I see another great series unfolding here! Letty is the step-daughter of Lucas Davenport , current US Marshall and the main character in one of my favorite mystery thriller series. Sandford has already spun off Virgil Flowers into his own popular series. Dark Angel is the second Letty Davenport book, following the Investigators and Sandford and Letty has really hit their stride in this one. I'll admit, I found the beginning a little confusing, but I'm claiming reader ignorance here, because of the computer and bitcom references. But the NSA teams Letty up with Baxter, computer nerd and comic relief, track down a group of rebel hackers who are threatening a ransom ware attack on a national gas pipeline. However, they are not the only ones looking for them - enter the Russians and their team of hit men. They're more concerned with the hacker groups interference with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There are some great characters in this series besides Letty, including Baxter, Cartwright and the return of John Kaiser.
This is another hit for Sandford with his gritty action packed style, peppered with some of the best dialogue in thriller fiction. I can't wait to see this series goes next, and of course the possibilities are endless with crosses into Lucas's and Virgil Flower's territory.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and review an eARC.

I am torn on this one. As an avid Lucas Davenport reader, I have watched Lettie grow up. I am glad to see her making her own way, I am just not sure I enjoy her series. It has good characters and good writing, but it feels like its missing something. The story is engaging and suspenseful with really good twists. Maybe I am waiting for Lucas to come in and save the day. I don't know, but if you enjoyed the first book you should read this one.

DARK ANGEL by John Sandford is the second in a series about Letty Davenport and it is an engrossing adventure filled with memorable characters and plenty of armed violence in the name of doing good. Letty acts as a consultant to the US government and is paired with Baxter, a computer nerd for NSA, in an attempt to find and infiltrate a group of idealistic hackers. Danger increases as Russian security forces join the hunt and begin targeting some of the group members. Letty is a strong, self-reliant protagonist who reminded me of characters in novels like Quinn's The Diamond Eye, Box's Treasure State, and Paretsky's Overboard. I enjoyed DARK ANGEL so much that I plan to listen to The Investigator, Letty's first adventure. Sanford is an award-winning author probably best known for his Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport, Letty's father.

After the events of Pershing Bridge, Letty Davenport is something of a hero, especially to the many government agencies who could use a woman who can shoot as well under pressure as she can. When her actual employer, a United States Senator who’s finagled her a position as investigator for the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, calls her in for a new case, she’s more than ready to leave behind her newfound notoriety in order to get back on the road again.

She’s a little surprised that John Kaiser, her rugged roughneck partner in Pershing, wasn’t called in as well. Apparently, the National Security Agency wants only her for a task where she’ll be partnered up with Kaiser’s complete opposite. Rod Baxter is an out-of-shape computer programmer that the NSA wants to insert into Ordinary People, a hacker collective. Letty will act as his bodyguard and general muscle, while posing as his scheming, money-motivated girlfriend. The plan calls for them to drive from their ostensible home in Florida all the way out to Ordinary People’s base in California. Their cover is the need to safely decrypt a Bitcoin wallet they’d used to stash some ill-gotten gains. Hopefully, the collective will have the necessary experience to help them out.

Letty has a few requests of their NSA contact as they go, including some prescription medicine that catches Agent Nowak off-guard:

QUOTE
“For what? Aren’t those attention-deficit things? I don’t…”

“We had seventy-two hours to nail Ordinary People. Seventeen of them are gone. We may need to stay awake for a long time and Adderall and Ritalin are basically speed,” Letty said. “We may also need a few pills for demonstration purposes. You know, to show them how far out we are. Not only hacker-criminals, we’re drug abusers.”

“You’ll have it in an hour,” Nowak said.

When they rang off, Baxter said, “The NSA: America’s crime family.”
END QUOTE

After a series of misadventures, Letty and Baxter finally gain an audience with their targets, who demand proof of expertise in advance of a possible exchange of services. Once they’ve taken down the server farm belonging to the notorious far-right website SlapBack, they’re in.

But the more time our intrepid duo spends with Ordinary People, the more they’re convinced that the NSA’s ostensible reason for sending them in – to stop the hackers from shutting down the natural gas systems of an entire northern metropolitan area if their ransom demands are not meant – seems hollow. Sure, the hackers are criminals, but they’re also all pretty decent people. As Letty and Baxter discover the truth behind the NSA’s mission, and as global events unfold, they realize that they’re in far more dangerous territory than expected.

