Wicked Prey by John Sanford

John Sandford's Wicked Prey is the latest of the "Prey" series featuring master investigator Lucas Davenport. As usual Sanford creates some incorrigible criminals intent on committing incredible and horrendous crimes.

The Republican Convention is gearing up in St. Paul, and a smart gang of professional thieves are planning a brilliant but brutal heist involving millions of dollars. Political lobbiests have come to town with huge amounts of cash, all off the books, to grease hands and make things happen. Finding and stealing the money involves careful strategy, but the robbers get off to a successful but violent start.

Lucas figures out who is committing these ingenious turned bloody heists, but finding them and putting a stop to their crime spree takes all his waking hours.

Unknown to Lucas, an ex-con in a wheelchair is angrily seeking revenge. Randy Whitcomb blames Lucas for the bullet that caused his paralysis, and plans to use Lucas's young teenaged daughter for his twisted version of justice. Daughter Letty, street wise and tough, actually figures out what Whitcomb is plotting on her own and goes after him herself.

Sanford can definitely give us insight into the minds of the criminals he creates. It is interesting to learn their background and how they reached the point where remorse is overshadowed by greed or revenge.

This novel involves the bottom-feeders of society, therefore their language involves every profanity imaginable. Also the sexual content is not of a pretty nature. I lost track of how many people were killed, some brutally and without cause. Sandford is a brilliant writer, knowledgable about the intricate details of crime investigation. The books moves along at a fast pace, moving back and forth from one character's movements to another. If you can move past the ugliness of the dark side of society, this is an excellentlly written book with carefully created characters and smooth flowing dialogue. On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate it a 6 1/2.