Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the advanced reader copy of the latest Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers adventure. I love both these characters so much on their own, getting a book with the two of them riding out cross-country multiple homicide investigations was like a birthday and Christmas present combined. I am always amazed by how John Sandford continuously breathes new life into his Davenport narrative, and can I just say...no one else writes as well about homicidal lunatics quite like him. I think it's fascinating how he crafts his villains into witty, almost likeable characters that you want to root for, except they're completely batshit crazy. Here Lucas/Virgil are hot on the trail of a group of wealthy people murdering society scum in the pretense of doing society a favor. I am highly in favor of another buddy novel, as these two characters work best together...hand in hand, you could say. Thank you to Mr. Sanford for continuing to tell quality thrillers about my favorite protagonists.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on October 4, 2022

Righteous Prey is a Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers crossover novel. Davenport novels are usually a bit darker than Flowers novels. Righteous Prey is essentially a buddy novel that balances humor and darkness. Davenport and Flowers banter their way through the plot as they try to stop five killers who are targeting assholes. The reader might have trouble deciding whether to cheer for the killers or for the cops.

Five billionaires who became wealthy through bitcoin investments are bored. They meet Vivian Zhao at a bitcoin convention. Zhao persuades them that the country is full of assholes who need killing and that people with money and time on their hands are well positioned to kill them. Zhao doesn’t have money of her own but she’s full of anger, largely because she doesn’t have money of her own. She’s taking out her anger on assholes by organizing a group that identifies itself as The Five. Each killing is accompanied by a press release taking credit for making the world a better place, one asshole at a time.

Readers who condemn John Sandford for being liberal (Amazon “reviews” suggest that those readers are plentiful) might be happy to learn that the killers are liberals. They are, at least, fed up with conservative and/or racist assholes. One victim is a criminal who preys on elderly Asians. One is a corrupt Texas politician who rails against migrants. One operates a hedge fund that acquires businesses and fires their employees. One might as well be Alex Jones.

Sandford likes to play with the professional rivalries between the FBI, the federal Marshals, and state or local cops. The “real cops” view the FBI’s “Special Agents” as useless, a perception that Sandford borrows from the real world. In this novel as in many of Sandford’s, all law enforcers not named Davenport or Flowers are just getting in the way.

The novel makes a strong indictment of bump stocks (as did the shooter in the Las Vegas massacre), not that the NRA or Republican state attorneys general care about mass shootings. To a lesser extent (primarily through a brief televised appearance by the wives of Davenport and Flowers), the novel spotlights ghost guns and suppressors, contributors to gun violence that don’t seem to be on any national politician’s radar.

The plot’s lighter side focuses on banter about Flowers’ fledgling career as a thriller novelist. He is finishing his second novel and just signed a contract for a third. I enjoyed the Inside Baseball view of publishing — just enough information to offer a glimpse of writing as a profession without bogging down the story. The best advice Flowers gets is from another cop: “Don’t make your hero into superman. . . . You know, they’re in thirty-two gunfights in three days against a hundred terrorists and get a flesh wound in the shoulder.” That’s a pet peeve I share, although it’s even worse in movies than in novels.

Fortunately, Sandford limits the shootouts but still manages to keep the story in motion. Action doesn’t always need to consist of gunplay and fistfights, although there is a realistic gunfight at the novel’s end. Sandford is never afraid to have Lucas and/or Flowers sustain more than a flesh wound, but in the interest of avoiding spoilers, I won’t discuss the battle’s outcome. It suffices to say that this is a thriller with real thrills and that bullets fired rapidly with a bump stock have consequences.

There isn’t much to say about a Sandford novel. They’re always compulsively readable. This one is no exception. The Inside Baseball paragraphs about writing explain how to make a decent income writing thrillers. Not everyone can do it. Sandford deserves every penny he earns.

