xxertz's review against another edition
2.0
BLUF: I didn’t find the main character appealing.
I feel guilty writing reviews of books that were written in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. It was a whole different world back then. I would love to get into some of these popular author’s books, but they seem to be mostly in series from this time and I just don’t know where to start.
Rules of Prey follows “maddog”, a serial rapist/murderer who is obsessive about leaving no traces at his crime scenes with the exception to his own notes – each of which lists a rule that he keeps in order to ensure he doesn’t get caught. Lucas Davenport, a playboy detective, will do anything to catch this killer – including feeding lies to the media, setting up unsuspecting victims, and withholding information from his station.
Rules of Prey introduces us to the murderer from the beginning. There isn’t any mystery in who he is or his motives, but rather, when the police will uncover these truths. He’s described as highly intelligent, but never shows this trait. Rather he is a player who enjoys the game he creates between him and the police.
Another individual described as intelligent is Lucas Davenport. I’m not buying it. I know it’s indicative of the times, but I just can’t respect a man who uses women as if they aren’t worth anything. Talk about chauvinistic.. but hey, he only sleeps with smart women – maybe he hopes they’ll rub off on him.
All-in-all, this wasn’t the book for me.
I feel guilty writing reviews of books that were written in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. It was a whole different world back then. I would love to get into some of these popular author’s books, but they seem to be mostly in series from this time and I just don’t know where to start.
Rules of Prey follows “maddog”, a serial rapist/murderer who is obsessive about leaving no traces at his crime scenes with the exception to his own notes – each of which lists a rule that he keeps in order to ensure he doesn’t get caught. Lucas Davenport, a playboy detective, will do anything to catch this killer – including feeding lies to the media, setting up unsuspecting victims, and withholding information from his station.
Rules of Prey introduces us to the murderer from the beginning. There isn’t any mystery in who he is or his motives, but rather, when the police will uncover these truths. He’s described as highly intelligent, but never shows this trait. Rather he is a player who enjoys the game he creates between him and the police.
Another individual described as intelligent is Lucas Davenport. I’m not buying it. I know it’s indicative of the times, but I just can’t respect a man who uses women as if they aren’t worth anything
Spoiler
ESPECIALLY a man who chooses to act this way after finding out one of the women, who he actually likes as a person, is pregnant“You know enough of [the women that I have dated] to see the pattern,” he said. “I don’t go out with dummies.”
All-in-all, this wasn’t the book for me.
taque's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Cursing, Sexual violence, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape and Animal death
Minor: Gun violence, Drug use, Blood, and Car accident
afox98's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Main character's a jerk, and so many things went wrong during the investigation it seemed implausible. I finished it to see what happened but it felt like gritting teeth.
alliereneau's review against another edition
3.0
It was an ok book. I'll probably read a few more in the series to see if I get more into it.
cantdrive55's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
marco5599's review against another edition
3.5
Makes you wonder who the biggest villain is; the killer or the media. Both quite nasty. Or maybe it's the author. Sandford pretty much destroys one of his star characters when he decides to make him pick an all too obvious target. A shame, because the maniac was pretty impressive before that bad(ly motivated) move. His M.O., red hair and fugly lips; yikes. Other main attraction is, of course, Lucas Davenport. A comic book character (to a certain extent), but a rad one. I like his flamboyance. I will be back for more of that, but I do hope he improves his, eh, love life. Next time try screwing around with somebody who isn't connected to your murder case, OK, Lucas?
denaiir's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
loved the perspective of the killer and Lucas Davenport is an interesting character for sure! First time I read a thriller where the detective is a gamer
loved the perspective of the killer and Lucas Davenport is an interesting character for sure! First time I read a thriller where the detective is a gamer
disastrouspenguin's review against another edition
3.0
A reread, although I don't remember when I first read this. Nice to go back and see Davenport's character start to take shape. Author's updated forward also an enlightening read.
zelda100's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
donttakemybooks's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know that the plot or the characters were particularly unique in the genre (maybe they were 25+ years ago when this was written), but the writing stood out to me. This serial killer gave me nightmares and was a smart (and therefore interesting) criminal. Not sure Lucas Davenport is my type of guy- too much operating outside the bounds of the law and too much a ladies' man. Which is to say, I'm not gunning for the sequels, though this was a pretty decent murder mystery.