This was a mixed thoughts read for me. I always enjoy the friendship between Lucas and Virgil, though I did miss some of the side characters we used to have in their individual books. He does a great job of mixing in new technology and real world variables, such as the true crime community, while still matching the series overall vibe.

This was focused on a cold case, so there was a lot of backstory which made for a slow build up. There also seemed to be a lot of filler about food, character descriptions (including overly detailed body descriptions for all female characters) and locations. Flowers whines a lot about not want to do his job anymore and talks nonstop about writing his book. In other words it was familiar but watered down compared to earlier books in the series. There were some strange phrases that stood out as well. Everyone rang off or clicked off a phone call instead of hanging up or ending it. Also everyone from the police, to politicians, to the true crime community talked about making movies instead of videos or content creation.

Once things get moving finally in the actual mystery part of the plot, I did enjoy watching it all come together. It’s a fun balance of old characters with new locations, and the true crime community and cold case aspect made for a fun mix. Unfortunately, it had a super abrupt cliffhanger style ending with no real resolution which was very unsatisfying. I’m not sure if this is something he intends to pick up in the next book or if it’s just done as-is, but I was extremely frustrated with the way it ends.

While this wasn’t my fav by the author, I still enjoyed it and finished it quickly. My parents are both also long time readers of the series and they both enjoyed it more than I did but also did not like how it ended. I’d rate this 3.5⭐️ rounded up

Thanks Putnam and NetGalley for the DRC!

If you are a fan of John Sandford, and his Prey Series, you know what you are getting, and you will definitely get it here! Lucas and Virgil are great together, and the book is an enjoyable mystery with a cliffhanger ending. Bring on the next book!

I received an ARC for free and gave my honest opinion voluntarily.

I really enjoyed the lack of politics in tbis book. Very refreshing. It was nice to see irgol a d Lucss back together on an investigation. Love those characters. I hsve read all of the prey books. This was a hood one until the ending. That was disappointing. What the heck? Is the story continuing in the next book? Anyway, i did enjoy reading this one. Great stor
y..5

Immediately in the first chapter is the hook. I love when a book grabs you in the first few pages. It was a slow burn until about halfway through the book but it's about working a cold case. It walks you through the entire case while flipping back to the killers perspective as well. You get to hear how a cold case is worked and solved. Excellent details throughout.

Very well written mystery!

John Sandford is a favorite author of mine, I will always pick up one of his books to read. This one has Virgil and Lucas working together to solve one murder, leading to many more. The writing is excellent, no fear of using what I describe as higher grade level words. The story is complex and the relationship between Virgil and Lucas is great.

The only thing I didn’t love was the ending. I don’t write spoilers so I can’t explain what I mean. I can only assume the next book in the series will start where this book leaves off. Otherwise, great read.

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

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport is back and teaming up with Virgil Flowers again. Doris Grandfelt is viciously murdered and her body dumped in the woods by a park with the case never being solved. Approximately 20 years later, her sister comes forth wanting the investigation reopened and is offering a $5 million reward to help solve the case and bring the murderer to justice. This brings out numerous true crime site creators to the site of where the body was found. Lucas and Virgil approach the case in a different manor than most investigators and rely on a few true crime creators to help with the case with the intent of them getting a part of the reward. As they look into the case they come to learn that they may be dealing with a serial killer that has been around for several years.

John Sandford does what he does best. A great story that flows at a fast pace with witty humor and a great buildup. Highly recommend for fans of John Sandford and similar authors!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #LethalPrey

I received an ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was the first time I read this author. I thought the story took a little too long to develop, and there was a lot of unnecessary detail.

There were also terms I wasn’t familiar with, such as “rang up” instead of “hang up” and “making movies” instead of “taking a video” maybe those are common terms for the region the story is set in, but I don’t think so.

The ending was a little disappointing but overall once the story got moving it was enjoyable to read it all come together but I don’t think I would go out of my way to read this author again..

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are together again, assigned to a 20-year-old murder cold case. The victim’s twin sister has offered a $5 million dollar reward to entice renewed interest in the case in hopes of finally solving it. A group of true-crime bloggers end up assisting with the case and uncover a lot of clues that would have taken Lucas and Virgil a lot longer to find. The killer is still around and is out to destroy anyone that might get a little too close.

