"Chosen Prey"

OK it’s time for another book review. I ran across this little jewel while on one of my trips to my favorite local used book store. One of my favorite movies of all time is Silence of the lambs, and usually anything about that kind of subject I find fascinating. I guess that is why I like Dean Koontz so much. Most of his books have some kind of weird serial killer in them. “Chosen Prey” is one of those serial killer books that forever have you turning pages. Since I have only been reading seriously for maybe the last 6 years or so, there are probably hundreds of Authors that I’m still not aware of, but as my search for a good page turner continues, I occasionally run across a name I’m not familiar with. That would be the case with John Sanford. As it turns out Chosen Prey, is just one of a series of “Prey” books, the rest of which I will soon be buying.

Lucas Davenport is the main character in this series, and in each book his is of course the one who is stuck trying to nab the bad man. In Chosen Prey, the bad guy turns out to be James Qatar. (No, that is not a spoiler) James Qatar poses as an artist, and teaches at a local college. He has a lot of secrets to keep. Most have to do with his victims. He likes a particular kind of woman to fulfill his fantasies, but unfortunately for him, he has several bad habits, and fetishes. His taste for fine clothes runs almost as deep as his love for killing.

Lucas Davenport eventually stumbles on a bread crumb trail of murders that lead him towards Qatar, but trying to find the final piece of the puzzle to nail him for the murders turns out to be much harder then anticipated. Most of Qatar’s victims at one point had pornographic pictures sent them, and they are of themselves manipulated by a photo editing software to take the face of the victim and paste it onto the body of erotic woman in a different picture. Qatar even thinks that this is actually a form of art unto itself, but the pictures can not be tied to Qatar. Yet.

This story has its twists and turns as a good serial killer book should have. There are great chapters, and scenes inside the killers head, and what he is thinking about before, during, and after killing a victim. The ending to this book some how eluded me, until the final scene started to unfold, and then I thought to myself as it concluded....Very nice...Good story, good chase, good ending. What more can you ask for.

The “Prey” series by John Sanford I’m quite pleased to say has SEVENTEEN books to it, so I have a lot of reading to do in the near future. Another review I read about this particular book was not favorable when compared to the earlier “Prey” books, so I’m looking forward to finding book #1 in the series “Rules of Prey” and beginning another adventure.

My rating for this book is 7.50 out of 10.00