• Rules of Prey

  • A Lucas Davenport Novel
  • By: John Sandford
  • Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
  • Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (8,368 ratings)

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Rules of Prey

By: John Sandford
Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
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Publisher's summary

The "maddog" murderer who is terrorizing the Twin Cities is two things: insane and extremely intelligent. He kills for the pleasure of it and thoroughly enjoys placing elaborate obstacles to keep police befuddled. Each clever move he makes is another point of pride. But when the brilliant Lieutenant Lucas Davenport, a dedicated cop and a serial killer's worst nightmare, is brought in to take up the investigation, the maddog suddenly has an adversary worthy of his genius.
©1989 John Sandford (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A police procedural as effective as it is brutal." (Publishers Weekly)
"Sleek and nasty...a big, scary suspenseful read." (Stephen King)

What listeners say about Rules of Prey

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too gruesome for me

There is enough pain and suffering this is too graphic for me I would not read any more of his books.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Do not believe in this premiss

Yes the premiss makes this book appear worth a look but do not be fooled! Intelligent nemesis and talented investigator - the author claims this many times throughout the book but there is not evidence of intelligence in the story or indeed in the author.

It was 2hrs before this talented investigator actually started investigating instead we are treated to the minutiae of inspector Davenport's life. Going to the races and sleeping around does not an interesting character make.

Half of the rest of the story is devoted to the serial killers life and killings leaving no mystery whatsoever. Note to author: taking pains to avoid leaving physical evidence does not make the killer overflowing with intelligence just smarter than the average drug addict thief, nothing more!

This is a truly awful piece of rot.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Gotta Love Lucas!

This is the first in the Prey series and I fell in love with Lucas Davenport. The writing is superb and the narration is a perfect. The "drama" isn't over done and he carries the story along at a great place. The bad guy voice is swarmy, oily and generally yucky just like a bad guy should be, and Lucas is strong and authoratative just like a great good guy cop should be.

I am looking forward to completeing the Prey series. Hopefully Audible.com will have the complete series on the website soon.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I liked the book but didn’t like the descriptive rapes. I didn’t really like the main character Lucas Davenport either. He was shallow, couldn’t be faithful to even one women. And supposedly both women were ok with this—right. I. An tell it wasn’t written by a woman. It was more like wishful male thinking. The plot kept my interest and I finished it. So all in all more good than bad.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Book

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis cop, is pretty much what we've come to expect in this genre, and it's a comfortable fit (as far as old shoes go). He's a rough renegade with the heart of gold, some nerdy hobbies to balance out the tough parts and a flock of women who want him...and a cool car, to boot.
What makes Rules of Prey so different from entries in other detective series is the absolute attention to detail. The process the Minneapolis police use to track the "maddog", a vicious serial killer, is fascinating, as are their fumbles along the way (that have embarrassing results for the department). I can't remember a book that built suspense so successfully, and it's done with an unsensational, subdued style that never cheats the reader or glosses over a scene.
When I finished this novel I thought, "Somebody finally got it just right," and I only hope that the rest of the series can live up to this masterpiece. Fans of crime and mystery novels should do some investigating in Lucas Davenport's Twin Cities.

Richard Ferrone was great with the delivery of the story

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I did not enjoy this book! DISLIKED

I kept on pondering while I listened to this story, “Why am I not liking this?” I had read a lot of good reviews about this series, so I was really looking forward to it.

I finally figured it out: I did not like the main character, the hero Lucas Davenport! I just did not care for him at all. He’s characterized as being the perfect, tough guy, expert, good looking, can easily attract and sleep with women, a genius kind of guy. I was not impressed. To me he was an egotistical creep.

I also did not like the way that he treated women in the book. I have a feeling most women will not like the main character’s womanizing attributes either.

Of course, I hated the serial killer, but who wouldn’t. His personality though was annoying too!

Maybe in the rest of the series, Sanford’s writing gets better in reference to Lucas Davenport. However, I’m not going to waste my credits in finding out, and I recommend that you don’t either!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A good mystery

This first Lucas Davenport book was a good one and I enjoyed both the reader and the book. If you are listening to it, be sure to listen to the notes at the end of the book by John Connelly. It is an interesting insight into the world of the writer.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great start to a great series

This is a long but great audiobook. Definately worth the read. The reader does a great job.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Good indeed!

I can definitely recommend this book. Good narration too which I feel can make or break an audio book. Nicely done.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Wonderful! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My husband has read a number of his books and recommended this one to me. This was the first time he had actually heard one ofSanford's books outloud. He was surprised to find that the explicit descriptions and language seemed harsh when spoken outloud, but had taken it in stride, as character typical, when reading it to himself. How enlightening!

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