These are the latest from John Sandford, who's up to about 50 books. He writes what you might call police procedurals... some typical cop-vs-serial-killer stuff, but the bad guys vary quite a bit. The protagonist might find himself investigating a group of embezzlers on a school board, or a murder staged as a hunting accident, or a professional hitwoman.
Sandford's bread and butter are the Prey series, featuring Lucas Davenport. Lucas is smart, well-off from a previous life as a software developer, but continues being some sort of investigator (first with MPD, then the Marshall service) because he likes it. He has a healthy ego, dresses sharp, drives fast, and has a bit of a thuggish streak. He enjoys fighting and will, on occasion, bend rules. He can also be a bit cold, ruthless, maybe even an asshole. Sandford's other major protagonist, Virgil Flowers, is more of a pacifist and a likeable bullshitter, who's smarter than people might think. Picture Matthew McConaughey as the son of a preacher.
The Investigator is the first novel where the star is Lucas' adopted daughter, Letty.
In an earlier book (published 20 years ago), Lucas tracks down a murderous cop who is ruthless enough go after a 12-year-old witness. But the kid is unusually tough and resourceful, forced to grow up early as the dirt-poor daughter of an alcoholic mother. She's independent, observant, and supports herself by earning a few bucks trapping. So she's able to defend herself and escape the bad guy, but her mom isn't so lucky. Lucas, feeling some kind of fundamental connection, makes a decision to adopt her.
So, it's not surprising to find her in a book where she's an investigator, and she's just like dad. She has the same blend of intelligence and relentlessness. I suspect the author has been planning this for a while, because Lucas' two other kids are cardboard cutouts with no meaningful dialogue, while Letty is fleshed out (and in a couple of books, the focal point).
The basic plot: a right-wing militia is going to meet a big caravan of migrants at the southern border, and prevent them from coming into the US by blowing up a bridge... with the migrants still on it. To get money for this operation, they've been stealing oil. Letty is sent to find out where the missing oil is going, and partners with a special forces guy to defeat the militia.
As a protagonist, I find Letty less likeable than her father. Lucas is occasionally hotheaded and passionate about things. Letty is calm and practical to the point of being almost sociopathic, and this is brought up in earlier books. Lucas' confidence is tinged with some reasonable caution (he gets shot in the throat, early in the series), Letty has always acted as if she's invulnerable.
In an earlier novel, Lucas beats the shit out of a pimp for mutilating one of his workers, and the pimp seeks revenge by going after Letty. When she catches on, her solution isn't to go to dad, it's to set up the young prostitute for a beating, hoping to film it and get the pimp convicted. It shows a fundamental difference... Lucas likes confrontation, but is not OK with letting a young woman get hurt just to trap a lowlife. Also, for all his ego, he occasionally forgets his wealth. In another book, when a friend is shot on the other side of the country, he's flustered because he can't get a flight to see them right away. His wife reminds him: "Lucas, for god's sake, you're rich. Just charter a jet."
Letty seems very aware of her wealth, and is described as wearing a gold and emerald bracelet worth as much as 'a Benz or two'. And that touches on another problem: she's a little too perfect, and she knows it.
She's fearless, strong, smart, pretty, and rich. No serious flaws. When she gets into a pissing contest over marksmanship with a Delta Force vet (who's shot at least 50,000 rounds in practice)... she's somehow as good or better. Using (of course) a $4,500 customized handgun. She went to Princeton, made a smart investment, and now has a quarter million bucks in the bank, so you can't even call her a trust-fund kid. She had a good start on a career as an anchorwoman, but she tries being an investigator because, like Lucas, she enjoys it. This reminds me of another super-daughter from the Patricia Cornwell books.
Throughout the book, Letty makes no real missteps, solves the mystery, and never seems to be in real danger.
Some reviews mention another issue - Sandford seems to be getting more political. They see this plot as some statement about immigration, and painting right-wingers as the bad guys. But I don't think the exact issue is that these guys are nationalists, or anti-immigrant. People understand that terrorist extremists are not the same as a typical conservative voter, and they're a pretty common antagonist in books and movies.
