Customer Reviews

The Devil's Code

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've waited a long time for this book, and you made the wait worthwhile. Nice to see Kidd and LuEllen back in harness again. Crackling dialogue and excellent pacing, and a pretty good McGuffin, too!

At his home in Dallas, John James Morrison knows he is in trouble by the nocturnal visit of the security agents. They escort John to AmMath where St. John Corbiel plays a tape in which they caught John violating company policy. John tries to bluff but Corbiel kills him. The security agents arrange a cover-up to make it seem like a night guard shot John while discovering him in a forbidden area late at night.

John's sister Lane Ward believes the official interpretation of her sibling's death rings false. She asks John's former partner Kidd to investigate her brother's death. Kidd, an expert on stealing data traveling along the information highway, agrees. He learns that John uncovered something major that led to his deliberate murder. Kidd and his partner LuEllen begin to uncover a monster conspiracy involving AmMath and the Feds using technology to hide murder and blackmail. That knowledge could make Kidd the next dead person.

It has been about a decade since John Sandford wrote a Kidd novel (see THE FOOL'S RUN and THE EMPRESS FILE) having switched to the popular Prey novels. Perhaps the earlier Kidd tales were ahead of the times, but with the Internet, Intranet, and Extranet explosion, THE DEVIL'S CODE plays like a modern day electronic thriller. The tale is well executed due to Kidd's intellect, witticism, and ethical beliefs. Although it may seem hard to accept an electronic thief has scruples, Kidd does and that propels his compulsion to investigate. Best selling author John Sandford has returned with one of his great characters in a story that will please more than just net conspiracy buffs because of its fast-paced, gigabit loaded hard driving plot.

Harriet Klausner

I love the "Prey" novels, so I took a chance on the "Kidd" novel. Unfortunately I was sorely disappointed in the thinly developed characters and the 'computerese' plotting. I work in the computer field and found Sandford's hacker sub-plot to be pretentious and B O R I N G ! Let's hope the next Lucas Davenport novel is better or I shall be an ex-Sandford fan.

Thief and artist, Kidd, returns with his sometime lover and fellow thief Luellen, in this new novel from bestselling author John Sandford.

When Jack Morrison is killed during what is called a routine robbery, his sister Lane wants answers, and to get them she will enlist the help of Kidd. As Kidd and his group of thief/pals begin looking into the death, they see connections to the high-tech company where Jack was killed.

Who cares?

I could not even finish this book, it is slowly paced, and filled with too many characters and high-tech jargin that I quickly lost interest. I have been a fan of Sanford's "Prey" novels for years, and am very disappointed in this departure.

Fans of Sandford's books should pass on this, and await the next Davenport novel.

Nick Gonnella

There's a reason this book is selling at #50 on Amazon.com -- it's a great read. The characters are interesting and well-drawn, the plot is well-crafted, the writing is sparse and well-edited. Highly recommended.

What a contrast with his whole series of "Prey" books -- which I will never read again. Truly awful and annoying.

The Devil's Code is a big disappointment. A Sanford novel is usually a treat especially if Davenport is prowling the Twin Cities. This Kidd novel lacks any real plot development, is trite and has no imagination. I picked up this book and read it in one sitting. There was no spark that would hold the reader. Being in the computer field, the book was even more tedious. Sanford should stick to what he does best. There seemed to be little effort in writing this book and the story meandered all over the place. I would recommend passing on this book and hope Cromwall is better in two weeks. The code for this book was definitely decipherable: a very poor effort by Sanford.

Conspiracy galore here in this new novel by John Sandford. I'm not too familiar with the author's "Prey" novels, but I certainly enjoyed this one. The main character, Kidd (no first name) and his cohort, LuEllen, investigate the murder of one of Kidd's computer colleagues. The story moves extremely quickly - the crackling conversation between Kidd and LuEllen is a breeze to read and very enjoyable. Now, I have to go find the two previous Kidd-LuEllen novels! Highly recommended.