I am a fan of the Lucas Davenport and have kept up with both Prey and Virgil Flowers series. The first Lettie book was dry, heavy on details and light on the development of Lettie's character. Dark Angel moves in the right direction for me. Lettie's character is more relatable. I hope this is a work in progress and that Lettie will continue to be flushed out, more likable and human.
In Dark Angel, Lettie is teamed up with Rod Baxter and Barb Cartwright to infiltrate Ordinary People, an extremist group. This leads to the discovery of a much more dangerous and timely enemy that puts Lettie and her team in serious danger. I enjoyed the fast and furious ending and appreciate the strong female characters that Sandford has created. Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy of this book .

I love the character of Letty an almost psychopath who is on our side. Written in Sanfords signature rapid fire manner. It created a thriller out of true events, it really makes you wonder how much of this could really happen. Only downside was one of the characters was described as fat and it was mentioned at least a dozen times. And Letty was fat shaming him. It just felt unnecessary to the story.
Otherwise another quick Sanford book.

I’ve been a long time reader of this author and while I prefer his Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books, the Letty Davenport books are a fun escapist series to read. I liked Letty a lot more in this book! She still doesn’t have the charisma that her father does, but it’s nice to have a strong, smart and capable young woman as a MC in a thriller.

This was another action packed fast paced story. It’s a timely plot with aspects pulled from current global political situations and kept my interest the whole time. I was happy to see more female characters in this and hope the ladies, especially Barbara, make future appearances.

I also really liked her computer nerd partner Baxter, but didn’t appreciate the way his weight was discussed throughout the book. Letty constantly makes snide comments when he eats or says he is hungry and even lectured him several times about being out of shape and overweight. He is called “that fat guy” by almost every character at least once. It was a very strange and distracting aspect and I have no idea why this was a focus when it had zero impact on the story.

Overall this is a suspenseful and action packed plot that makes for an entertaining read. I split time between the audiobook and ebook and thought the narrator did a great job and would recommend either format.

Thanks to @putnambooks @prhaudio @netgalley for the DRC & ALC!

I am a big fan of John Sandford and really like this new series featuring Letty Davenport. This is the second in this series and has Letty going undercover to get close to a group of hackers. It is fun, fast-paced and action packed.
I enjoyed learning more about Letty in this adventure and am hopeful that some of the women introduced in this book will continue to be a part of future books (She needs to find her Virgil Flowers).

This will be released on April 11, 2023. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's son for an advanced reader copy.

John Sanford brings investigation, suspense, and plenty of action to the second book in the Letty Davenport series. Letty has had an unconventional, tragic, and violent childhood. Her adoption by Lucas Davenport, the protagonist in the author’s Prey series, has led to a much happier life. She’s now twenty-five, a graduate of Stanford, and an investigator for inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. However, her real boss is Senator Christopher Colles.

The events in book one of the series has brought her to the attention of several branches of the U.S. government. A joint operation between the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency seems perfect. Along with a reluctant government computer programmer, Rod Baxter, Letty is asked to infiltrate a hacker group. While they work to uncover the plans of the hacker group, Letty and Rod believe they’ve been lied to about the mission.

Letty is smart and determined, with a somewhat warped sense of humor and a tendency to be rash at times. She also takes after Lucas in several ways including her proficiency and knowledge of guns and her love of fashion. Rod is somewhat stereotyped in the beginning of the novel. He’s characterized as cowardly, intelligent, and slovenly. However, he is the character who experiences the most dramatic changes in attitude and outlook as the story unfolds.

The story is part undercover investigation and part action thriller. The opening chapter is memorable, but it isn’t part of the main storyline. However, it does give some insight into the types of missions Letty has been given lately, and it gives some insight into her personal life. This personal insight is needed to make Letty more relatable. Additionally, it is a way to introduce some new characters into the series.

Sandford’s writing is always great. It is fluid and flows well, and his world-building is fantastic. There is a strong sense of place causing me to feel transported to California. He’s a superb storyteller who kept me on the edge of my seat as the undercover operation and action unfolded. The final action scenes are riveting and hauntingly memorable. It is very relevant and has a terrifying realism to it. I also liked the fact that Letty was learning from others during the course of the novel, which made her more realistic and slightly less of a larger-than-life over-the-top protagonist. Themes include violence, murder, espionage, hacking, theft, and much more. The novel also highlights the complexity of international and national politics and government activities.

Overall, this was suspenseful and action packed with compelling characters that kept me turning the pages. With exciting scenes and a fascinating story, it captivated me. I’m looking forward to reading more about Letty and her future assignments.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and John Sandford provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for April 11, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by this author, though I know I haven’t read all of them. I was excited to realize this features the adult daughter of a long-running protagonist. (And having realized this is the second novel featuring her, I’ve already ordered the earlier book which introduces her). And I hope this move introduces a new generation of readers to this author. Either way, I applaud this development.

