Silken Prey

Lucas Davenport, Book 23

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Murder. Scandal. Politics. And one billionaire heiress so dangerous in so many ways. An explosive Lucas Davenport thriller from number one New York Times best-selling author John Sandford.

All hell has broken loose in the capital. An influential state senator has been caught with something very, very nasty on his office computer. The governor can’t believe it - the senator’s way too smart for that, even if he is from the other party. Something’s not right. As Davenport investigates, the trail leads to a political fixer who has disappeared, then - troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department itself, and most unsettling of all, to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons in manipulation. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work - along with the money, ruthlessness, and cold-blooded will to make it happen.

©2013 John Sandford (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"If you haven’t read Sandford yet, you have been missing one of the great summer-read novelists of all time." (Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly)

Terrific Davenport

I'm also a huge fan of the combination of John Sandford and Richard Ferrone. Silken Prey is a tightly wound spine-tingler, and is both author and narrator at their best. While there are certain things about the political system the reader has to take on faith, the internal logic of the story is flawless.

A Political Davenport

A nice change of pace adding just a little bit of politics as motivation to the protagonists. All added to the typical analytical Davenport.

Still my favorite combo of author and reader

If you could sum up Silken Prey in three words, what would they be?

Classic Lucas Davenport.

What other book might you compare Silken Prey to and why?

Silken Prey harks back to the early books in the Prey series when Davenport was beginning to emerge as a master blender of political 'management' and police procedure. This particular book actually calls to mind the recent Netflix TV series "House of Cards." In a world where unscrupulous-ness is a high art, Lucas seems rather angelic. :-)

What about Richard Ferrone’s performance did you like?

He IS Lucas Davenport for me. In fact (maybe I shouldn't say this) I try to avoid other books read by Ferrone so I can preserve this illusion.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Lucas Davenport Is Not Mark Harmon!

Any additional comments?

Thanks to John (Camp) Sandford for continuing to write this series, in tandem with Virgil Flowers in the fall. I hope you never get bored. And outlive me.

SO incredibly good!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This could easily hook someone on audio books AND John Sandford's series.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It was very cool to have Lucas, Virgil, Kidd and others all together.

Which character – as performed by Richard Ferrone – was your favorite?

Richard Ferrone IS Lucas Davenport AND as with George Guidall and a few others, I don't find myself thinking about who's doing it as much as I do the story...except when I pause to admire that aspect of the performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All of it...it was like watching a movie in my head while I was on a 1000 mile trip.

Any additional comments?

See also my "Prayer Review" on other titles. It applies here too.

Too true for comfort, too good to put down

Exquisite timing, in releasing this book. As the US is torn apart by political scandals, here's a fictional take on the political process that exposes any number of the problems, but offering none of the solutions -- assuming there are any. This is politics in America today. Are you happy with the system? How it works?

A week before a tight election the family-values Republican candidate becomes the target of dirty tricks by Democrat operatives, loading his personal campaign office computer with child porn, suggesting that he had been viewing the material, was called away from the computer, and had forgotten to hide it, A young female staffer uncovered the computer screen by accident -- and then all hell broke loose.

A sociopathic, self-obsessed, nothing-I-could-ever-do-is-wrong, the-end-justify-the-means totally ruthless Democrat candidate, a wealthy photogenic woman who's recently taken a fancy to politics, is the obvious beneficiary.

Watch how all the players in this tightly-contested US Senate race are -- as Lucas Davenport observes -- wealthy. In fact, everyone involved is loaded -- including Davenport himself, of course, although that isn't a part of the plot. Nonetheless, watch all these wealthy people fight to the death (literally) over a job that pays $174,000 annually -- probably about half what any of them spend on clothes in any given year.

Watch the press assume the high moral ground, taking exquisite delight in the Republican's likely downfall. When, after Davenport reveals information showing that the Republican hadn't done it -- watch the press continue to beat up on him, saying that after all, nothing is ever proved with absolute certainty (shades of the OJ jury), and anyway, even if he hadn't done it, he COULD have, so therefore their obsession with his "child porn habit" is fair commentary.

