In this, the 34th novel in John Sandford’s Prey series, Lucas teams up with his daughter, Letty, to hunt down a scientist who plans to launch a globally-devastating terrorist attack. Exhibiting all of the hallmarks of what has made Sandford’s novel so popular, this is an engaging, gripping read.

I’ve read almost all of Sandford’s Prey novels (there are still a few of the earlier ones that I haven’t had the chance to read, yet). Each new book is a must-read for me, and there are few authors whose novels I read immediately — and often finish in a couple of sittings.

Toxic Prey was no exception. It hits the ground running, and introduces a diabolical plot to “save the world”. U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport and his team are brought in to hunt down the rogue scientist who has devised the attack. Lucas’s adopted daughter, Letty, is likewise brought onto the case through her work for a leading Senator involved in Homeland Security. With an international component (the scientist is British), Letty enjoys a quick jaunt to the UK where she meets a new love-interest. As Lucas, Letty and their colleagues rush across the United States to prevent the attack, they slowly learn the huge scope of the plot. Lucas is forced to balance the urgency to stop the Scott’s plan with his concern for Letty — who, like her dad, has a tendency to rush in and put herself in the line of danger. The pacing in the second half to the book was particularly excellent, and I couldn’t put it down, reading well into the wee hours of the morning.

Given the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential impact of a pathogen tailor-made to massively depopulate the global population was a particularly terrifying plot device, and Sandford does a great job of digging into the psychosis that would devise such a plan, as well as the lengths to which zealots will go to achieve their ends (while also noting the hypocrisy and narcissism involved in ensuring that the plotters survive…). The author also shows respect for the people who are involved in combatting these potential attacks, and developing strategies for protecting the populations (not just of the US, but elsewhere, too).

If you’re already a fan of Sandford’s novels, then I have no doubt you will have already pre-ordered this. His series presents no evidence to suggest that neither the author nor his protagonist are slowing down anytime soon. If you are a fan of thrillers and crime fiction, but haven’t yet read any of Sandford’s novels, then I would strongly recommend you give his books a try. They’re pacy, well-crafted, up-to-the-minute, and are populated by engaging and well-drawn characters. The author has a particular gift for dialogue and banter. Best of all, Sandford keeps the storytelling fresh in each new novel, and none of the novels have felt formulaic or like the author’s just going through the motions. The introduction of Letty as a partner has given additional life to the series — not to mention plenty of amusing opportunities to compare the different generations and their thinking and mores.

Thirty-four books in, and my interest hasn’t dipped at all. Recommended.

I'm a huge John Sanford fan, and couldn't put this book down until i devoured every word. Letty Davenport has been a welcome addition to the genre, and this novel has her working with her father, Lucas Davenport Let the awkward situations begin!

Dr. Lionel Scott believes that Gaia, Mother Earth, is dying. A renowned expert in tropical and infectious diseases, Scott feels that society as it exists is untenable, and population levels are out of control. While most are concerned about deadly disease, Scott knows that it is truly humanity itself that will destroy Gaia. It’s only by removing the threat that the planet can continue to prosper.

When Scott disappears without a trace, Letty Davenport is tasked with tracking down any and all leads. Scott’s connections to sensitive research into virus and pathogen spread has multiple national and international organizations on high alert, and his shockingly high clearance levels at various institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, make him the last person they’d like to go missing. As the web around Scott becomes more tangled, Letty calls in her father, Lucas, to help her lead a group of specialists to find Scott as soon as possible. But as Letty and Lucas begin to uncover startling and disturbing connections between Scott and Gaia conspiracists, their worst fears are confirmed, and it quickly becomes a race to find him before the virus he created becomes the perfect weapon.

Highly ecommended. #ToxicPrey #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthorSeries

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Toxic Prey is the 34th installment in the Lucas Davenport series, and it delivers a thrilling and timely plot that explores the dangers of bioterrorism and environmental extremism. The novel follows Lucas and his daughter, Letty, as they chase a rogue scientist who has created a deadly virus that he intends to unleash on the world, in order to reduce the human population and save the planet from ecological collapse.

The novel is fast-paced and suspenseful, with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing until the end. The characters are well-developed and realistic, especially the father-daughter duo of Lucas and Letty, who share a strong bond and a sharp sense of humor. The villain, Dr. Lionel Scott, is a complex and chilling antagonist, who believes he is doing the right thing for the greater good, even if it means killing millions of innocent people.

