I am pleased to announce that any perceivable waning of Sandford's interest or writing abilities was purely a temporary aberration. Chosen Prey is both a fine police procedural and a great serial killer read. Sandford reveals the killer right at the beginning of the novel, which is not my favorite plot device. But he pulls it off in notable fashion, somehow creating enough space between the killer's tale and Davenport's efforts to solve the crime so that both stories unfold without detracting from each other.

James Qatar, an art history professor likes to combine photographs of women he likes with pornography he has downloaded from the web. He then converts the composites into drawings that feed his very rich fantasy life. A good-looking man, he has no trouble attracting women into his life that fit his idea of perfection. He enjoys seducing them, touching them, loving them, and, at the perfect moment, he adores strangling them. He is an intelligent, organized killer, who is good at what he does and very careful about leaving evidence. After several years, and many victims, the police have yet to suspect his existence.

Lucas Davenport first becomes involved in the case when a strangling victim is accidentally discovered, and Qatar's drawings of the victim are connected to several cases where similar drawings have been used as harassment. Smelling trouble, he pursues the lead and discovers that the drawings have turned up elsewhere. He connects with a detective from nearby Dunn County and they discover that the gravesite of the first victim was only one of a field of graves. Davenport marshals his coworkers in a manhunt that always seems to be one step behind the deft moves of the killer. Lucas begins to suspect he has met his match.

The two threads gracefully intertwine. As Qatar vacillates between fulfilling his desires and evading detection, Davenport's investigation picks up or bogs down in frustrating red herrings. The little art historian is not particularly sympathetic, but he is a fascinating study. The silent cat-and-mouse game between Lucas and Qatar provides endless suspense. The reader is confronted with a case in which both opponents make perfect moves. Will this be a deadly stalemate? Is it possible that James Qatar will walk away? John Sandford plays his hands perfectly, giving no hint of the resolution until it unfolds before the reader. Prepare for a novel full of surprising turns. Chosen Prey is one of the best of this genre I've read in a long time.

--Marc Ruby