Golden Prey by John Sandford

Lucas Davenport has moved on from his job at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to a deputy US marshal position.  His relationship with some high powered politicians not only landed him this job but some extraordinary perks.  He is allowed to pick and choose his assignments, gets to bypass much of the bureaucracy, and is given personal upgrades when he travels… not a bad deal particularly since Lucas just wants to hunt down criminals.  The downsides are the travel to unfamiliar parts of the country which takes him away from his family and of course the danger involved.

Garvin Poole, is a lifelong outlaw who, with the help of his friend Sturgill Darling, robs a Central American drug cartel of several million dollars and kills everyone in sight including an innocent child.  Lucas takes the assignment to find Poole and starts by interviewing his family near Nashville, Tennessee.  But the family is also the target of the drug cartel’s mercenaries who torture and kill Poole’s parents.  While chasing the mercenaries, Lucas wrecks and totals his Mercedes SUV.  His boss assigns two more US marshals to Lucas to help even out the firepower… Bob and Rae.  Bob is the stereotypic tough-guy federal cop but Rae, although just as tough, is a tall muscular, smart Black woman who formerly played basketball for UConn.  Lucas’s skills in ferreting out and confronting the bad guys and his willingness to share his perks with his posse soon gain him their respect.

But the mercenaries are smart and deadly, too.  They quickly figure out the US marshals are closing in on Poole and start monitoring Lucas’ cell phone.  The hunt soon turns into a race to find Poole and Darling in Texas leaving a plethora of dead bodies along the way.

Golden Prey has all the plotting, pacing and action we’ve grown to expect from Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series.  But I feel like Sandford is trying too hard to extend the series… milk the last dollar out of the character.  Lucas is now in his late fifties and the physical punishment he incurs and quickly recovers from no longer rings true.  At one point, Lucas challenges Rae to a one-on-one basketball game.  After one win each they set off to apprehend a suspect… a bit implausible for our aging hero.  This has been a fantastic series but perhaps it’s time.