Bitter Prey
Recently, I've been binge-reading the Prey detective series books by John Sandford, and I've fallen hard for the main character, Lucas Davenport. He's like most of the characters I collect: tough, independent, grudgingly loyal, fatally flawed. And he's the perfect match for a character that I'm transplanting from another Fandom: Person of Interest. Over there, I'd created this original character, Jules (Julia Pope), who'd shown up in my 4-novel series, beginning with Saving the Saviors. Jules is doing what she does best here, too. She has an unusual skill set and Lucas has no clue what's about to hit him.
When I began reading the Prey series and got to Eyes of Prey, Lucas had been left practically destroyed at the end of it, and I thought it'd be a good time to fill in a little missing storyline right about then. What had happened to him between the end of that book and the next? I highly recommend reading Eyes if you enjoy the genre, but it's not necessary to read it first to understand this story.
A warning for Sandford's novel (and for his series): it's graphic and brutal in places, erotic in others, and very profane throughout. It's about gritty street life in the Midwest U.S.A. in the late 1980's and after, with racist language, misogyny, and of course, anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment. If you don't want to subject yourself to that kind of portrayal of American culture, I completely understand. Forget about reading it, then, and maybe just try the following story, instead. I've cleaned him up, more than a bit, but I think you'll still recognize him in the story. For an extra treat, to get you into the right mood, try listening to Melody Gardot's "No Man's Prize" from her Currency of Man (The Artist's Cut) album, 2015 before you read. What an amazing story she has...
So, for reference, this story would tuck in after Eyes of Prey and before Silent Prey in Sandford's excellent and haunting Prey Series.
Thank you for reading.
September, 2023