Certain Prey (Hardcover)

Now, my complaint. Every author has their "pet phrases", words that appear several times in a single book. It gets annoying when an author describes everything as "pretty" or "red" or whatever. Unfortunately, Sandford's favorite word is the "F" word, and it's used in every form possible. Instead of being "very happy", a person is "F- happy". Or instead of "really stupid", they're "F- stupid". Why be hungry when you can be "F- hungry"? Friend or foe, everyone in Sandford's world uses one word to express themselves. Rather than characters having distinctive voices or phrases, they all sound the same--foul-mouthed and with a limited grasp of the English language. I sincerely doubt the author himself talks like that all the time, so why does he think everyone else does?

All in all, this is an interesting story that could have been great. Unfortunately, the unnecessary overuse of profanity detracts from what could have been compelling storytelling. When you see the same word 18 times on a single page (no kidding), it gets old.

The next day she tells her boss and the club bouncers and they wait for the rapist to come in again. And he does. They buy him drinks until the place closes. Then they force him into the basement, where Clara waits, baseball bat at the ready. She's only supposed to break his arms, instead she bashes his head in. And she learns that she doesn't mind killing, kind of enjoys it in fact. She decides she can make a living doing it, so she buys a gun, takes lessons, then lets the mob know she's available.

By the time she has several hits behind her, she's hired for a job in Minnesota by Carmel Loan. Carmel is a successful Minneapolis defense lawyer, who will do anything to get what she wants. And what she wants is fellow attorney Hale Allen, who isn't the smartest attorney in Minnesota, or anywhere else for that matter. However Allen is attached at the hip to his socialite wife and her money. Carmen decides that the wife has to go, which is why she contacted Carla.

No socialite is killed in Minneapolis without coming to the attention of homicide detective Lucas Davenport. So now we have a noted detective chasing after an assassin he doesn't know is a beautiful twenty-eight-year-old woman, and she in turn is being advised by a lady lawyer, who happens to know Davenport, on how to leave false clues to elude Davenport.

The plot is humorous, intelligent and fascinating. The good guys are smart and likable, in fact the bad gals are too. The writing is slick and witty, leaving the readers wanting more. And the book is thoroughly enjoyable. What more could a Lucas Davenport fan want in a story?