Abandoned by Booklikes

We get to see who Lucas chose after the mess of the last Prey book (spoiler: Weather) and how they are dealing with each other months later. Still ambivalent about what things mean, the two are back together, stronger than before. Lucas is dealing with a shake up though professionally. The chief who he has been working for is not likely to get re-appointed, which means Lucas is going to have to go too. If that's enough, it appears a murder is leading Lucas and his team to investigate what it appears to be another serial killer on the loose in Minnesota.

Lucas in this one seems to be a step behind a serial killer. Readers find out pretty fast who the killer is, so you may end up frustrated with Lucas and company for not moving faster on James Qatar (his name is in the synopsis). I do have to laugh at Lucas once again being smoothed out a little so he's not acting like a psycho around every attractive female he meets. There are still jokes about him and Weather, and I do like that Weather acknowledges Lucas's past partners and the only one she's not here for is Lucas's old friend. Thank God that character doesn't pop up again. I think that Lucas works as a character for his determination to catch the bad guys. He's not stupid, and though you end up loathing some of his choices in order to punish the bad people who he comes across, you sometimes end up rooting for him.

We have our usual suspects of Marcy, Del, Sloan, and others. Marcy is still recovering from her injuries after the last book, and even gets a better love interest in this one. 

James Qatar is a mess of a man. He stalks woman, takes, their pictures, and draws them in crude pornographic poses. We have no idea how depraved he is until you start to realize how long he has been doing what he has.

We get introduced to a new character in this one, Terry Marshall, who has a connection to the case. I am going to admit, I was tempted to give this four stars because it was pretty obvious what was going to happen with Terry. I held off though because the last book was a pile of mess and I had to give this 5 stars by default.

The writing was much crispier in this one. Sandfford leads you through the plot and the myriad of characters and keeps his eye on the endgame. The flow was much improved too.

The ending ends on a sad and hopeful note for the future of Lucas.