RECOMMENDED

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are together for another adventure. Righteous Prey is signature John Sanford. The interesting plot, with its twists and turns will keep any reader awake.. A serial killer (or multiple killers) is taking out reprehensible people who, no seems sad to see gone. However, murder is illegal and the two are tasked with helping solve the cases. Sanford has lost none of his humor which evens out the gory details of the book. This is one not to be missed!

This is the 18th of the 32 books in the Prey series that I've read. . There is a group of billionaires that are killing people ~ murderers, rapists, they've decided don't deserve to live. They make donations to victims.. Many are in favor of this vigilante justice. When they kill a woman in the Twin Cities, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are sent to work together to solve the case. Even though the storyline is different, it feels like I'm visiting old friends. I appreciated receiving an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

Bitcoin! I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Bitcoin is the connecting theme of this story about the planned murder of some people in America by a small group of billionaires who made their money from Bitcoin. The leader of the group is a woman named Vivian Zhao. She lives in California, but only one of the other killers lives there: SFO. You might have noticed that SFO is the airport identifier for San Francisco. The other killers also live near major airports and are also named after them: MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul, CLE (Cleveland), MSY (New Orleans), and JFK (New York). Each killing is marked with a number left on the forehead of the victim, and the group calls itself “The Five.”

The first murder is in San Francisco, and the number “1” is left on the forehead of the victim. The second killing takes place in Houston and is number “2.” MSY has driven from New Orleans to Houston to commit the murder. The third is in a suburb of Minneapolis, but the killer has gotten careless, and the FBI, along with the US Marshals Service, consisting of Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers, is getting close to the killer. The chase takes the two lawmen to Cleveland, and then to Long Island, NY on their quest to stop the killing. This is dangerous work, and they soon learn just how dangerous.

As usual with this author’s works, the action is fast-paced, and the dialogue is realistic. Technical information, such as about firearms, is accurate. This book is in keeping with the “Prey” series, and is sure to keep the pages turning, and the reader engaged. I can recommend it without reservation.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. This book was well written and fast paced. I hope to see some of these characters in the next book.

Ebook/Thriller:. I really enjoy the Virgil Flowers novels. Lucas Davenport is okay. This is the first time I've read one with both Marshalls; usually Flowers is waking Lucas up in the mornings with updates. This became a buddy book with lots of wit and banter.
The plot was basically rich people problems. The best part was Virgil is still with Ma Knows, but she is reformed from her criminal ways. As always, she gets pregnant easily and Virgil has sired twins with her. While Virgil is out solving crimes, Ma will be teaching the twins how to pick a lock.
I enjoyed the book a lot and read it in just a few sittings.

“We’re going to murder people who deserve to be murdered.”
I bet this is the most highlighted sentence in this book. It sets up the scene perfectly. A vigilante group of those too rich to bother, has decided to target criminals. While vigilantes have been trying to cull criminals for years, this group promises donations to charity for each death and seems to be getting better at killing with each victim. BUT, when Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers team up, their days are numbered.
John Sanford is a well known author for a reason.....his books are very good. It makes no difference which of his books you decide to read, you're going to add the rest of them to your TBR pile. So, read the book, you'll thank me later.

I received a free advance copy of this from NetGalley for review.

A group of Bitcoin billionaires calling themselves The Five have appointed themselves to clean up America by personally killing people they think are ruining the country. Their first victims include a violent street criminal, a corrupt right wing congressman, and a rich woman who made herself richer by putting people out of work.

Some might call this asshole-on-asshole violence and be content to let it roll for a while, but it’s a bad idea to just let the billionaires move to their next natural phase of killing people because they’re bored. They’ll get there soon enough.

With bodies dropping across the country followed by press releases from The Five bragging about what they’re doing, the usual media shitstorm has started. When the latest victim is killed in Minnesota, our usual Sandford heroes, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers, get called in to help the FBI, and the two cops end up following twisted trails across the US as they start running down The Five.

This is once again Sandford just doing his thing, and as usual, he does it well. It’s a solid page turner with an intriguing plot set-up, and there’s some character stuff with Lucas and Virgil as they entertain themselves by busting each other’s balls regularly.