Sandford's writing is crisp and engaging, with vivid descriptions and witty dialogue. He also incorporates relevant and topical issues, such as climate change, pandemic outbreaks, and conspiracy theories, into the story, making it feel current and realistic. The novel also offers a balanced and nuanced perspective on the ethical and moral dilemmas that arise from the conflict between human and environmental interests.

Toxic Prey is a gripping and entertaining read that will appeal to fans of the Lucas Davenport series, as well as to anyone who enjoys a smart and action-packed thriller. It is a novel that not only entertains, but also challenges and provokes the reader to think about the state of the world and the future of humanity.

I thought the book was overly predictable. The spacing between chapters was odd, although that was only a ordinal preference, I would rather have shorter chapters than what seems random spacing. I thought the story line between Letty and Hawthorne was odd, it needed more development, it seemed to jump from friends with benefits to what seemed like a relationship but that's a little unclear. I needed more story about what was thing on, or have that left out in the beginning as it seemed to be more about them in the beginning.

This was great. I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

This is easily the best Lucas book in quite some time. It's also a Letty book and I love it when those 2 work together. Don't worry Virgil gets mentioned a couple of times.

Lionel Scott is a Oxford Educated Doctor. He has worked in some of the most desperate places in the world. Somewhere along the way he becomes a believer in the Gaia movement which is a radical group who believes that there are too many people and the earth will not survive. When he goes missing, DHS calls in Letty to find him. He's spent time at Fort Detrick and at Los Alamos working on viruses and the US government needs to find him. Lucas and Rae are brought in for the hunt.

We get whirlwind trips around New Mexico as they try to track him and his small group of co-conspirators. The characters are great as usual and we see a side to Lucas that we've never seen before. The ending is wo well written and it ends the way it should.

Well done.

Over the years, I have read MANY books by John Sandford, and have reviewed at least a dozen, with several being part of the Prey series. In 2019, writing about John Sandford’s Neon Prey, I wrote “There aren’t many authors whose latest book I eagerly await, and who maintain a consistently high level in terms of plot, character, and entertainment value. John Sandford has been one of those (along with Michael Connelly, Michael Robotham, Robert Crais, and Elizaeth George (OK, a few clunkers in the Lynley series, but overall still a fave). I was a bit surprised to realize that his latest, Neon Prey, is #29 in the Lucas Davenport series. I’m pretty sure I have read them all, and over the years I’ve come to know and love Lucas and some of his cronies, so I was happy to receive…”

It was just last year that I realized that for the past several years, Sandford has released two books a year: A Lucas Davenport/Prey book in the spring, and a Virgil Flowers title in the fall. (Am I the only one who never realized this???). Although I have been less than thrilled with a couple of fairly recent titles, looking back I realize those were Flowers books, and the Lucas Davenport series has been more to my liking.

So far, so good. Two titles a year: Lucas and Virgil. Then along comes Letty Davenport, Lucas’s adopted daughter, and in 2023 we got Dark Angel, featuring Letty on her own. And if that weren’t enough, 2024 brings us Toxic Prey, billed as “A Lucas and Letty Davenport Novel.” Thanks to Penguin Group/Putnam and NetGalley,I received a copy of this 34th in the Prey series in exchange for my honest review. I was REALLY looking forward to reading this one, because I love the interplay between Lucas and Letty, and the premise was interesting. In this one, we don’t have Virgil, but we do have a bunch of wackos who believe that, thanks to humans, the earth is dying and the best way to save it would be to turn a deadly virus loose and kill more than half the people alive. The genius behind this is Dr. Lionel Scott, an expert in infectious and tropical diseases, whose recent experience deals with crossing the Marburg virus with the fast-spreading measles we all know and love. Dr. Scott has disappeared, along with an unknown quantity of the new virus and several highly contagious people tasked with going to airports worldwide and unleashing the horror. OMG, what a scary premise!

Letty works with Lucas and other specialists to track down Dr. Scott, his virus, and the “volunteers” who are working to “save the earth” (Gaia, as they call it). It’s very tension-filled, clever, and scary AF. I love Letty and Lucas both, but this one was VERY unsettling for me. I’m unclear how to rate it because it clearly was very well done to have scared me so much. But it’s such an awful premise I hate to give it five. But…it IS Sandford. And Lucas. And Letty. Five stars.