Letty is as badass as ever in this second book in her standalone series. While Kaiser does show up in the later stages of Dark Angel, Baxter makes for a perfect and completely opposite foil for our action-loving heroine. Letty and Baxter’s relationship often reminded me of Harcourt and Economos from the excellent Peacemaker television series, which isn’t the first Peacemaker reference – albeit in a different context – in this page-turning novel. Letty’s calm interacts well with Baxter’s fatalism, as their senses of humor, human decency and basic justice overlap:

QUOTE
He agreed to give [up the money they’d found,] “Nineteen grand and change. Seems like a lot.”

“You wouldn’t have any use for it anyway, since you’re gonna get killed,” Letty said.

“You got me there,” Baxter said. “Now go away. I’m reading.”

He was reading a jumble of text, numbers, and symbols that shouldn’t make sense to anyone, but apparently did to him. “By the way,” he said, as she turned away. “SlapBack is up again. They claim they were taken down by Antifa.”

“They were,” Letty said. “You and me are about as anti-fascist as they come.”
END QUOTE

Their patriotism anchors this thrilling, complicated story of interagency skullduggery, as Letty and Baxter struggle both to infiltrate and to protect Ordinary People from criminals who wish them all dead. Some of the slang might feel a little dated, but the commitment to coupling timeless values with modern innovations more than makes up for any lack of hipness. As always, John Sandford delivers a fast-paced mystery novel that doesn’t shy away from current events, with characters who refuse to conform to stereotype as they seek to ultimately do the right thing to serve our nation and its people.

Letty finds herself on another undercover mission for Colles. She knows she is being lied to by her supervisor, but she can't figure out what is really going on. She meets Baxter who is also undercover with her. They are to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and travel from Florida to California. He is a computer geek and is supposed to befriend a group that is responsible for hacking Russian trains. Letty does her thing and starts to pull the string that they unravel after meeting a few people. She begins to collect what is needed, but soon realizes this goes deeper than she was originally told. She and Baxter befriend the hackers and start to put the pieces together as to what is really going on. The true intent of their mission becomes apparent later on and Letty goes along with it. Baxter turns out to be a standup guy and I liked him. They use all of their knowledge and the support of a couple of people Letty has turned to in the past. They need all the help they can get to try and stop the bad guys from ending their project. I liked the book and found it very entertaining. Letty was her usual self and didn't disappoint in letting her personality out. I liked the first book in this series and I enjoyed this one just as much. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

I loved this book! And I love the Letty Davenport character. The Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers characters are getting stale, and honestly, I have been reading the novels with these characters and not being satisfied with them.

This book gives us so much action and some insight into the formation of Letty at the beginning of her career and making a name for herself. She learns what being undercover is like and ‘how to work well with others’. The story line was current and made you feel like you where there, helping to save Ukraine. More Letty Davenport please!

I love & have read all of John Sandford's books. This one was a little confusing. I'm not sure if it's just me or the storyline. I will have to give it another read and see if it gets better. I think I will go back, reread the first one,.and get my head wrapped around Letty as her own person.

Solid exciting thriller from John Sanford feturing Letty Davenport, the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport who is the hero of the PREY series. Letty drawn into an uncover assignment for the NSA and Homeland Security to get inside a group of hackers. As she and her counterparts quickly learn, the hacker group is really only the tip of the iceberg. Ordinance and thrill heavy, this book has special relevance for our times. Enjoyable read.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on April 11, 2023

Letty Davenport saved the war for Ukraine. Who knew?

The Letty Davenport series is similar to the Prey series that stars her father. The books tend to be gritty, unlike John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers novels, which mix in a larger amount of humor. Still, even Sandford’s darker novels are lightly seasoned with humor. Most of the humor in Dark Angel comes from snarky asides as characters rib each other, although Sandford also milks a team of hackers who devour microwave burritos for laughs. Burritos aside, the story’s focus is on good guys killing bad guys. The action becomes more intense as the story builds to a high-energy climax.

Letty works for a senator who loans her to Homeland Security in an odd disregard for the separation of powers. Letty is working on a stakeout involving the theft of government property when she meets a CIA agent who introduces herself as Cartwright. After the mission is completed, Cartwright invites Letty to join a social group consisting of women who are good with guns.

Letty is next assigned to infiltrate a West Coast group of computer geeks who reputedly hacked into the software that runs Russia’s train systems. While Letty is told that the group plans a ransomware attack on a natural gas provider in the Midwest, her handlers seem to have a greater interest in Russia’s trains. That interest coincides with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The American government wants to maintain deniability, but having rogue hackers rerouting trains that carry Russian military supplies would be a nice way to stick it to Putin.

