• Sudden Prey

  • A Lucas Davenport Novel
  • By: John Sandford
  • Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
  • Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,296 ratings)

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Sudden Prey  By  cover art

Sudden Prey

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

John Sandford's acclaimed Prey novels featuring the brilliant Lucas Davenport have plunged millions of readers into the darkest recesses of the criminal mind.... When Lucas and his team gun down two bank robbers in the middle of a heist, Davenport falls prey to the purest and simplest criminal motivation: revenge.

Prey tell: listen to another Lucas Davenport thriller.
©1997 John Sandford (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about Sudden Prey

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,587
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,383
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

It's What Sanford Does

You enjoy Lucas Davenport? You'll enjoy Sudden Prey. The plot's thinner than writing paper, but Sanford knows how to manipulate the tools of the genre to make this thing work. Work? Well yeah, if you, like me, enjoy retreating into a thriller/adventure novel instead of drinking. Besides, it's un-cool to drink in the car, mowing the lawn, or on the treadmill... All places where I turn my mind dow a bunch of notches. I was lucky enough to listen to three hours of "Sudden Prey" in the dentist's chair last week.

And just using lucky and dentist in the same sentence is a pretty good compliment, huh.

As always, Richard Ferrone's reading keeps every character distinct and, a lot more importantly, inventive components to the story arc. I really line the way Ferrone has characters say, "huh". If you've heard it, you know what I mean.

In a couple of months, I'll get the next Lucas Davenport story, which isn't a bad review at all..... Huh.

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14 people found this helpful

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

Love the Series

If you like Sanford's Prey series, you will like this one. These books are well written with great characters and plot. They are tightly written and pretty much to a formula. They remind me of the old radio mysteries. You knew from the first minute what was the big outcome and spent the rest of the time savoring the details. The characters you love from the previous (and subsequent) Prey series are here doing what they do. This is a thoroughly entertaining listen. If you are expecting literature, look to Faulkner, but if you want to be entertained while at the beach or over a rainy weekend -- this is your cup of tea. This is the ultimate in cheap entertainment. On a cost per hour basis, this is a real bargain. You won't be disappointed if you keep your expectations in check. If you expect the ride you get from the other Sanford books, you will find it here. If you are looking for profound enlightenment -- look elsewhere.

Richard Ferrone was outstanding with the delivery of the story

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13 people found this helpful

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

Too many close calls

Any additional comments?

I am a fan of the Davenport series. I started reading and listening late in the series and decided to start at the beginning and haven't been dissapointed. Although I enjoyed this book, I did not like as much as the others. It seemed to sacrifice a solid story line for constant action, near misses and close calls. I was ready for it to be over about 2 plot twists before the end. I thought the antagonists were inconsistent in their behaviors, and there were some unanswered questions at the end that I can't go into detail about here without spoilers. Maybe they will be resolved in the next book, or maybe they were just loose ends.

There are some seriously pivotal moments regarding his personal relationships that will probably play out in the next book, so I am guessing that if you skip this one, you will have some missing backfill in the next one, but I have not read that one yet so I am not sure.

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8 people found this helpful

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

Excellent Lucas Davenport novel

I prefer John Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels to his books in his Virgil Flowers series. This is yet another of his detective thrillers.

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7 people found this helpful

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

What a Drag! Near Misses Abound!

This is second book that I've listened to in the Prey series. Field of Prey was good. I decided to read more of the Prey series because a good friend recommended them, but I wish that I had not chosen this one... the plot dragged with too many "close calls or near misses" as one reviewer noted. How many times should the writer allow the villain or the good guy to go to a door or to a house to kill someone but only to find that they just missed them. This story had the good and bad guys chasing each other back and forth but to just miss them by some fluke or other. This story bored me and only because I love listening to narrator Ferrone and because I wanted the story to turn around and wow me that I finished reading it. I was not wowed... the story just kept going in circles until Davenport figured out who the "double agent" was working against the police.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Another winner

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

Yes I would. It's part of a series that I am enjoying very much.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. Not knowing where the next cop would be attacked, or where, made every moment intense.

What does Richard Ferrone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His changing vocal inflection for the different characters is so subtle, yet, distinct, you start to recognize the characters by their conversation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I listen to audiobooks when I go to bed. Depending on how tired I am dictates how many nights it takes to complete a book.

Any additional comments?

I am really enjoying this series.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Incredibly bad performance by comparison

I've read most of these novels by John Sandford, it is one of my favorite series. However, this abridged version sounds as though it has been artificially speeded up to fit into some sort of time criteria. Much of the dialogue is delivered without much inflection, and music and sound effects are added here and there - not improving the performance much. this is the first audio book I've purchased in this series that has been "abridged", I won't buy another abridged performance. A couple of truisms I've learned listening to audiobooks, the first is NEVER buy an audio performance delivered by the AUTHOR, now I'm thinking about these abridged versions. The UNABRIDGED versions are done well in this series.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Least Favorite Davenport So Far

I don't know what it was but I really didn't like this Davenport book. I never could quite get into the story, which was not very compelling.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Stand alone book in a series - I was up all night.

One of my favorite Davenport books. Lots of action and suspense. Lucas and his confront two women who have just robbed a bank and cold bloodily killed a customer in the bank. The women are shot and killed after they fired at the police trying to apprehend them. Dick Lachez, the husband of one of the women, and brother to the other, is determined to get revenge on Lucas and his team. He enlists the services of a couple of other evil deranged men and they relentlessly stalk the police and murder several people in the process. Lucas and his team are not only trying to protect themselves, they also have to protect their families.

I found this good fascinating even if it is pretty violent. The bad guys are Dick LaChez, Ansel Butters and Martin. They are bad to the bone and have no mercy. They are also in cahoots with a bad cop who is feeding them information that makes it easier for the bad guys to find Lucas, his team and their families. The story kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. That is what a good writer/storyteller can do, and John Sandford is one of the very best. His detail and dialog are great. He just has the talent for telling a transfixing story. The narrator is great too. To me he is the voice of Lucas Davenport and his friends. This book is good even if you have never listened to/read a Lucas Davenport book. However, knowing the background is helpful - just not necessary.

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3 people found this helpful

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

SUCH A SLOW START

That I almost gave up a few times. However, it picked up and I loved it. Narration, as usual, fabulous.

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3 people found this helpful