John Sandford Hidden Prey

Hidden Prey

John Sandford

Putnam, May 2004, $26.95, 400 pp.

ISBN: 039915180X

In Duluth, Trey witnesses Carl Walther kill a Russian sailor Rodion Oleshev. Carl notices the street person who observed his committing homicide, but she escapes. Later he sees her wearing that same telltale Czechoslovakian Army coat and kills her with a garrote. The dead sailor's father, a business mogul who controls oil machinery, insists justice occurs and uses his influence with various Russian power factions to ensure that the killer receives his just award.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Chief Lucas Davenport deals with difficult cases and the understanding that his boss the Governor must not look bad. He is assigned to work the Duluth homicide that has brought in the FBI "helping" the locals. Russian police officer Nadia Kalin is assigned as an observer. The group investigates the crime that takes them to an inactive communist cell that at one time assisted getting Russians in and out of the country back in the 1960s and 1970s. Someone in that cell will kill to keep secrets buried as more murders follow to insure that the group's identities remain protected.

John Sandford's latest police procedural connects homicides with a spy ring through a killer who is a victim too. The fast paced action enthralls the audience as the characters seem real especially when the audience catches glimpses into Lucas' personal life that includes keeping his cherished wife informed. He is a hero who loves his wife and infant son and has earned more than enough money to retire, but feels he owes society for his opportunities and remits his debts with his dedicated police work.

Harriet Klausner