge to get acquainted with her father soon. This one being Letty’s debut, Sandford provides enough background into the events that shaped her – her troubled childhood, her resurrection by Lucas, and her bonding with Lucas over guns – in a seamless manner without hampering the current story’s flow. John Kaiser is another fantastic character who perfectly complements Letty’s impulsive, aggressive approach, and the growth of their relationship is amusing to follow. The plot is crisp and superfast, with terrific twists and edge-of-the-seat suspense that keep the pages turning. The dialogues are sharp and the descriptions of the places, people and the action sequences are vivid. The only shortfall I found with this novel is the lack of any vulnerability in Letty’s character, which would have made her more realistic, but Sandford has more future books to rectify that. I had a rollicking time reading The Investigator and would be glad to follow Letty in her future adventures.

I am grateful to Canelo Publishers for providing me with the Digital Review Copy of The Investigator through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Lucas Davenport's daughter, Letty, is now all grown up and working to help find out what is happening to missing Texas oil. Well, she is not so not so much concerned with the oil as where the funds from selling the oil is going. She and a really great colleague (and fabulous character) go to the Texas/Mexican border area to figure out what is going on, Told in parallel is the story of the oil thieves, who are anti-immigration activists and up to no good.

The story moves along well and I am a little sad that I finished it as I would like to read a little more tonight, I read this after "Dark Angel", so I knew that there was a Texas event that Letty was involved with. It would have been better to read them in order, but it was not necessary. I wish I had, though, because then I would have another the series to read. I guess I will have to go back to re=read some old Lucas Davenport/Prey series.

I hope there is more in the Letty series coming up.

Lucas Davenport's daughter Letty, takes center stage in this story with John Kaiser, a DHS Investigator, as they are tasked with tracking down missing oil from a US company. The DHS is more interested in finding out who the missing oil is being sold to and what the money is bring used for than in actually finding the oil itself. Their search takes them south to Texas and the Mexican border cities as they chase down a militia group run by a woman, named Hawke.
The story pace is fast, sharp and full of interesting twists and non stop action.
Kaiser and Letty are a formidable duo and compliment each other well - Letty has much of her famous father's quick witted response with little remorse for consequences made under do or die moments while KaIser is more of a pause and think it out kind of guy.
Another chapter?

I hadn't read a John Stanford book for a few years and it was like meeting up with an old friend and their family.
The style of writing and evolved characters with links to familiar characters.
The plot line is believable and realistic. The tension builds and becomes compulsive..
I became really invested in Letty and Kaiser and look forward to future books.

Love anything John sandford! His books are always page turning and fun and this is no exception. Lefty has been a great addition to the Davenport myths and will make a great and compelling stand alone character moving forward. The plot is typical sandford, full of twists, turns, violence, and humor. Not much else to say for such a prolific author!

The latest form John Sanford features Letty Davenport, the daughter of longtime protagonist Lucas Davenport. Letty is bored with her job on the staff of a US senator, but on her assignment she shows initiative, stealth, and skills—with a taste for risk. The senator notices and offers her a new gig as an investigator checking out mysterious thefts of crude oil in Texas, with a possible connection to financing for a homegrown terrorist plot. Letty meets John Kaiser, the Department Homeland Security investigator who is tasked with shepherding her through some basic prep for the job—and who is none too happy to be saddled with babysitting duty. We all know how that’s going to work out, and suffice it to say the underestimating of Letty Davenport ends quickly as Letty and Kaiser set off to take down a (totally over-the-top) sinister plot. Letty's “investigator" title is somewhat of an understatement, as she seems to have all the skills of Jack Reacher with a little James Bond thrown in. Are you really going to split hairs about plausibility when the story is this much fun? No—you’re going to read this book the way you watch the summer blockbuster and root for the impossibly-skilled good guys (gal!) to stop the ridiculously crazy bad guys. Enjoy the fast pace and thrilling action while you contemplate the casting possibilities for a movie adaptation.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for a digital advance review copy.

