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

I just finished reading Toxix Prey. I like the transfer of the prey books to Leddy. It was nice to see Lucas in this one but missed Virgil. Lots of travel dialog like usual but got really good inthe last third of the book. Worth reading. I enjoyed this one. Not much politics in it which is a good thing. Anyone who reads Sandford should read this book.

I love Letty and Lucas and this latest, after the pandemic, is terrifying and entertaining in equal measure. Another winner installment of a serious I have always enjoyed immensely. Thanks for the read as always.

Letty and Lucas on a case together. This was a longtime coming, and it finally happened in Toxic Prey. When a British Disease Scientist disappears without a trace, Letty is sent to Europe to help track him down. She soon realizes her worst nightmare, the scientist is somewhere in the United States, and might possibly have an infectious disease he is looking to spread to reduce the world population and save earth. Along with her British cohort/lover, she heads to the United States to track down this scientific terrorist. Along the way she enlist her dad, US Marshall Lucas Davernport and his fellow Marshall Rae Givens. Will Lucas and Letty be able to stop the scientists before it is too late, or will a deadly virus be released that kills millions of people across the globe?

The story is good not great. Letty is still a little too sure of herself for being a newbie in the business, but it was fun to watch her and Lucas play off each other. The plot was pretty fast paced, and there was a lot happening throughout the novel. I did find the ending anticlimactic, but with the way the story wrapped up, I am not sure there was a better way to do it. I also found that this novel missed some of the trademark John Sanford humor that typically is inserted into this series.

While I wouldn’t consider this one of the best Prey novels ever written, it is still a fun engaging read that is well worth the time. Lucas and Letty are interesting characters that can captivate an audience. Thank you to NetGalley, John Sandford, and Penguin Putnam Group for a free advanced copy for an honest review.

Toxic Prey by John Sandford really brings the action and craziness of attempting to prevent a new world wide pandemic. This book in the Prey series combines Lucas Davenport and Letty Davenport into having to work together with a team of other players into tracking down the scientist who may or may not be suicidal enough to want to start a pandemic in hopes of saving Gaia aka the Earth. This book reminds me a bit of Robin Cook and his ability to weave medical into thrillers. I love that the medical portions of the book were accurate as far as I can tell. The pacing of this book is good, I found myself staying up late just wanting to read one more chapter. This book is another one with Letty as the main character and I am just saying I love it and want more.
I would like to thank #NetGalley and Penguin Group, Putnam for the digital ARC for my review.

Oh. My. Gosh!

As a longtime fan of the Lucas Davenport series, and all of the spinoffs (Virgil F****ng Flowers, Letty Davenport, etc) I understand how hard it is to maintain a series when you are over 30 books into a particular series - well....actually well over 50 books with all of the spinoffs. With that being said, the latest books were still good....just not as good as some of the ones in the earlier years.

I am thrilled to be able to say........THE DAVENPORTS ARE BACK!!!

This book has Letty pulling in her father to work with her and a core group of people that long time readers have come to know and like. There was Lucas, Barb, Rae, Senator Colle, Billy, and we get to meet a new character - Alec Hawkins from MI5. The group is pulled together because of a new threat - one truly pulled from today's current environment - a threat of a deadly virus being developed and released and causing a deadly global pandemic. One that would make Covid look like child's play.

I'm not really sure what it was about this book that was so different, but this book is filled with non stop action. Once the action starts, not only doesn't it stop; it gets more and more intense, and things begin to build and build until we finally get to the crazy and emotional climax. This book had me staying awake for <i>"one more chapter"</i> just like the earlier books always did. I really had a hard time putting it down, so I read through the night.

I'm not going to go into any spoilers - this is a book that you just want to jump in to and then hold on for the ride (and it is a doozy).

I really liked Letty in this book. The last couple of books have had me a little on the fence with how talented and good she was at everything, even though she is young and new at her position, but during this situation it seemed like she truly came into her own.

So, don't hesitate. If you are a fan, you will love this book. If you are new to the series, this can totally be read as a stand alone. One thing I will say though, if this is your first Davenport book, you will be missing a whole lot of wonderful backdrop and history with some fantastic characters - so read this one and then you can go back and start at the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Rounded up to 3.5 ⭐️

I’m a BIG fan of John Sandford…I’ve read about a dozen or so of his Lucas Davenport novels. Unfortunately this wasn’t one of my favorites (but still enjoyable!) it’s been a few years since reading anything in the “prey” collection so I’m not sure how the stories have evolved but this was very different from previous reads. It took a little under halfway through to fully grasp the plot line and start to get into it BUT once it got rolling I was hooked. All in all a good read!!

