Eyes of Prey

This is the fourth Sandford book that we’ve reviewed, the third in the Prey series. I thought the beginning was a bit pedestrian, as he wrote in his first sentence, “Carlo Druze was a stone killer.” But, the book got better from there. Druze, a psychopath and low-life, is befriended by another psychopath who leads the high life. Michael Bekker is a physician, specializing in pathology, who also has a fascination with the process of death and a fear of being seen by the eyes of the already deceased. Sandford does have a talent for going to the dark, bizarre, and sadistic crimes, and in this case, the killers cut out the eyes of the person that was killed, even if it means going back to an already buried body to dig it up, just so the final mutilation can be done. Bekker is into polypharmacy at a level that would impress Hunter S. Thompson, and he teams with Druze to kill the two women that they both hate. For Bekker, it is his wife, Stephanie. For Druze, it is Elizabeth Armistead who runs the theater where Bekker makes his living – not an easy thing for an actor who looks like a troll. He holds Armistead responsible for not giving him better roles. But, the plot becomes more complicated and more deaths ensue. As in the earlier Prey series books, detective Lucas Davenport is given the case and he gives chase to the few meager clues. The book is an easy and entertaining vacation read, one that you just might read to pass the time on your next airplane flight.