John Sandford done it again, a great suspense story featuring Letty as an investigator trying to stop another Waco disaster. The characters are well developed. The plot will keep you reading until the end.

Letty Davenport, the brilliant and tenacious adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, takes the investigative reins in the newest thriller from #1 bestselling author John Sandford.
By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals. Now a recent Stanford grad with a master’s in economics, she’s restless and bored in a desk job for U.S. Senator Colles. Letty’s ready to quit, but her skills have impressed Colles, and he offers her a carrot: feet-on-the-ground investigative work, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.

John Sandford really knows how to write a novel and I have been a fan for many years. This is another fabulous story that has great depth in both characters and plot. There are political themes throughout the book but this did not dampen my enjoyment of the book and to be honest I did not even read the blurb for this one I just picked it being pretty sure I would be entertained and I was definitely was. Letty is most surely a chip off the old block as they say, her father Lucas seems to have passed on his investigative genes to his daughter. She has a quirky character and am sure as the books progress this character will grow and I look forward to reading more about her.

You can not go wrong with a John Sandford book so why not take a chance and pick this one up, I am sure you are not going to be disappointed. 5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a Sandford reader, you'll be very pleased with this new series that includes some familiar faces. If you're new to Sandford, this would be a fine starting point with a gripping story and compelling characters. Sandford's books have a consistent quality to them and are always challenging to just the right degree for the reader.

First John Sandford novel I'd read and I can see why the hype.
Well written with likable characters and a solid plot, this is a good holiday read for anyone who likes an all action thriller.

My thanks to Canelo Press, John Sandford and Netgalley.
I'm not sure if this is going to be the series for me.
I've been reading Sandford books since the 1990's and I've always loved them. I know that Lucas will make himself known in these Letty books, but I am completely bummed out about Flowers. I have managed to get my grubby hands on the next Letty book, so we'll see how that goes?
The fact that Letty seemed almost superhuman annoyed the crap out of me! Also, way too much information on everything about guns.
You know how some men talk about cars or tools? And some women talk about sewing or shopping or make-up? I tend to zone out when that happens. That's what happened here with the gun stuff.
I'm seriously hopeful that the next book is less gung-ho. Eh, we'll see.

Wow this is a great book. Feel lucky to have had this opportunity to read it.
I was expecting Lucas Davenport to be in the book, and was really pleased with the story being all about Letty and minor references to Lucas.
A full on ride that doesn’t stop or have any dull moments. Well written and flows.
Letty and Kaiser get involved in investigating a possible attack that could hurt or kill many people.
Definitely worth a read and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Based on this introduction to Letty Davenport, I think this is going to be a terrific new series!

Letty had a hard start in life, but once she was adopted by Lucas Davenport and his wife Winter, both of whom you'll recognize from other books by John Sandford, she lived a good life. She caught the law enforcement bug and wanted to follow in her adopted Dad's footsteps, but wound up working for a US senator. When she had the opportunity to join a special investigation, she was in!

I liked meeting Letty, understanding how her past motivates her, and I like that she is a tough woman, does take "stuff" from anyone, and enjoys guns. The book had a lot of detail on oil drilling and the equipment, and also a strong storyline around anti-immigration terrorists. Fast very-paced, lots of action.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

This book is about Davenports daughter coming into her own and becoming an investigator. She is bored in her job and jumps at the chance to work on a special investigation with Homeland Security. Their investigation leads them to some very dangerous people. I liked the character and will be willing to read more books with Letty as the main character. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

The Investigator is an exciting story about an extreme militia group operating near the Mexican border in the USA as they hatch a plan to stop a caravan of illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande into the States.
Letty Davenport and Department of Homeland Security investigator John Kaiser are on the case, initially to investigate the thefts of crude oil in Texas which subsequently turn our be funding the militia and then to try to thwart their plan and bring them to justice.
I found the book to be fast moving, with plenty of action and good characterisation and with smidgeons of humour thrown in for light relief.