Another grand slam for Sanford.
Riveting, non stop thrills as Letty Davenport with her father Lucas and a few other select govt investigators and
immunology research specialists attempt to find a missing scientist who disappeared from the infectious disease research labs at Los Alamos.
Dr Lionel Scott, who came from London to Los Alamos for research, believes the earth is headed for a disastrous downturn toward extinction if something is not done to stop the downward spiral. He enlists the help of a few wealthy and fervent believers and hatches a plan to take out a large part of the earth's population by infecting them with a rapid spread deadly disease.
Letty is called in, and with a London M15 agent, along with her dad and a few others, the hunt is on.
Absolutely riveting with very defined characters and such detailed, well researched and descriptive locales. you can almost see yourself right there in the midst of the plot.
From London to Taos to Santa Fe to Albuquerque, the cities are fabulously detailed, as only Sanford can do so well.
Great story. Absolutely "un put down able" !!
Five stars all the way.

I’ve read all the Prey books and this one of the most interesting and suspenseful Prey book in a long while. I really enjoyed Lucas and Rae and Letty and Hawkins, and Cartwright! Great group of characters! Only missing Virgil. I highly recommend this book and the series.

This is a very interesting, scary, smart story. All of the usual characters make their appearance.
And even though it’s been awhile they are all pretty much doing the same things: putting
their lives out there to save the world. While the story might seem to be a bit like events in
our recent collective recent past, this feeling last for just a minute-these people did amazing
work, and the events were very sophisticated. I enjoyed the backdrop of New Mexico.
My thanks to G.P. Putnam and Sons, Publisher, via NetGalley for a download copy of this’ book
for review purposes.

Scary concept

I had never heard of the Gaia hypothesis, that the earth protects itself by doing things that will allow for its continued existence. In this case, a group of people led by Lionel Scott, a doctor and research scientist, decide to help it along by using a biological weapon to try to wipe out half of the human population. The theory is that fewer people will require fewer resources and global warming will be stopped, saving the earth from the death spiral we are creating. A highly deadly but poorly transmitted disease, Marburg, was attached to the much more spreadable measles virus. Dr. Scott and his crew planned to release the virus at airports, insuring it would quickly be spread across the world.

The plot was very good and the thought behind it very scary and realistic. I happened to read it while confined at home with Covid, so it hit home.

John Sanford is one of my favorite authors and I especially liked his last few books featuring Letty Davenport, but this one felt a little disjointed and sometimes like it was written by two authors. First, the whole book started when Dr, Scott went missing from his Los Alamos research lab. He had been treated for nervous exhaustion and several other illnesses. It seems a stretch that when he went missing, the response was to have Homeland Security, MI5, the Marshals Service, and pretty much every other agency try to find him.

I would give this book five stars for the plot and four for the execution. I am a little surprised by the writing as Sanford's books are usually a lot tighter. There were random parts, like referring to another one of Sanford's characters, Virgil Flowers, for really no reason and in a way that did not flow. It was kind of like an editor wanted it added to promote the Virgil series.

Also, and this is a small thing, I am from Minnesota. So is Letty Davenport. So is John Sanford (but I think he moved a while ago). Sometimes Letty used phrasing that I have never heard from a Minnesotan, like "We were almost two hours coming up.".

Still, this is very readable and I recommend it. I will be thinking about the concept of Gaia for a long time.

The old pandemic shtick has been overdone. We see it in movies, books and TV shows. It has been a constant presence and will continue to be so. Does this novel solve the "Nothing is new under the Sun" dilema?

Not really. It is fast paced as it should be, what with time running out etc. As fast as it is, the story line goes nowhere. Jumping from different venues with the same results does not a thriller make. There is no international intrigue except for Letty reverse cowgirling it with an MI5 guy in England. Just boring New Mexico is all you get.

The character development is good, especially with Packer. The rest ho-hum down the procedural trail. An entertaining read that lacks story line creativity. I think the author is writing in this vien in hopes that it will be picked up and sold for movie rights. Kind of like the Master of Sellouts, Lee Child.

