REVENGE PREY

5 stars out of 5

As a frequent reviewer of ARCs (advance review copies), I keep a running list of to-read books in order of release date so I don’t miss getting a review written and posted on time. On the rare occasions that I have a few extra days to “play with,” though, it’s a real treat because I can skip ahead a bit and read the one I truly want to read next. Well, such was the case with this one (as would be for anything written by this author, who’s been a favorite for, well, never mind how long). I know I’ll get familiar characters I’ve come to love, an intriguing plot that holds my attention from beginning to end and more than a few chortles – guffaws, even  – as I move through the pages.

As this one (the 36^th) begins, Russian spy Leonard Summers, his wife Martha and grown son Barnard (not their real names) are being transferred from a CIA safe house to a U.S. Marshals Service Witness Protection Program home near Minneapolis, with marshals Lucas Davenport and Shelby White to accompany them. Suddenly, shots go boom, and one of the transferees goes down. A subsequent chase ends up wounding at least two of the shooters, but they get away. Clearly security at one or both of the U.S. agencies has sprung a leak – and just as clearly, Lucas, Shelby and CIA rep John Sherwood are certain this won’t be the last time the family is attacked.

I’ll stop for a minute to say that one of the most entertaining parts of this story is the interaction between Lucas and John – an odd couple if there ever was one since cooperation isn’t exactly the order of the day between the two agencies. But these two get along famously, thanks in large part to the kind of warped sense of humor I love (and claim for myself). Lucas even invites him to his home for dinner, and Lucas’s surgeon wife, Weather, takes a liking to John as well (hopefully, this all bodes well for future books). Even Lucas’s adopted daughter Letty, who has a series by this author all her own, gets into the investigative act and develops a “connection” with John (also boding well for future books).

Needless to say, the suspicion that whoever’s out to get the defecting spy isn’t about to stop trying is spot on, so Lucas, John and an array of representatives from the Marshals, CIA and FBI, some of whom are familiar characters from previous books, get to play at playing nice (which in and of itself is a treat to read). The rest of the book deals with the art of the chase, with plenty of shoot-‘em-ups and the usual nonstop, edge-of-seat action. All told, another good one is now in the books – and I’m already looking forward to the next. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for another opportunity to meet up with one of my favorite characters by way of a pre-release copy.

Revenge Prey by John Sandford (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, April 2026); 400 pp.