THANK YOU to the author (one of my favorites!), Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I did not want this book to end. It was like the best rollercoaster ride where you just wanted to keep hitting those peaks and valleys. First - I love Lucas Davenport, but his daughter Letty - on another level! Smart, smartass and a definite chip off the old block. I'm not sure how John Sanford comes up with these tantalizing stories time after time, but the intrigue, the suspense and the spellbinding storyline for Toxic Prey just keeps getting better and better with each page. To give a brief synopsis - A British (mad) scientist, Dr. Lionel Scott believes that Gaia (the earth) is dying because of global warming, misuse of fossil fuels and all the wonderful things that the modern world enjoys, and he embarks on his mission to save Gaia by destroying humanity. He is based at Los Alamos doing research when he suddenly disappears - setting off alarms. Letty Davenport is asked to look into this and is sent to England to see what can be done to find him. She meets Alec Hawkins from M15 and the two hit it off. When she gets back to the States and things start to unravel - with Scott now working with others to save Gaia in his scheme to infect the world with a disease deadlier than Covid, Letty is sent to track him down. She enlists the help of her father, Lucas and his partner Rae, and as things escalate, they bring in Hawkins. They need to stop these vigilantes before they kill off 80% of the worlds population. There are so many twists and turns to this story you will be glued to it, not knowing what will happen next but knowing that things will continue to escalate. The book is long - about 400 pages, but it will keep you glued to it and wanting more. I really wish it didn't end. It was that good! Thanks so much to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book. Loved every minute of it.

As a fan of John Sandford’s work, I was looking forward to reading his latest novel. The book has a very frightening premise loosely inspired by the recent Covid pandemic. The story begins with Letty Davenport meeting a man in London and the repartee and sexual tension between the two is tremendous! Some of the language used is terrific and extremely descriptive — for example, “……tasted like beer that had been recycled through somebody’s kidneys.” Another quote about halfway through the book is “Nothing happened fast enough.” That is precisely what this reader felt — the book was very slow reading and even somewhat boring before the predictable conclusion.
I thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

This is the 34th in the Lucas Davenport Series. I have always loved Sandford's Prey series, but I especially enjoy them when they also include Letty, Lucas’s adopted daughter. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. One thrill after another. What a ride Sandford took me on. This is a suspense/medical thriller that I hope doesn’t happen in the future, but with our advances in science, it is a possible way to eliminate the population by half if not three-quarters. Especially with what happened with Covid. Lucas and his team plus Letty and Hawkins (MI6 agent) are trying to locate Dr. Lionel Scott before he lets loose a deadly virus to eliminate some of the world’s population. Both Lucas and Letty have been told by the President of the US that if they need to shoot to kill then they have the okay. They are to do what they need to do to stop Scott and this deadly virus. Read to find out if Lucas, Letty, and their teammates find Dr. Scott, destroy the virus and save the world population. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this dual Davenport book. I love the recurring characters, the call outs to Kidd and I always miss Virgil Flowers when he’s not included. This had a very good plot that hits a bit different in 2024 than it might have in 2019. I felt tense the whole time I was reading it but enjoyed it.

really good book in the Prey series. So glad Lucus and Letty get to work together. This read was nerve racking it could happen

Toxic Prey is Book 34 in the Lucas Davenport series from John Sandford. This book is a Letty and Lucas story with just a mention of Virgil Flowers.

"Dr. Lionel Scott knows that the earth is dying - Gaia is dying. There are too many people. As an expert in infectious diseases, he knows just how to take care of the problem.
When Scott disappears, Letty is tasked with tracking him down. Scott's research into virus spread has people in multiple governments nervous. Letty enlists the help of Lucas and the Marshals Service and MI6.
It soons becomes a race to stop him before the virus is unleashed on the world."

This is not a new idea. Lots of books have someone creating a virus to reduce population. But Sandford puts his characters and fantastic pace into it and makes this a page-turning story. The action never lets up. And Sandford (who is masterful at writing bad guys) takes us into the middle of some true believers. Scary people who think nothing of killing billions.
The ending is disturbing - Sandford doesn't hold back. I hope people in charge are paying attention.

Can totally be read as a stand-alone. Another great story from Sandford.

Sandford keeps churning the fun and entertaining reads. This time we find Lucas with his daughter and up and coming star in her own right, looking for a small group bent on killing civilization in the name Climate Change using a virus. Hmmmm sounds familiar?

Its a classic Sanford novel, fast paced, thrilling and some great lines. Enjoy

This was a great addition to the prey world. I loved the joining of Lucas & Letty. The novel was interesting & suspenseful. Sandford writes a cop book like no other, keeping it compelling the whole time! Had a great time with all these characters! I’m always excited to read a prey novel, and this did not disappoint.

Oh my goodness - what a book!
We were snowed in this weekend in New England - and I could not stop reading this book!
A long time fan of this series, I was thrilled to get an advanced copy. Thank you to NetGalley!

This book was action packed right from the start and never let up. This was edge of the seat thriller. I do not want the Lucas Davenport series to end - and even better, he was teamed up with Lettie!

Thank you NetGalley! This was 5 stars for me!