Letty doesn’t need to know anything about hacking because her job is to protect someone who does. She is sufficiently young and hot to pass as a successful hacker’s girlfriend. The hacker is an overweight guy who helps out the NSA with his specialized knowledge of machine control software. He isn’t Letty’s type but they learn how to work together by establishing a cover as they drive from Florida to California. After arriving at their destination, they make a couple of contacts, engage in a bit of blackmail, and gain credibility by helping hackers who plan to take down a right-wing hate site. Their efforts lead them to the hacker they need to meet.

When they're not stealing the latest Intel chips, Russian assets are also looking for the train hackers, leading to the novel’s first significant bit of violence. Guns are drawn or fired repeatedly as the story progresses, culminating in attacks on the hacker group because it is trying to make life better for Ukraine. Since the government doesn’t want to involve its own actors (and wants to conceal its involvement from the FBI and local police), Letty recruits members of the women’s shooter group to help protect the hackers. Mayhem ensues.

Sandford never fails to entertain. He tells dark stories in a breezy style, crafts plots that move quickly and in surprising directions without causing confusion, and creates likable characters who are fundamentally decent without becoming saccharine. Some of his stories are enlivened by current events, but this is the first I’ve seen that allows a character to stick it to a foreign leader. Given the mess that the Russian Army made of Putin's invasion, Sandford's take on how American intelligence operatives might have contributed to the disaster comes across as plausible. That makes Dark Angel even more enjoyable.

RECOMMENDED

The book "Dark Angel" by John Sandford is a high-energy, action-packed thriller that follows Letty Davenport and Baxter as they go undercover to infiltrate a hacker group called Ordinary People. Letty is a great character with a fascinating backstory, and Sandford is a master of character development. The book is a gripping read that fans of crime and thriller stories will love. Although it is the second book in a new spinoff series, it can be read as a standalone book. Overall, I found the book immensely enjoyable and satisfying, and only wished it was longer.

Dark Angel is the second book in the spin-off series from John Sandford’s wonderful Lucas Davenport Prey series, starring Letty Davenport, Lucas’ adopted daughter. This time around she’s being asked to go undercover to infiltrate a hacker group, Ordinary People, who the NSA say are planning to mess with a large city’s natural gas supply. But as thing progress, Letty learns there is so much more going on than what she’s been told. Like all of Sandford’s work, the story is complex, well plotted, and at times disturbingly believable. While I wouldn’t say in order to enjoy this book you need to have read the previous book in the series or the main Prey series where we first meet Letty, but I definitely recommend them. While I still prefer his Prey series more, this series is definitely growing on me and I can’t wait to see what Sandford throws at Letty next. I’d like to thank PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Dark Angel.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2XDBWM7DI7BKS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I had a hard time getting into this book and was bored.
Letty Davenport, the tough-as-nails adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, takes on an undercover assignment that brings her across the country and into the crosshairs of a dangerous group of hackers.
The Department of Homeland Security and the NSA have tasked her with infiltrating a hacker group, known only as Ordinary People,
There so many characters and who work for who that at times I was lost and then all the details about the hacking and Russians and at the time Russia hit the Ukraine was just over my head I guess.
I received the book from NetGalley for review

I am on the fence with this one. I really enjoyed the first book... full disclosure, I have not read the original series that this one branched from. I was all-in with this one. I was ready for more Letty Davenport. She's a very strong female character we can all get behind.
I will say, I'm not a fan of political leaning fiction books. I don't care which way the leaning is, it's just not my thing. While there is some leaning in this one, it wasn't too heavy going each way, so it balanced out, mostly.
I was glad to be on the wild ride with Letty in this adventure. I will definitely check out the next book whenever it comes out.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. A spinoff from the Lucas Davenport series, it features Lucas's daughter Letty instead, though is similar with the pacing, action, suspense, and moments of humor. It was action packed, held my attention and I didn't want to put it down. This book can be read as a standalone story, though it is book 2 in the Letty Davenport series. I enjoyed this book and will look for more books in this series as well as other books by this author.

Years ago I was browsing in the library and picked up a book called "Naked Prey," and was introduced to Lucas Davenport and a strong young girl in terrible circumstances named Letty. To say I was hooked is an understatement. I immediately went to Sandford's backlist and read the preceding thirteen "Prey" books. I have been a Sandford aficionado ever since.

