This is the third novel by Sandford that I have read, the first, however, with Lucas Davenport as the main protagonist, not his side kick, Virgil Flowers. Lucas is the head honcho in Minneapolis, responsible for solving the difficult crimes. He has a normal family life, unlike Flowers, with wife, who is a doctor, and a couple of kids, so he's not out sleeping around like most of the guys in this kind of novel.
This book might have seemed improbable twenty years ago, a women, running for a Senate seat, who ends up winning the seat by ordering the killing of three people who might stand in the way of her being elected. This differs from other Sandford novel's because we know who done it from the beginning, just the authorities don't. We have two sleazy politicians, one, the incumbent Republican, seemingly in the lead, is found to have child porn on his computer, which all but destroys his chances for reelection. He vehemently denies it was his porn, that it was a set up and the Governor steps in, gives the case to Lucas, who finds out eventually that it was put there by Bob Tubbs, a political fixer and hack, now missing so it cannot be proved that he did it. All the facts point that way. As the case continues, the millionaire heiress Taryn Grant, who seems to have the election wrapped up, becomes the leading candidate for planting the porn. Taryn just happens to have two ex special forces guys working for her as protection. Lucas realizes that if anyone can make someone disappear, it's these two guys. How to figure out how they did it is the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. They are a complicated triangle, as one has fallen in love with Taryn, the other dislikes her intensely. Lucas begins to put pressure on all three, and things, as Achebe would say, fall apart.
Sandford writes a compelling book, well written, realistic, with all the insights of a political insider, a reporter, which he just happens to be, in fact, a Pulitzer Prize winning one.
No comments:
Post a Comment