Wicked Prey (Lucas Davenport, No. 19) (U)

Danger stalks Lucas Davenport at work and all too close to home, in the superlative new thriller by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.Publishers WeeklyThe 2008 Republican convention serves as the backdrop for bestseller Sandford's amped-up, ultra-violent 19th thriller to feature Lucas Davenport of the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (after Phantom Prey). An assassination plot aimed at John McCain turns out to be just a sidebar to another criminal operation-extremely slick thieves have come to the twin cities to rob Republican political operatives loaded down with millions of dollars of "street money," illegal handouts for low-level campaign workers. Mastermind Rosie Cruz handles the gang's complicated planning, while gangster Brutus Cohn does the robbery and killing aided by a couple of lesser thugs. A subplot involving Davenport's teenage ward, Letty West, who's provided interesting complications in the series, establishes her as a brave and intrepid investigator. A slam-bang shootout climax proves that Davenport still has what it takes when it comes to guts and gunplay. 500,000 first printing; author tour. (May)Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.