Wicked Prey-John Sandford

Wicked Prey
John Sandford
Putnam, May 12 2009, $27.95
ISBN: 9780399155673

In 2008, the Republican Party is holding its presidential nomination convention in St. Paul. The Twin Cities brace themselves for all the expected visitors including conventioneers, protestors, pick pockets, and professional robbers looking for easy prey.

Besides the city police patrolling the city and trying to keep the convention safe from fringe elements on both sides of the political spectrum, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Lucas Davenport and his team are also in town trying to help maintain law and order. Additionally the city has one more special visitor with a seething grudge. Randy Whitlock, a thief who was accidentally shot leaving him wheelchair bound, has plans for revenge against the culprit he holds responsible for crippling his life. He plans to shoot Davenport’s fourteen year old daughter so she can be wheelchair bound for life. Finally a team of operatives led by Brutus Cohn and Rosie Cruz has converged with a deadly mission.

Using the real Replica National Convention as a backdrop, WICKED PREY is a great police procedural that never slows down until McCain and company leave the Twin Cities. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action while also providing a law enforcement perspective to a major public event. The villains are kick butt in differing ways. Paraphrasing Biden’s description of Guliani, Randy only speaks with a verb and an “F” modified noun; while the Cohn-Cruz team are professionals with an intriguing agenda. John Sandford provides a tense thriller using a major real event to showcase what police deal with in the post 2001 world.

Harriet Klausner