Rules of Prey

A Lucas Davenport Novel

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

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)

Rules of Prey

A page turned and of course Lt. Davenport, the handsome, loved unorthodox cop. Get jt, enjoy it and be ready to get another Prey book!

Voice of Lucas Davenport

The audio was very good except for the voice of Lucas Davenport. The voice did not fit with the character he plays in this novel. There are other Davenport audibles where the voice portrays the character much better. The story is very good, as is all of the Sanford novels I have listened to or read.

Davenport at his best!

Davenport breaks all the rules yet comes out smelling like a rose. Catching Mad Dog took all the ingenuity that Lucas could come up with but in the end he reigns supreme. His love life is a complicated mess as usual but he manages to keep all his conquests on his side. He gets by with breaking the rules because he's just so darn likeable and earns the respect of his cohorts. Completely engrossing and kept me on edge right to the end.

Read this first book way of our order.... but WOW

I really enjoyed this story. I have been Listening to them in all different order and did not realize this was the first one until near the end. I really liked this book. What a great launch to one of my favorite series. The reader Richard Ferrone really has become Lucas to me. I can't wait to read the next. At the end of this audio book I thought it was great that there was an essay from John Sandfort explaining how he came to develop this character. All around a great story.

A bit too much violence against women

A great main character, a finely wrought plot, and far too much graphic violence sexual violence against women.

Annoying Audio

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I’d recommend it if it were read by someone other than Ferrone, say Eric Conger who read all seven of the Virgil Flowers stories...he’s great!

What other book might you compare Rules of Prey to and why?

None come to mind.

How could the performance have been better?

Clean up the audio; random noises etc.

Could you see Rules of Prey being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, not this book, but certainly some of Sanford’s later work for sure.

Any additional comments?

Reading the Kindle version presently...no annoying narration.

Good story and mystery...

Would you listen to Rules of Prey again? Why?

Yes, enjoyed it...

What did you like best about this story?

The mystery, the unknown...

Any additional comments?

The folks have said it all before me, a good listen...

Great story, okay narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Rules of Prey to be better than the print version?

Listening to this book is both good and bad. The story is good, if you can get past the narrator. The narrator has a harder time, the some others, with changing his voice for women and other characters. I love this series, but I do not love the narrator. I would suggest your listen to the sample recording in full before buying this download. I hope they redo this book with a new narrator, but it probably won't happen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rules of Prey?

The ending is amazing. The beginning is perfect for delivering the pacing, tone, and overall story impression to the audience.

Did Richard Ferrone do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I would have to say he is one of the poorer narrators I have listened to on Audible. He struggles with female characters, and his voice does not change with each character.

Good Start, Good Story

When I start a series I always ask myself if the first installment made me care about the central characters. If no, I drop it. If yes, I write a nice review. The main character is built up well over the course of the story about a cop chasing a killer. The story does not have a lot of twists but that is not the point. It is about the ego of the killer against the raw intelligence of the cop. It's well done....give it a try.

Not exacting predictable

I knew immediately that this tale violated every "real cops" behavior early, so I wrote that off. It was fun watching the play of competing women.. I did want to know the conclusion, and although driving your Porsche to the suspect's stake out site was a bit much....the ending was satisfying enough that I just might read another😊