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There are some really twisted people walking around. They don't have big neon signs
pointing this out to the world, or dots on their hand that glow, or anything like that.
They look like you or me (well, like you, anyway) and you'd never suspect them of anything
until they abduct a child or the local gendarme find skeletons in their basement,
and then their neighbors all wonder about the beast within. But they are out there amongst
us. Oh yes, they are.
One of these mistakes of nature is the lead character of CHOSEN PREY, John Sandford's
latest Lucas Davenport novel. Sandford, who just keeps getting better and better with
these annual gems, doesn't waste any time introducing the reader to James Qatar; before
the second page is turned you're going to be real uneasy about this guy --- and with good
reason. Qatar is an art history professor, published author, and a really, really sick
guy. He has a hobby: He secretly takes photographs of women and, using some modest
artistic talent and some fairly commonplace computer software, turns them into highly
imaginative sexual drawings. If he stopped at this we could all have ourselves a lively
debate about invasions of privacy and the rights of men to privately exercise their
imaginations, and consent, and a hundred other things --- but our friend Dr. Qatar doesn't
stop there. No, Qatar learned back in his formative years that he likes killing and he has
become very good at it. In fact, he is so good at it that no one is even aware that anyone
has been killed.
CHOSEN PREY begins, interestingly enough, just as Qatar's terrible secret life is
beginning to unravel. Sandford takes some really interesting chances here. There is no
real mystery for the reader as to Qatar's identity; Qatar's victims, who have been
concealed for several years, begin to be discovered before the first chapter is complete;
and Qatar is by turns so interesting and repulsive that he threatens to hijack the story
away from Davenport, who is supposed to be the star of the piece. Sandford, however, keeps
things interesting enough, cutting back and forth between Qatar's activities and
Davenport's methodical, less than perfect but realistic police work, that the reader can't
stop turning pages. Longtime readers of the Davenport novels will be especially intrigued
by Davenport's social life. He actually manages to remain monogamous for the entire novel
(which is not to say that his attention never wanders, if only for a moment) --- and his
future, both professionally and personally, portends great change. Sandford has become a
master at not only keeping his readers interested in the novel at hand, but also at
creating anticipation for the next one. Sandford also manages in CHOSEN PREY to plug his
equally intriguing Kidd novels, and does so quite plausibly and without straining himself.
Sandford, with CHOSEN PREY, continues to tinker with Lucas Davenport's professional and
personal life while introducing one of the more disturbing antagonists of recent crime
fiction. This is one that will keep you awake at night for more than one reason.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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