"Dark Angel" is the second of the spin-off series featuring an adult Letty Davenport. Grownup Letty, although influenced by her adoptive parents Lucas and Weather Davenport, is still the same clear-eyed, take no prisoners, tough guy she was in the beginning. I liked her then, and I really like her now. I really enjoyed the first Letty book, but this one was even better.

I am not going to give any spoilers - I despise them - but I will say this is vintage Sandford; a convoluted plot, well-drawn interesting characters, humor, action, and an end you, or at least I, don't see coming. This book can be read as a standalone, but when you read the other books you will get more of the context.

Reading a book by John Sandford guarantees great enjoyment. I have yet to read one that didn't deliver on that promise. If you like thrillers, you might as well read the best, and Sandford ranks right up there. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Dark angel is typical sandford fair-but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sandford has a formula and it works each outing. The second lefty Davenport novel finds lefty and a bunch of rogue agencies trying to stop Russians from causing much havoc and destruction. The novel is action-packed and filled with dark humor, as is trademark for Sanford. Lucas Davenport will always be my favorite sandford protagonist, but a grown-up Letty is very similar to her father. I think my only qualm is why the need for letty? Two outings in-I still am not convinced that there was a need for letty to feature in her own series independent of her dad. However, anyone who is a fan of sandford will still find this work enjoyable and easy, well-paced reading. Thank you to the publisher for the arc provided via NetGalley.

Letty Davenport and a mongrel mix of agencies, along with some colorful computer hackers take on the Russians.
Literally and physically having to fight off Russians trying to stop them while simultaneously attempting to stop the trains in Russia using a computer malware attack.
Letty is terrific, as are her cohorts.
Lots of action . Satisfying read. Letty is very much like her father, Lucas.
I recommend.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC.

’m a huge John Sandford fan having read all of his series – Kidd, Lucas Davenport/Prey and Virgil Flowers. Now that Mr. Sandford has moved on to grown up Letty Davenport, he has added another great character to his stories about criminals, a lot of shooting, colleagues from various agencies and politics. I recall when I first read about Letty when she was about 12 and Lucas met her during an investigation. She was somewhat hardened already due to various circumstances and often used her gun to obtain food. She was in the right place/right time as Lucas and his wife adopted Letty, who then lived a fairly privileged life with them. But the weapon expertise came in handy when in one book (can’t recall the name) she had to defend Weather and the smaller siblings.

Now that Letty has graduated from Stanford, she had a variety of jobs to consider but ended up working for a senator who sends her out on undercover-type jobs. With politics and various governmental agencies involved, you never know for sure what anyone really wants.

Even though Letty was adopted, she is SO much like Lucas. I missed that he wasn’t a part of this book but Letty held her own as she and others traipsed from one side of the country to the other. I enjoyed as Letty and others discussed what they knew, what they needed to know, and how to find the ‘strings’ to pull to move forward in the investigation. I loved The Ladies group, women who shoot and were a great asset to Letty. I think Letty may be a little young to figure out some of the puzzles in the story but then again, she and Lucas talked a lot about his cases as she was growing up. I recall they talked by phone in the first book as they discussed possibilities on how to handle the aspects of that case.

The first book in this series, The Investigator, was a great introduction to this new series and I loved this second book also.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work from one of my favorite authors.

The second book in the Letty Davenport series is just as action packed, and fast paced as the first one. It is a quick read with great characters and a fast moving plot. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced reader copy.

My thanks to Penguin Group/Putnam, John Sandford and Netgalley.
This is my second Letty book, and I don't mind telling y'all that it's much better than the first!
I'm not sure if Sanford decided to drop us all in the middle of Letty's life and assume that we would be gung-ho with the little we knew of her from Davenport books or not.
Far as I'm concerned, an author should never assume.
Yeah, I'm still fucking mad as hell that I've lost Virgil! But then he's replaced by Lettie?
Lettie is an o.k. character. Believe it or not, I do like her. Sandford should have let us ease into her. But no. It's balls to the wall.
Letty is too advanced in skills for her age. If this was fantasy or horror then I would find it more believable. It's not, and I don't.
My biggest problem with the last book was all the gun stuff. Talk guns, car engines or mathematics and my mind finds itself wandering. Thankfully, this book was "slightly" less.
I liked this book much more than the first, and I guess I might read the next. That is the one that will be the deciding factor for me.