Broken Prey

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The "Big Three" are a trio of inmates locked up in the Minnesota Security Hospital over the years, each a particularly vicious serial killer, each with his own distinct style and propensities. Everybody feels much safer knowing that they're behind bars. Except...there's a new killer on the loose. And his handiwork bears a disturbing resemblance to some of the finer points practiced by the Big Three, details that never even made the papers.

Lucas Davenport and his team quickly hone in on a possible suspect, a man named Charlie Pope, who was released from the same hospital prison a few weeks earlier, and who now seems to have cut himself free from his court-imposed ankle bracelet and disappeared. But is he really the one? And why do the Big Three look so agitated?

Brilliantly suspenseful, consistently surprising, once again, Sandford has outdone himself.

©2005 John Sandford (P)2005 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"John Sandford delivers yet another blistering tale from the life of Lucas Davenport, surely one of the most attractive cops on the crime-fiction beat today.... The plot is complex and full of red herrings." (The Associated Press)

"Sandford ratchets up the tension and suspense in tough, spare prose that shows us rather than tells us what is going on.... Broken Prey more than lives up to its predecessors in what has become a bestselling franchise in the mystery/thriller genre." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

"Nonstop tension." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

great story, great reader. I totally enjoy all of

Sanford's books. I am down to the last 3 that I can find. Looking forward to my next one!

Another solid installment

Great story and narration. There is a bit of a flaw in my opinion, which is that the Top 100 greatest rock ‘n’ roll song list has about 50 of the greatest. I disqualify the other half.

The usual group of psychopaths

If you've read through most of these customer reviews, you'll understand that very few readers are neutral on Sandford's Prey series and narrator Ferrone. If this was the first Sandford book you've listened to, then it's understandable that you would not like it if you're adverse to graphic descriptions of violence. It is trademark of the Prey series, along with one or more psychopaths who redefine evil. Broken Prey had several who fit into this category and were collectively about as horrid as you could get. This book differs from the other Prey books I've listened to because this one kept you guessing as to who the primary villian was. I don't think this book was the best in the Prey series, but it was entertaining given the genre. And Farrone is perfect for the Prey series and was excellent with the narration of this book. If you like the Prey series, you'll like Broken Prey.

All Hail Richard Ferrone!

Any of Sandford's "Prey" fiction is better with Ferrone as narrator. He's an award winner for all the reasons cited on the AudioPhile website. By the time you get this far in the "Prey" series, you will know whether Sandford, Lucas Davenport & friends work for you. This isn't one of Sandford's absolute best, for my tastes, but it's got to be hard to keep a great series going at the same level of inventiveness, humor and character development.

Awesome as usual

Twists and turns are fabulous. Could have done without the last 5 minutes. I won’t give it away. But kinda of annoying.

Top 100

Great book - don't listen to it if you don't like the gore!!

Enjoyed the listing of the top 100 songs! Brought back a lot of memories!

WOW - SICK - SURPRISING - AWESOME

This is an LD favorite for me. Sometimes Sanford let's you know right up front who the bad guys are but in this one he keeps you guessing and it really pays off in the end. I really enjoyed the build up of a pair of characters who you don't know their relationship to the plot until the very end. It was interesting the way he tells the tale.

Loved It

As always, John Sandford gives us a great Lucas novel. Mystery mixed with humor.

Broken Prey

As always enjoyed another adventure in the life of Lucas Davenport. can't wait to listen to the next story.

fun subplot

The sixteenth volume puts Davenport up against extremely clever and ruthless killers, and this time not even the reader knows who the killer is until near the end. A young woman is found dead, and she has been tortured. Her body flayed and her throat cut. She was left on display near a river, fully nude

Soon a second victim is found. This time it is a man. Blood found under his fingernails leads them to a sex offender named Charlie Pope. The book takes huge twists and turns.

Perhaps the aspect of this book that I enjoyed most is the silly, fun subplot. His wife gave him an iPod as well as a gift certificate to buy 100 songs. He has taken it as a challenge to create a list of the 100 best songs of the Rock Era and all throughout the book they discuss songs that should or should not be on the list. Its a fun and unique part of this story.