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

Every time a new book comes out by John Sandford I get excited but this one -Toxic Prey was exceptional and so if your reading this, stop and get busy reading this book. It's the subject of a terrible man who wants to clean the earth of people and start over again with only a few. His group are working fast to prepare for the end but guess who is trying to stop them? Our group of crime stoppers Lucas and his daughter Letty (except for Virgil Flowers who is totally one of my favorite), they are right behind the plague makers. I give this a high 5 rating and recommend it to everyone! Thank you for being one of the first readers!!

Great book!

This book was fast-paced and loaded with mystery. The antagonists are known from the start, but the hard part for Lucas Davenport and his daughter Letty is finding them. Lionel Scott, a doctor and the creator of a terrible hybrid virus, is driven by the need to save Earth, or Gaia, as he refers to it. The virus is intended to take out as many humans as possible, and their plan is to use airports as a seeding ground to spread the virus far and wide.

With help from their contacts, Lucas and Letty search the New Mexico area for clues as to where Scott and his band of "volunteers" is hiding out. The search is difficult, the few people who are read in (local law enforcement, mostly) don't really believe them until the US Government virology specialists arrive.

While the subject matter is rough and unfortunately, plausible in this world we live in, I enjoyed the interactions between father and daughter, their close relationships with Cartwright, Rae and Alec, and the fact that they keep their cool under pressure. Somehow, despite being fictional characters, I feel safer with them and others like them being in the world.

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

Lucas Davenport and his daughter Letty are featured in Toxic Prey, the 34th book in this long-running series. When a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases goes missing from a research lab in Los Alamos, Letty is sent to conduct an investigation into his disappearance, and she quickly raises the alarm when she discovers the doctor may be planning a full scale biological attack that threatens to kill billions if unleashed. The pace is fast and furious, as Lucas, Letty and their team race against time to locate the doctor and his cohorts. Every page is filled with action, with the author’s inimitable style featuring sarcastic and witty dialogue between characters and a full-throttle, non-nonsense plot in a book I literally couldn’t put down. One of the best in this series, not to be missed. Loved every minute of this one. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Toxic Prey was a quick thrill ride of a read! Though I was surprised that it was technically a Prey book which should have focused more on Lucas than Letty, if was fun to see them work together for an entire book as they tackle an unnerving bio-threat from an Oxford-educated scientist. The British aspect allowed for the introduction of Hawkins, who annoyed me at first because Letty doesn't actually need to sleep with someone in every book, and now I hope to see in future books. The chase kept me on the edge of my seat. I have already started telling patrons that this book is on its way and look forward to recommending it widely. Thank you to Penguin Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for the early access in exchange for my honest opinion.

The fate of the world and most of its inhabitants is the subject of Toxic Prey: A Lucas and Letty Novel by John Sandford. Dr. Lionel Scott has a vision to save a planet besieged by global warming and human overpopulation. Kill a lot of people. Create a new pandemic far more lethal and wider ranging than Covid. Kill billions of people to stop the strain on the world and possibly reverse the coming collapse.

Letty Davenport is sent to England by her boss, Senator Christopher Colles. Officially, she works for the Department of Homeland Security, but the reality is that she is sort of a fixer type for Colles. She is sent to England to talk to three of Lionel Scott’s friends and find out what they know about Scott and if they know where he is.

There is a concern as the good doc previously worked at U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and was currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Scott is an infectious disease specialist and has a lot of knowledge in his head. That knowledge could be dangerous if used by others.

Met by Alec Hawkins of MI5, Letty is shown Oxford, and A few other things. It soon becomes clear that Lionel Scott has a history of depression and a fascination with the possibilities of the Gaia hypothesis.

Simplifying greatly, the theory is that the Earth is a living organism and all life on Earth live in a sort of harmony and are protected by the Earth. That balance has been destroyed by human overpopulation. If you remove billions of humans from the planet, the survivors would live in a world that would steadily improve as nature healed itself. Climate change would immediately stop and would probably reverse. Species and plants would rebound, improving the quality of life for the humans that remained. Those humans would have improved access to housing, resources, etc.

It becomes clear to Letty that Scott might be trying to make that event happen by way of a virus. He has the medical skills to engineer one. He probably has folks with him that believe in the same mission. She knows she needs help and starts raising the alarm.

Before long, Lucas Davenport, Letty, Hawkins, and many others are in New Mexico on Scott’s trail and trying to stop the end of the world before it starts.

A top-notch thriller that offers an all too real scenario, Toxic Prey is a mighty good read. Intense, often violent, it carries readers along at a rapid pace as Lucas, Letty, and others do everything they can to stop a group of people committed to wiping out the vast majority of the human population. Toxic Prey is not only a mighty good read, it is also a scary predicator of what could be done by one man with knowledge and resources easily bought online.


My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024