I think the issue is that Letty fits their stereotype of a smug liberal. She's rich, ivy-league educated, knows everything, and is cocky to the point of arrogance. She assumes she's better at military stuff than the actual 8-year Delta Force vet, and in this book she sorta is.
I caught this vibe even as someone who aligns with Sandford's politics. It didn't bother me, I just felt like it's part of the larger general problem where Letty has no flaws and is just implausibly confident. She goes from a boring office job, to doing dangerous undercover police work, spying and getting into firefights (all without training). She should be shaken up or struggle a little. Some readers also felt her appointment to this role and her use of authority didn't fly. They gave an inten who majored in economics a carry permit, and sent her to do homeland security work?
One of my big gripes is, despite setting up a clear antagonist for a future book, the leader of the militia didn't feel as interesting as some of the memorable characters from previous books, like James Qatar, Brutus Cohn, or Clara Rinker... characters whose names I can recall years later.
It's an OK Sandford book overall, and I'd still recommend it unless you feel like the political overtones will just drive you nuts.
Which brings me to Righteous Prey.
This might be the first Sandford book that feels like a dud to me. The plot is... well, silly. I'm wondering if this isn't some sort of direct reaction to the criticism people had about the previous book. In that book, the bad guys are right-wing extremists. So in this book, Sandford made the antagonists (sort of) lefty extremists.
The plot: An angry young woman, Vivian Zhao (like Letty, an economics major, but without the money) meets a bitcoin millionaire (or is it billionaire?) who shares her worldview: that 'the assholes' are corrupting the country, fucking up life for the average joe without conscience or remorse. She suggests they form some sort of club and do something about it. Take direct action. The result is five millionaires decide they want to try murdering 'bad guys' for the sheer thrill of it, because when you're rich, you quickly run out of normal experiences to give life zest.
So... they write public manifestos, daring someone to catch them, dropping hints about their next target, and assassinating people like a hedge fund manager and dealer of untraceable gun kits. Vivian helps organize them and egg them on.
The action and the dialogue between Lucas and Virgil are all fine. It reads like a typical Sandford book, for the most part. There's an exciting conclusion that ticks the usual boxes - someone gets shot, but of course it's just a flesh wound. I just find the plot and the goofball characters to be a bit too implausible. A millionaire seduces a guy and murders him in a parking lot so she can get respect from the edgy rich kid club? They risk their freedom and fortune for the thrill of shooting a jerk in the head?
I know people found 'plausibility issues' in the last book, but the plot of the Investigator at least passes a straight-face test. There's precedent for crazies trying to kill minorities. But Bitcoin millionaires banding together to commit actual, face-to-face murders, motivated mostly by boredom?
A more interesting (and believable) story would have been to have Vivian hunt the billionaires down, maybe stealing hard drives with BTC, or blackmail them after getting them to talk about murder online. You see a lot of anti-wealth sentiment online, "eat the rich", etc. So I can buy one nutty person targeting billionaires.
The book has largely positive reviews, but just didn't click for me. I feel like the politics were a bit intrusive, even though they align with my own. Like the wives of the main characters literally face a TV camera and monologue about how guns and assault weapons and illegal mods ruin lives. I 100% get why several fans read that and decided they were just about done with Sandford. Books usually serve as a nice escape from the endless culture war. If Sandford wanted to address a political issue, and doesn't care if it annoys anyone, why not write about the George Floyd protests? In novels where the protagonists are Minnesota cops, it seems almost neglectful to skip over a massive national event that revolves around Minnesota cops.
I miss the books where Lucas chased crazies and bent rules, and had a strong supporting cast like Del, Shrake, Jenkins, and Marcy. I miss when Virgil was getting involved with every woman he met, instead of this boring family man routine. The author was onto something when he partnered Lucas with a couple of marshals who could maybe shake up the formula a little.