Watch a whole bunch of innocents -- well meaning, idealistic campaign workers on both sides -- get taken to the cleaners. Watch corrupt schemers, campaign managers, lobbyists, other elected officials all go into high gear to protect each other, all with the blissful complicity of the press.

Watch the voters of the United States get turned off, wondering why it is they even bother to vote anymore. There's no honor out there, no bright shining candidates, no one with integrity who could ever win. When year after year, decade after decade, voters find themselves relegated to voting for the lesser of the evils, watch them tune out -- leaving the playing field completely open to all these Machiavellian operatives seeking absolute power over their subjects, the American public.

A painful book, but a great one. Sandford joins my short list of mega-popular authors who keep getting better and better as time goes by, and who never seem to run out of interesting plot ideas. As usual, narrator Richard Ferrone outdoes himself in excellence.

All this makes Silken Prey one of my favorite books of the year -- I will definitely listen again. And for those of you who've already read it, let me join your ranks and say I too am desperately hoping for a sequel. You'll know what I mean.

Solid 4 out of 5 stars...

Just a quick review, as others have said most of what needs to be said. Overall, an enjoyable read, just not as full as other Prey novels.

Lacked in character development. Sandford relied on past novel character development, so if you have not read others in the Prey series, you will not get the full experience and inside jokes, etc.
Plot did not contain much mystery, as story played out as expected.

Still, I have read all other Prey and enjoyed this story, so give it a solid 4 out of 5.

'CLASSIC DAVENPORT

FIRST I ENJOYED BRINGING IN VIRGIL,LETTY (I REALLY LIKE HER SPUNKY ATTITUDE) WEATHER, DELL, AND THE GUYS HE WORKS WITH. THE NASTY RUN FOR THE SEAT OF SENATOR, AS DIRTYAS THE 1828 ELECTION BETWEEN JACKSON AND ADAMS A LOT OF NAME CALLING THERE.. THIS TIME CHILD PORN IS USED TO RUIN THE OPPONETS REPUTATION. YEAH WE KNOW WHO DONE IT BUT SHE IS THE SPIDER AT THE CENTER OF THIS WEB LUCAS HAS TO TEASE APART THERE IS A LITTLE SUB PLOT, A MAJOR THEFT OCCURS, THE KID ONCE PRIMO HACKER NOW A MILLIONARE ARTIST AND HIS COOKIE BAKING WIFE WHO HAD A COLORFUL LIFE PREMARRAGE.SHE WAS A CLEVER THIEF. SHE WANTS ONE MORE RUSH.
REMEMBER THE CAT IN HITCHCOKS 'TO CATCH A THIEF' SHE KINDA REMINDS OF THAT TYPE OF 2ND STORY "MAN'. THIS BOOK USES ALL KINDS OF UP TO DATE TECHNOLOGY, . I LIKED THE LITTLE CELL PHONE TRICK LAUREN USES TO FINGER THE WINNER OF THE SENATORIAL RACE. LUCAS HAS IT FIGURED OUT BUT MONEY TALKS. A SIDE TRIP TO SPEAK TO AN OLD COP FILLS LUCAS IN ON LAURENS OLD LIFE, HE HAS AN ITCH BUT I THINK HE LETS HER SLIDE LESS GRUSOME THAN OTHER PATTERSON BOOKS THIS WAS JUST PLAIN OLD FUN. ONE MORE THING , I LIKE RICHARD FERRONE'S VOICE AS DAVENPORT HE IS THE "VOICE'

politics, thugs, innocents and killers

intriguing. a crime scene with Davenport is always full of surprises, and this one delivers. And, as usually happens you never know till the end, who skates, who's hung, who got chomped and who will return

Classic Prey

Any additional comments?

As other reviewers have noted - this is classic Prey: well told, well written, and well read. And the level of language is delightful; it might send some scurrying to their dictionaries. When did you last read of micturation instead of pissing? The banter, the humor, the humanity - all top drawer. Thank you John Sandford and Richard Ferrone.

Great presentation

Great
Had to finish
Laughed when Virgel Flowers involved briefly. Lucas did good.
Have read and listened to a lot of John Sandford books, all good.