I loved the story, the bantering between Lucas and Virgil, and Virgil’s references to using words or events in his future novels.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved it! The ending was abrupt so I hope it continues! So good and love reading about Davenport and Flowers!

This is another great story featuring our two crack detective investigators.
Sturgis and Davenport are on the hunt the entire time and while they
clean up most of the situation, there is no wrap up, leaving us to
wonder if all of their hard work was wasted. Good news:
Virgil and Frankie finally tie the knot, and they survived the
story.! This book reads so quickly that you want to try to
Slow,things down but find out you just cannot do anything
but stay in the race to the complicated conclusion.
My thanks to GP Putnam & Sons via NetGalley for’ the
download copy of this book for review purposes.

I love every book that John Sandford has written. I was happy to have Virgil back in this one. I enjoy Lucas and Virgil together. The true-crime blogger focus is currently relevant. Highly recommend Impatiently waiting for the next novel.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All my opinions are my own.

I will always love a book with both Davenport & Flowers. They’re a duo that keeps me reading.

This book focusing on a cold case that becomes relevant again, and our guys are on the case.

My only compliant is the ending. Are we getting another one with this plot? That would be unusual for Sandford. I suppose I will wait & see.

My usual 5-star rating has dropped a notch on this one, almost entirely because of just one thing: the gobsmacking cliffhanger ending. I'll not explain further, of course, but after I kept flipping through the acknowedgements to see if the last few pages of the last chapter somehow got buried there, I got really, really annoyed - leaving readers hanging is one of one of the biggest no-nos an author can do, in my book.

But it is what it is. I guess I'll console myself with the thought that resolution may become the impetus for the next book in the series - this is the 35th - so I'll be watching. Other than that, I always look forward to the adventures of Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers - two of my all-time favorite characters. They meet up this time during the reinvestigation of a cold case: the murder of accounting firm employee Doris Grandfelt two decades earlier. It's been reopened because her surviving twin, Lara, is determined to find her sister's killer before she, too, dies - she's been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She's sweetened the pot with a $5 million reward for information that leads to the killer

One of those bloggers, in fact, somehow manages to dig up the murder weapon, which does provide some clues. Lucas gets the call when the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul gets the case. Shortly thereafter, Bureau agent Virgil gets a similar call while he's out playing golf. Despite needing to work on his latest novel (plus spend time with his partner Frankie and their twins), he figures Lucas will be involved and agrees to be part of the investigation.

As Lucas and Virgil hone their investigative skills, they also must run interference to keep at bay the proliferation of true-crime bloggers who didn't exist back then and would kill each other for a scoop - or, failing that, turn their enthusiasm into an asset. Fairly early on, readers learn who the killer is, making it even more fun to watch Lucas and Virgil go from spinning their wheels to closing in. All told, another one well done. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

I am always eagerly awaiting the next Prey novel and as usual, I could not put it down.

Dana Granfelt's sister was brutally stabbed to death twenty years prior. Dana has offered up a five million dollar reward to anyone who could find the killer. This offer set off all kinds of true crime bloggers and podcasters and all of this was being followed by the killer.

Lucas and Virgil were brought in to look into the cold case and to be in the background, working with the amateur detectives. Bits and pieces of the crime were being revealed and the killer gets involved to protect themselves and more murders follow.

It was a good romp of the usual Lucas and Virgil investigation and I am thinking a follow up book may be needed to appease the readers curiosity. This did have an abrupt ending.

Thank you G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of Lethal Prey! After 35 Prey novels I can say that this one did not disappoint me.
The formula with Lucas and Virgil is spot on, love the banter and they way they solve the case. The icing on the cake would be if Lottie was tied into book 36.

Back in 2003, Doris Grandfelt was brutally murdered and her body was dumped in a park. Law enforcement did what they could, but were unable to solve the case. That included the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension based in St. Paul and two young investigators, new to the organization, Jenkins and Shrake. Because they were new and the body was a young white woman, they were regulated to the periphery and not really able to work the case. They had some ideas on investigative leads that were not taken seriously by their bosses and slowly the case fizzled to a halt.

