Silent Prey

March 2, 1992
This streamlined thriller is a rematch for Minneapolis homicide cop Lucas Davenport and the insane killer he caught in Sandford's earlier slasher novel, Eyes of Prey. After psychotic pathologist Dr. Mike Bekker escapes from a New York courthouse and begins a killing spree, NYPD Lt. Lily Rothenberg asks Davenport, her former lover, to come to Manhattan and help the investigation. Despite Bekker's ruined face (courtesy of an enraged Davenport), the killer eludes capture and the bodies keep piling up, each with the eyelids cut off so that Bekker could photograph his victims as they died. Rothenberg gives Davenport an additional, undercover assignment--to ferret out the ``Robin Hoods,'' a clandestine police vigilante group responsible for perhaps three dozen deaths, one of which was that of a fellow cop who might have been onto them. Paired with possible Robin Hood Det. Barbara Fell, Davenport taunts Bekker in the media, hoping to goad him into a mistake, but the grisly murders continue. As the momentum gathers, readers will speed through the surprise twists and confrontations of the last chapters. Although the story never drags and Sandford delivers his usual punch, the devices in his winning formula are becoming familiar.

John Sanford is back with another psychological thriller in his Prey series. Surgeon, psychopath and serial killer Bekker is on the loose again after the easiest jailbreak in recent memory. Ken Howard's reading moves along with all the brooding energy a reader could want from a suspense book. His narration is deep, clear and well-suited to the gravelly voices of retired detective Lucas Davenport and the other cops. While Howard manages good dialects and shifts in character, his female voices leave a lot to be desired. For the most part, the abridgment gleefully throws logic and characterization overboard in favor of thrills, but the basic flavor of many characters is still fairly well maintained. T.L.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine