Rules of Prey by John Sandford

Title: Rules of Prey

Series: Lucas Davenport #1)

Author: John Sandford

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

#1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford's “haunting, unforgettable, ice-blooded thriller”* that introduced Lucas Davenport...

The killer was mad but brilliant.

He left notes with every woman he killed. Rules of murder: Never have a motive. Never follow a discernible pattern. Never carry a weapon after it has been used...So many rules to his sick, violent games of death.

But Lucas Davenport, the cop who’s out to get him, isn’t playing by the rules.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I wanted to start a new police thriller and I had this book in my library for a long time. I heard good things about this series and I thought it was time to give it a go.

The serial killer in Rules of Prey goes by the name of the Maddog. He's a horrible person who does horrible things to women. He's also hard to catch and after killing his victims, he leaves a note behind:

"Never have a motive."

"Never follow a discernible pattern." 

"Never carry a weapon after it has been used."

"Beware of leaving physical evidence."

Lucas Davenport is the cop who's called to help catch him. He's a different type of cop. He's the only member of the Office of Special Intelligence. Besides being rich, the lieutenant is smart, dresses in expensive suits, he's handsome, drives a Porche, owns a lake house, invents board games in his free time, has a nun as his best friend and he loves to bed women. He also has killed five people which we're not sure of the circumstances this has happened.

A few times, I had to remind myself that I was reading a book published in the 1990s. There were many things that I wouldn't agree with if this book was written now but for the most part, it made me laugh and the suspense was great too! I ended up liking Lucas in spite of him being a womanizer and a liar. He was determined to catch this killer and he was ready to use whatever method was necessary to accomplish his goal. 

I'm going to continue this series and see where Lucas Davenport ends. After all, there are 28 more books to go.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs