Judgment Prey

A Prey Novel

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's summary

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers team up to crack an unsolvable case in this thrilling new novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.

Alex Sand was spending the evening at home playing basketball with his two young sons when all three were shot in cold blood. A wealthy federal judge, there’s no short list of people who could have a vendetta against Sands, but the gruesome murders, especially that of his children, turn their St. Paul community on its head. Sand was on the verge of a major donation to a local housing charity, Heart/Twin Cities, and with the money in limbo, eyes suddenly turn to his grieving widow, Margaret Cooper, to see what she might do with the money. Margaret, distraught over the death of her family, struggles to move forward, and can’t imagine how or why anyone would target her husband.

With public pressure mounting and both the local police force and FBI hitting dead end after dead end, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to do what others could not: find answers. With each potential lead flawed, Davenport and Flowers are determined to chase every theory until they figure out who killed the Sands. But when they find themselves being stonewalled by the most unlikely of forces, the two wonder if perhaps each misdirection could lead them closer to the truth.

©2023 John Sandford (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“The sequel to Righteous Prey reunites Davenport and Flowers in an intricate crime novel. The strong characters, known for their deep friendship and jokey relationship, will continue to appeal to fans of the long-running series.” –Library Journal (starred review)

Last one of Sandford’s books I buy

Apparently Mr Sandford is suffering from burnout. The recent plots are mediocre and pretty unlikely.
This has been true of the last few books. I own every Davenport and Flowers book up to this point. But no more. However if Mr Sandford partners with Ctein again I will certainly buy that one. Saturn Run has a place near the top in my top ten audiobooks.

I miss Eric Conger

This would have been a usual five stars except for the narration. Even when Eric Conger narrated books with both Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers, he was able to capture the characters of both. Richard Ferrone was the quintessential Lucas and Robert Petkoff perhaps should have listened to his predecessor's performances a few more times to better capture him. That being said, Eric Conger would have been a much better choice to succeed Ferrone.

Who doesn’t miss Richard Ferrone?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book- as always I was listening closely to the thrill of the chase provided by Lucas and that”F…ing Flowers”!

Getting used to a new reader is tough. It was apparent that Mr. Petkoff hasn’t been a smoker; the side effects that provide the grit and gruffness and basso profundo of the late Richard Ferrone’s divine voice. I not only miss HIS voice, but that of Dick Hill and the original narrator of Louise Penny’s books. Regardless of Grief and acceptance- John Sandford hasn’t missed a beat!

Great book ruined by poor narration

Don’t have anything against the narrator but he completely botched the characters of Lucas and Virgil.

It actually hurt to listen to it. But Sanford put a solid narrative together. It saved a lousy audiobook.

Just not the same-

I love John Sanford and preorder any and all Davenport or Flowers books. I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to them in the future tho-I absolutely loved Richard Ferrone’s voices for each and every character. It’s not the new narrator’s fault these guys just don’t resonate the way all my old friends did via Farrone. I will definitely read the future books in the series and hopefully hear their old voices in my head. 😕

Not the same with different voice

Hard to correlate the Lucas and Virgil of the previous books to this one with a complete different voice and tone. Still loved the story.

New listener

Never heard previous narrator or read this author before. I'd liked the dialogue and the writing overall. He managed to avoid the breathy voices male readers often use for women. Plot ok. What ever happened to the Carters? Unresolved and dark ending somewhat outside the mystery formula I'm used to.

Loved it!!

I didn’t notice the change in narration until I read the reviews.
Possibly the interactions between Flowers and Davenport are not quite what they were but overall I loved both the story and the performance.

Stellar storyline and excellent narration

Yes, I’ve listened to every Davenport story, and of course I also miss Richard Ferrone; however, he passed last year and the narrator baton had to be passed to someone. I think that Robert Petkoff was a solid choice. As for the storyline? I thought that it was well-researched and very interesting and believable. Very much looking forward to the next installment…

Sandford scores again.

Missed Richard Ferrone’s narration. Another great Davenport and Flowers script. Keep up the good work Mr Sandford.