The book was great! I read it in two sittings and was completely absorbed. I really enjoyed how Letty Davenport’s backstory is introduced through dialogue necessary to the plot setup (rather than in an “info dump” in exposition), and continued to be revealed in bits and pieces as the story rolls along. Also delicately handled is Letty’s mentoring from another, more seasoned female professional in her field, organically in scenes where it became relevant.

The tone and setting were different from the Minnesota-set books to which I’m accustomed from John Sanford, but equally well done. I don’t want to reveal any plot details, and I assume you’ve read the provided blurb before moving on to check our reviews. The plot was layered, the investigation unceasing, the development fast and well structured. Highly recommend!

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of this book, thank you John Sandford, NetGalley and Penguin-Putnam.

I’ve read every single John Sandford book and I love the Letty Davenport series, looking forward to more. This was a quick, efficient read. Great character development with Letty, Baxter and the club of women shooters.

Excellent second book in the Letty Davenport series. Very timely. Interesting characters and situations. Hooray for the good guys.

Davenport’s adopted daughter Letty is grown up and now and this second book of the series about her has Letty working to infiltrate a group of hackers planning to commit terrorist acts. With her partner from the NSA, the women head for California to get to the bottom of the problem. As they learn more information, and the bodies pile up, the two begin to think there are multiple parties involved, not just the hacker group, Ordinary People that they have been instructed to infiltrate and sabotage.

Though the story is centered on computer hacking, it is not full of technical terminology so it’s not necessary to have a computer science background to read the book. I would recommend this book to readers of Sanford’s other books and those who enjoy thrillers. Though it is the second in a series, it can be read as a standalone but most people would prefer reading The Investigator, the predecessor to this book.

Letty is the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport and a force to be reckoned with. Altho she lacks in experience she is learning fast. She goes undercover but soon discovers she has not been told everything about the assignment. This story is complicated and you have to pay attention. I like all of Sandford books and his decision to feature Letty gives us another series to follow. There is plenty of suspense in the book along with a good story line. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This is the second book on a new series by the author. It features Letty Davenport the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport who is the main character of the author’s Prey books. The premise of the novel is attempting to uncover a group of hackers who infiltrated the Russian train system and messed with their freight schedules. This takes place just before and right after Russia invades Ukraine. It is a fast paced, fairly quick read novel.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

"Dark Angel" is a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Letty Davenport is a formidable protagonist, and her skills with firearms are matched only by her quick thinking and determination. The story is fast-paced and action-packed, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. The tension is high as Letty and her partner navigate the dangerous world of hackers, with the added threat of a possible traitor in their midst. The plot is well-crafted and the characters are well-developed, making it easy to get caught up in the story. If you're a fan of action and suspense, "Dark Angel" is a must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for this advanced copy

I always enjoy a Davenport novel, be it Lucas or Letty. This one did not disappoint and had great character development throughout. Letty (aka Charlie) and Rod (aka Paul) head to California to make connections with the hacker group Ordinary People. Rod, the reluctant and techie partner and Letty, the one that won't shy away from danger make an unlikely dynamic-duo team - which expands with the additions of some kick-ass characters (and you see Kaiser return to help!).

John Sandford is a master at writing crime thrillers. I've also read the Lucas Davenport books and the Virgil Flower books. I always know that picking up a Sandford book will be a great choice and time definitely not wasted.

The Investigator, the previous book in the Letty Davenport series, was one of my favorite books of 2022. Unfortunately, while Dark Angel was good, it didn't measure up to the lofty expectations I had after the Investigator. The plot was a solid hackers meets terrorism plotline but the villains, where Sandford usually shines above his competitors, were lackluster and forgettable. Overall I enjoyed it but it's probably my least favorite Sandford book in a few years.

Dark Angle
Letty Davenport #2
by John Sanford
Pub Date: April 11,2023
G.P. Putnam
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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.
I'm a huge fan of Lucas Davnport who has been a favorite of mine for years. Letty is starting to grow on me. I liked her more in this book than the first one. She had a better than anyone else attitude and I did not like that.
John Sanford's Prey series will always be my favorite but I believe this series will eventually be as good.
4 stars

I’m a huge John Sandford fan, especially his Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series. Dark Angel is the second in the Letty Davenport series. It has the same brisk pace and energetic style as his other series, but lacks the same amount of humor. That’s not to say it isn’t humorous, but don’t go into this expecting a lot of laughs.
This time, Letty has been matched with Baxter, a NSA computer nerd. I liked that he’s not the typical good looking, athletic hero. Nope, he’s overweight, hairy and not an agent who's spent any time in the field. They are sent to LA to infiltrate a group of hackers known as the Ordinary People. But no sooner do they make contact, that things turn violent. It turns out that there are other folks looking for the OP members and they’re not good guys. A CIA agent friend of Letty’s is also called in to help. Barbara can match Letty in shooting capabilities.
Having just read another popular author with a very basic writing style, in contrast I had a much better appreciation for Sandford’s ability to nail a description. “He wore a dark suit over a black tee-shirt, with poorly polished, blunt tipped black shoes that looked like weapons, designed to kick someone to death. None of his three companions looked like him, but they had a GRU family resemblance, a built-in necked glower, than any Russian civilian would have recognized and carefully walked around.” Just perfect!
This is a very timely story and held my interest. At times, Letty comes across as just a little too much of the superhero. But Sandford’s books are never meant to be believable. It’s all about the entertainment factor. I’m hoping that Barbara becomes an ongoing character in this series. It’s nice to have multiple competent women in a thriller.
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books-Putnam for an advance copy of this book.