In the here and now of Lethal Prey: A Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers Novel set more than two decades later, Lucas Davenport is seeing 60 coming at him fast and is a bit depressed and bored. It has been a few months since the events in Toxic Prey and he misses having a smart killer or killers worth chasing. Both Letty and Weather think he needs a hobby. What he needs is a case worth doing as his current assignment, which has been marginally interesting, is about to be over in a few hours.

Soon he gets a call from Senator Elmer Henderson. While Davenport is a US Marshall, Henderson is pretty much his boss and likes to put him on projects that are very important and need results. At roughly the same time Davenport got his call, BCA Agent Virgil Flowers got his phone call from his boss telling him that he was assigned to work with Lucas and to attend a meeting with Lucas and numerous other folks the next day.

Davenport and Flowers go to the meeting at the house of Laura Grandfelt along with Senator Henderson and several other power brokers. Grandfelt has money and pollical connections and is tired of waiting for the wheels of justice to get her sister’s killer. It has been over twenty years and she wants the killer caught and dealt with by the justice system. She wants Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers to lead the new investigation as they had no role at all in the original investigation. She is also aware that they both have a reputation of getting killers. She is putting up a five-million-dollar reward for information that identifies the killer or killers and will go public with the offer later in the day.

She knows that announcing her offer on numerous True Crime websites will cause a huge media interest and bring out the crazies. She doesn’t care and won’t take no for an answer. Neither will their bosses who are present to pressure Flowers and Davenport to take the case. Not that any pressure is really needed as they are interested. They both realize that a storm is about to be unleashed and the best they can do is ride it out and work the case.

What follows is a complicated and fast-moving read. As often happens in this series now, readers know from the opening pages the identity of the killer. What is left is the chase and it is a good one.

Lethal Prey: A Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford is another good read. Much of the backstory of Davenport and Flowers is repeated here so readers new to the series can jump in here. Us old hands at this series are reminded how much has gone on over all these years. A mighty good read and one that is well worth your time.

Strongly Recommended.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Another humorous adventure with Lucas and Virgil. Sandford always provides a great read through the voices of his beloved characters!

My thanks to Penguin Group/Putnam, John Sandford and Netgalley.
It's an odd thing, but in all the years of reading Davenport and Flowers I've never been bored. Yet, this damned book was toothless. I kept waiting for someone "Virgil or Lucas" to kill these arseholes. That did not happen. The laughs? A few, but really? Also, can we just get some Johnson Johnson? He and Virgil are a hoot!
I've been reading Sandford since the 1990's and this book is the one and only book that was very, very bland and kind of "dare I say?" boring.
I know you're getting old, as are we all, but shit or get off the pot. This story was not up to its usual standards.

I didn't find Lethal Prey as exciting as the other "Prey" novels. I think adding the activists to the investigation was a turn-off, but mostly author John Sandford has too much banter between his leads, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport.. It feels like filler material. That said, once it got rolling I was all in,
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

As I am a HUGE John Sandford fan, I was thrilled to receive this book as an ARC from NetGalley. And one with Davenport and Flowers working together, even better! As always, Sandford spins an incredible story of crime and mayhem, with a fair dose of further personal character development. So happy that Virgil finally tied the knot. And this better not be the end of his story!
I always enjoy the crazy characters that pop up as the main villain! No two are ever really the same. This time, he found a doozy!
I loved the book. Not as much as others, but still, Sandford's books are always a notch above all others. I was confused about the crime "crowd-sourcing", but hey, I appreciate his use of a new strategy. Who knows, maybe it will lead somewhere?
I took the liberty of reading some of the reviews others made before writing this one myself. A large number of them complained about the ending. Or lack of one. Sure, I like my books to be wrapped up tight at the end like anyone else. But I think everyone is overlooking the point! The killer is still out there, not convicted yet. My bet is that Sandford is going to bring her back in one of the next books, and she will be crazier than ever! Over 50 books in, and he has still got it!