However, I’m still not sold on this idea of Sandford teaming up his two biggest characters and merging what used to be two books a year into one. I know the man has certainly earned a rest at this point, but it seems like splitting time between Lucas and Virgil does something to the flow of the story so that it doesn’t hum with quite the same energy that their solo books does.

My other problem with this is one is that Lucas and Virgil don’t really do all that much. There’s a distinct lack of either of them coming up with any of their usual clever schemes or traps to draw out a bad guy, and most of their major breaks come from sheer luck. In fact, by the end of this one Lucas and Virgil seem kind of like rubes who get caught flat footed again and again. Part of the appeal of the Sandford novels is that he has managed to take what could be outlandish action movie plots and ground them through the characters, so they don’t need to be heroes incapable of error. Both of them have made plenty of mistakes in their own books. It’s just in this one that they don’t really seem to impact the plot all that much other than just stumbling into a couple of things.

Still, it’s a Sandford book, and those just make me happy so I won’t bitch too much.

I seriously can’t believe John Sanford is up to book 32 in his Prey Series! More amazing than that is that he still continues to make each new book fresh and exciting. This time around Lucas and Virgil aren’t looking for one killer, but rather a group of killers who call themselves The Five. And of course they aren’t your everyday murderers. No, these Bitcoin millionaire’s are killing with a purpose. Acting as vigilantes, they claim their aim is to take out what they consider to be the worst of society: rapists, murderers, corrupt politicians, etc. And with each murder, not only do they make sure to publicize it but they donate a Bitcoin to some charity, creating a moral dilemma: is it okay to use ‘blood money’ for the greater good? This book (like most of Sandford’s work) hooked me from the very start. Long time fans of the series won’t be disappointed and readers new to Sandford’s work will likely find themselves snapping up all his previous books. Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Righteous Prey.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/righteous-prey-john-sandford/1140838703?ean=9780593422472&bvnotificationId=7b6b2b17-441b-11ed-82f3-12fe40d9ba0b&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/219148818

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1F3837NNMZP5R/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I so loved this book! Another great and entertaining thrill ride! I so love this series, and they just keep getting better! The storyline is well done, and kept me up way past my bedtime! I would highly recommend this book to everyone!

Righteous Prey is another gripping installment in the Lucas Davenport series. The story is action packed and certainly kept my interest.
The relationship between Virgil and Lucas flows seamlessly and their humorous interaction is hilarious.
So much information about Bitcoin that it got a bit tiresome after awhile. But, it had a major part in the plot and was needed so it was all good.
This is a great series I highly recommend. John Sanford is my go to author. I always look forward to the next book in the Lucas Davenport series.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

It’s always fun to be on a ride-a-long with Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport and the villains are even wilder in Righteous Prey.

The Five, a pack of bitcoin billionaires with too much time (and money) on their hands, are killing “bad people” across the United States. When the third killing occurs on Virgil and Lucas’ home turf in Minnesota, they are forced by their respective bosses to assist the FBI with the investigation. It doesn’t take them long to uncover a clue to the local suspect. But can they find all of The Five and their handler before another killing takes place?

The Prey series is my favorite police series because Virgil and Lucas are just cool to be around. They follow the rules until they can’t. You never know what they will do next! If you enjoy procedurals, don’t miss Righteous Prey (and the rest of the series too). 5 stars!

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

First off Virgil is my favorite but when you put them both together it's a barrel of laughs and good times. Lucas is getting older so he misses some of Virgil's jokes and I do too. Also when they have conflict with local offices or FBI members it's always a who gets credit on the finding of the bad guys so that's cool. Yes, sometimes the books are similar but that doesn't take away from the super stories he puts out there. Do your self a favor and start with the 1st books and read them all.

This was a well-written, entertaining book. It was fast-paced and hard to put down. I wanted to find out what was going to happen next and how it would turn out. This is a great series and a great author. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another book in this series as well as others by this author.