An excellent second novel starring Letty Davenport. Sandford continues to show his gift for characterization and fast-moving plots in Dark Angel. The novel shows this spin-off series definitely has legs and can stand on its own, as the character continue to develop and navigate the new role and world she’s been thrust into. I enjoyed this a lot.

In her capacity as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security (and kind of as an investigative aide to a powerful senator — it’s appropriately murky), Dark Angel sees Letty dispatched to California to investigate the operations of a rogue hacker collective. In the shadow of a more assertive and aggressive Russia, the hackers appear to have strayed into an explosive international relations issue (the invasion of Ukraine). This has put them in the crosshairs of Russia’s elite, as well as dropped them onto the radar of the US government. As a relatively young agent of the state, Letty is considered perfect for an undercover assignment: infiltrate the group, find out what they know, what they’ve done, and try to make sure none of it blows back on the US government. So simply stated, yet not so easily accomplished.

One the things I’ve really enjoyed about the Letty Davenport series is the way Sandford has created a highly-capable character who does not know everything. This might seem like a strange thing to note, but so often authors create rookie characters who are inexplicably capable and knowledgeable. Letty however, despite a childhood and upbringing that has brought her into close contact with law enforcement and the criminal underworld multiple times, continues to learn from those around her. Whether she’s picking up tips and lessons from John, her partner in The Investigator; or from reluctant hacker partner in Dark Angel, she is improving on-the-job, but not afraid to be fallible or have a gap in her knowledge. This makes her far more realistic, and also for a more interesting read — there are some pretty interesting things she learns over the course of this novel.

There’s plenty of action, as one might expect from a Sandford novel; similarly, there are plenty of references to contemporary political and social issues. It makes this an up-to-the-minute read, and one that will grab readers early, and pull them on through to the climax. I enjoyed the characters’ exploration of the world of modern hacking (a subject the author hasn’t spent much time in since his Kidd novels — which I also highly recommend.) For me, Sandford is one of the most reliable authors in the thriller/crime genre, and I always know I will enjoy each new book of his. (Michael Connelly and Mike Lawson are the only other two who I have, thus far, thoroughly enjoyed every book by.)

I really enjoyed this, and can’t wait for Letty’s (and Lucas’s) next outings. Definitely recommended.

John Sandford continues his launch of a new protagonist in Dark Angel. Letty infiltrates a right wing militia crew in The Investigator, and Sandford puts her in another socio political predicament in the next book in the series.

Overall, Letty is an enjoyable character to follow. She has a lot of the reckless confidence that Lucas has, it almost seems like reading some of Sandford’s early novels. The story line takes a few twists, and by the end I feel like it’s stumbled over itself a few times because of the many layers of “undercover” that are going on. Overall, the continued character growth of Letty outweighs some of the plot holes enough to make it an enjoyable read. I look forward to more in the Letty Davenport series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Letty Davenport is called in to go undercover where she will be partnered with a
computer guy from the NSA. They are told to infiltrate a hacker group called Ordinary
People who the government suspects is looking to disrupt the natural gas distribution.
As she and her partner begin their assignment, it becomes clear that they are not being told
the whole story, putting their lives in danger. Letty and her partner are left to make
sense of the information they are uncovering and determine what their real mission is.
Action keeps one engaged in the story
#DarkAngel #NetGalley

When Lettie Davenport, the adopted daughter of U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport and his surgeon wife, Weather, used to make an occasional appearance in one of Lucas's books, I never warmed up to her much. Then when she got her own series with last year's "The Investigator," I started to take her a bit more seriously. With this, her second book, I started to like her a lot. Seriously.

At this point in her life - she's 25 - she's an investigator for Homeland Security, at least on the surface; under it, she works for a powerful U.S. Senator. Through him, she's asked to go under cover to try to infiltrate a ransomware hacking group known as Ordinary People, ostensibly to prevent another attack; in the process, she meets another hotshot investigator and crack sharpshooter, Barbara Cartwright, and they hit it off. Their camaraderie leads to both friendship and, when Lettie needs more help on her assignment, a professional assist (just for the record, I liked her too). Lettie also picks up an undercover "partner" named Rod Baxter - another very likable dude (the repartee between the two can get quite amusing).

It doesn't take too long, though, for Letty and Rod to figure out there's more to their assignment than they were led to believe - and the difference between the assumed adversaries and the real ones can become a matter of life and death with the slightest of missteps. All in all, it's another fast-paced book with an intriguing, timely plot that kept me entertained throughout. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Don't miss this one!