End-of-the-world stories featuring an easily spread deadly disease are fairly common. But, now that we’re in the era of COVID such stories have more of a possibility of actually happening rather than just being clever science fiction. In this book, longtime crime writer John Sandford tosses his series characters including Lucas Davenport and his daughter Letty into trying to find a crazy who believes that to save the earth, most human life needs to be extinguished. Sandford knows how to write fast-paced, good guys chase down the bad guys but in “Toxic Prey” the dangers to the good guys are higher, and the bad guys present the possibility of even more risk to the civilian population. As a result “Toxic Prey” is not just an outstanding crime novel, but a novel that moves the reader to thinking about the unthinkable.

Toxic Prey by John Sandford is part of the Lucas Davenport/Letty series, but can be read as a stand alone novel. It is thoroughly engaging and hard to put down. You won't want this one to end. Sandford's style of writing has an easy flow and keeps the reader intrigued and wanting more. The medical aspect has you wondering, what if that happed to me. How would I handle it?

If you are current on the series, this is the best Letty novel to date. I enjoyed the return of Rae and the introduction of Hawkins. Hopefully he will be a returning character in future Letty novels. I also liked how Letty is referred to as looking just like her dad.

I have to say, I love Lucas and Letty Davenport. A suspense that takes you for a ride, a very enjoyable read. There is a little too much luck though,, which made me roll my eyes a few times. But altogether, a very solid book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

What is there to say about this latest in the series? It's just what you expect--a great story, enough drama for a queen, and the day is saved (mostly). I always love Sandford's books and I'm always happy for another one.
I was a little afraid that this one was going to be too predictable because the possible outcome is not really possible, so the day WILL be saved. But the journey to get there was very satisfying. This one was quite interesting!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. More, please!

John Sandford has written another exciting novel with a great plot. The bad guy and his accomplices think they’ve come up with a plan to save Mother Earth. It’s up to Lucas Davenport and his daughter Letty to save humanity.

Another great book in the series. Emphasis is on Letty who is a good heroine. I like Lucas was included but missed Weather. I hope the series does not evolve totally to Letty. I highly recommend this book n

I’ve spent many years reading all of Mr. Sandford’s books in his various series. This book is pretty much an equal Letty and Lucas storyline unlike previous books. Letty is only 25 so it’s a bit difficult at times to believe she has the knowledge and expertise written in the books, but I recall when Lucas first met Letty. She was young, having to hunt for her food and pretty much on her own. Once she’s adopted by Lucas and Weather, she was always interested in the various cases Lucas was involved with plus she had defended Weather and her siblings from intruders. So, she’s had much different life experiences than most young women and she’s bright and quick thinking. We see her discuss ideas and plans with Billy, Hawkins (the MI5 member and a new love interest), Lucas and others so her age isn’t an issue here.

In this story, the ‘toxic’ in the title, is truly representative of the plot. Letty works for the Department of Homeland Security and is brought in to help locate a missing doctor and everything picks up speed almost immediately. We see characters from other books like Billy Greet, Lucas and Rae from the Marshall Services, Barb the sharp-shooter, along with seemingly every military member and police-related departments as they rush to locate Dr. Scott and his accomplices.

The story is a tense one and based on an infectious disease much more devastating than Covid. I had to stop reading at times because of the intensity but had to pick up my Kindle quickly so I could see where the story led next.

The story built at a breakneck speed and there was hardly time for anyone to eat or sleep. Lucas had difficulty knowing Letty could be in danger, plus knowing she’s involved with Hawkins – definitely not the things a father wants to think about! The ending was a scary one and left me thinking about our current world and the possibility of catastrophic events. Even days after I finished reading the book, I continue to think about the scenes and events.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work of Mr. Sandford’s. I enjoy all of his books and look forward to more of his work.

Okay, let me get my nitpick out of the way first. And it is a teeny nitpick – not a star destroying complaint. Ready? Okay…

I miss Virgil (expletive-ing) Flowers. I want Virgil. Not a Virgil reference. Not an ‘as Virgil Flowers would say’. The books need Virgil.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way (#sorrynotsorry), I will tell you that I loved this book! It’s a big story – a terrifyingly plausible possibly world-ending story and I was so there for it.

Letty has definitely come into her own as a character and I’m all for it. She’s a complete badass and I get a kick out of her relationship with her dad.

The book moves along at breakneck speed and I was sorry when it was over. I wanted more.

Happily awaiting whatever comes next!

• ARC via Publisher