Wowie zowie. John Sandford's Prey series is usually a thrilling ride, but he cranked up this book to super heights. The "Prey" books have Lucas Davenport as their protagonist, and in this one he is joined by Virgil Flowers, which is terrific. Lucas is now a US Marshal, while Virgil still works for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The two of them together make a formidable duo.

I don't like spoilers, so I won't give any. Davenport and Flowers, plus the FBI, are chasing a group of murderers. Seen from the point of view of the murderers as well as law enforcement, the tension really goes way up. I had to stop a few times and let my heart rate get back to normal.

I always look forward to the next John Sandford, When Davenport and Flowers are together it's a double treat. If this is your first Sandford, it certainly won't be your last, and you should have no trouble following this one. Sandford's prose is crisp and spare, and I am willing to believe that he has gone to every real location in his books. I cannot recommend John Sandford in general highly enough, and this book in particular is Sandford at the top of his game.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I’m rally loving this buddy act that Lucas and Virgil have going on! They rally balance each other but they are also hilarious when they are together.

I feel like this book already is setting up the next one. It was heavy on the politics but didn’t feel over the top.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope he writes more! I am totally hooked!

They are back together! Finally, in Righteous Prey , they are equal partners once again, not just visiting each other’s books. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers aka That F…, well y’all know the rest of his nickname, finally team up. Even if the pairing is just for one book every now and again, that is just fine and dandy since their individual series books are terrific.
A money hungry psycho finds five other like minded people at a Bitcoin convention, except they have already made their billions, or in one case, millions. They are like minded in ways other than just money. They decide to eliminate some people, ones who really need to be eliminated. No loss to society, in fact society will greatly benefit; in small ways-a rapist or in big ways- a famous fascist. The first murder is virtually ignored despite the press release and the number 1 on his forehead. No surprise, he’s a San Francisco Street person.
It’s when the The Five up their game and start murdering rich people or politicians that federal law enforcement becomes involved. The victims are real dregs, but when The Five’s FB pages starts getting more attention than the latest cat video, people really start paying attention.
Since one of the murders takes place in Minneapolis, Davenport and Flowers are called in to assist the FBI. Davenport, by this time of his career is a Deputy Federal Marshall without portfolio, working on what he wants to work on or on cases some powerful political friends would like him to work on, while Virgil has a rural assignment with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
There are no fantastic, hard to believe twists and turns, except maybe with how you view The Five. Isn’t there a part deep inside of all of us that tends toward vigilantism, until our better selves slap our foreheads and whisper “what in the world are you thinking” and reasserts our humanity?
Lucas and Virgil are one of the best partnerships in most any law enforcement or detective series I have read. I find their investigations realistic. They depend on solid investigative techniques, but they also are stymied or bored or make enemies etc. Not too different from real investigators.
The Five get their say throughout the book. We read of their self-justification, their preparations, their egotism, their paranoia. It’s fascinating to follow their disintegration.
Sandford is a sneaky wordsmith who loves to play with words. For example, the first victim is named Duck Wiggins. What would be the perfect word before that name?
One of the downsides of a long running series is that there are too many characters who are developed over the course of the series and they can’t all visit the latest book. Yes visit, characters are real to me. Sandford made the smart move in Righteous Prey, keeping the book purely Davenport and Flowers, except for a few family members.
For those who are worrying, Virgil’s agent finally comes through. It’s amazing all of the advice he now receives about writing and publishing. Sounds suspiciously autobiographical.
There is a very thoughtful ending to Righteous Prey, it brings up some issues. Pay attention to Frankie and Weather. They might hardly be onstage, but when they are, they are powerful women with something to say.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC for review purposes.

I always enjoy when Lucas & Virgil team up to chase the bad guys, so this was a treat! The story barrels along as the two work to stop a vigilante group. Lucas and Virgil have an uncanny knack of seemingly stumbling over clues and solving puzzles. Their friendship is entertaining as hell, and the mystery aspects are riveting. I loved the cameo from Kidd, who is still up to his computer hacking ways. This is a great read and classic Sandford! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

**Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book early!**