[Ann in Arlington]

I'm going to set the TiVo to record Certain Prey. . . .It's on Sunday the 6th, right? . . . .it was advertised fairly heavily during Tuesday's episode of NCIS. . . .haven't read any of the books but I do like Mark Harmon. . . . .

 

[Steph H]

Oops, yes, Sunday the 6th (tomorrow).    My bad, I gave the wrong date.

I didn't even notice the commercials for it while watching NCIS yesterday....zipped right through those.

 

[Meemo]

To bring a thread/post back from the near-dead, has anyone else seen that this book [Certain Prey] has been made into a TV movie, starring Mark Harmon as Davenport, to be shown on USA this Sunday night, 11/4? I love Mark Harmon, but I can't say he's who I would have first chosen as Davenport, just 'cause I picture him [without remembering the description and not looking] as dark/swarthy, kinda more Italian-ish maybe, and Mark Harmon doesn't look Italian at all.

But I'll definitely Tivo it and see how they do with bringing it to life. An article on Zap2It says that Mark reads the series and was part of bringing it together from the beginning....and hints that if it does well, it may become a recurring thing like Tom Selleck does on CBS with Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone character.

http://www.zap2it.com/news/zap-certain-prey-story,0,1432761.story

How about Eriq LaSalle?? He played Davenport in a 1999 version of "Mind Prey". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188057/

I'm just now reading the second in the series (Shadow Prey) - have the movie set to record tomorrow night.

 

[Littlejohn]

Oops, yes, Sunday the 6th (tomorrow). My bad, I gave the wrong date.

I didn't even notice the commercials for it while watching NCIS yesterday....zipped right through those.

Ditto here! Guess that's a good reason for watching some commercials...I might have missed it completely if I hadn't seen about it on this board. It's just that some of them are so, so silly and when flying through them at high high speed, it would be almost impossible to spot one and stop (and probably back up) to see what it was about.

I just checked back and found that, of the first eleven stories (in the order they were published) I read and enjoyed seven, and skipped the others for some reason or other. Now on the twelfth one (Chosen Prey), and enjoying it so far. And as we know, there are plenty more out there. Just can't imagine right now how the Davenport character develops when married with children. But that said, I'll say that this series has been the best (for me) since the Spenser and Jesse Stone characters quit when Robert B. Parker died. I still miss his stories.

David

 

[Steph H]

How about Eriq LaSalle?? He played Davenport in a 1999 version of "Mind Prey". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188057/

I'm just now reading the second in the series (Shadow Prey) - have the movie set to record tomorrow night.

Well now, I missed that movie completely. Seriously? A black guy playing Davenport? [Insert disclaimer that I have nothing against black guys....but Davenport is definitely NOT of African-American persuasion!] Allllllllrighty then. *shakes head*

David, yes it's very sad that there will be no new Parker-written Spenser/Stone/Randall books. I had read that someone else might continue to write them with the widow's permission, but I haven't actually followed to see if someone is. It's just never quite the same...

Might be time for a Prey series re-read....it's been at least 18 months or so except for the last couple. Or maybe I'll start the Virgil Flowers spin-off!

 

[Jon Olson]

I read one, maybe two of the Prey books, and they didn't grab me. Maybe I read the wrong ones, and obviously didn't go on. The one I read that I can remember ends with the perp in a culvert -- could that be right? Anyone have the title? I guess I'm predisposed against series -- though that's what sells -- and the "blank" characters at the center of them, cf. Spenser. Anybody ever met a person like him? A plastic man. I like better Richard Price, whose characters all have problems -- ex-wives, troubled kids, no money. That's more like the life I know -- not that I have so many problems.

 

[Steph H]

Spenser?  Blank and plastic?  Or Davenport?  I'd have to seriously disagree with that assessment.  That's the best thing about series to me, there's so much more room for character development and growth, for things -- bad and good -- to happen to them personally and professionally, and to see how they react and recover and live with it.

Granted, some authors do that better, and some worse, than others.  But especially in the mystery/suspense/thriller category, I much prefer series to stand-alones.  And personally, I think Sandford has done a good job in keeping Davenport fresh through 21 books (so far), and I thought Parker kept Spenser fairly fresh through 40 books, even if they were a bit more formulaic than the Davenport books are.

 

[Littlejohn]

Spenser? Blank and plastic? Or Davenport? I'd have to seriously disagree with that assessment. That's the best thing about series to me, there's so much more room for character development and growth, for things -- bad and good -- to happen to them personally and professionally, and to see how they react and recover and live with it.

Granted, some authors do that better, and some worse, than others. But especially in the mystery/suspense/thriller category, I much prefer series to stand-alones. And personally, I think Sandford has done a good job in keeping Davenport fresh through 21 books (so far), and I thought Parker kept Spenser fairly fresh through 40 books, even if they were a bit more formulaic than the Davenport books are.

Roger that, what she said. Of course, I suppose that the old saying, "different strokes for different folks" applies here, so to each his/her own.

So, well ho-hum...Guess I'll just go along enjoying characters like Spenser and Davenport. Plastic man? IMO, fiction is all about just that, theoretical characters. I don't choose to read about everyday life type guys...boring, boring boring.

David

 

[Meemo]

Spenser? Blank and plastic? Or Davenport? I'd have to seriously disagree with that assessment. That's the best thing about series to me, there's so much more room for character development and growth, for things -- bad and good -- to happen to them personally and professionally, and to see how they react and recover and live with it.

Granted, some authors do that better, and some worse, than others. But especially in the mystery/suspense/thriller category, I much prefer series to stand-alones. And personally, I think Sandford has done a good job in keeping Davenport fresh through 21 books (so far), and I thought Parker kept Spenser fairly fresh through 40 books, even if they were a bit more formulaic than the Davenport books are.

Me too - I'm only on the second Davenport book, but the man definitely has his issues. And no, I probably haven't met many people like Spenser (which doesn't mean he doesn't have problems, and I certainly wouldn't consider him "blank"), but that's part of the appeal for me. I don't always need to read about people like the people I know - I already know those folks. Then again, I like series. I like some standalone mystery/thrillers as well, Harlan Coben's are very good, but I love my series. A little too much....

 

[Jon Olson]

Well, we can agree to disagree. Spenser is the one that really bugs me. He's a gourmet chef, he's got this super-babe girlfriend who's always ready for sex, he's quick and expert with his fists and his gun. The books are action without suspense -- so many of the series books are. You KNOW how it'll turn out. What's the point in reading it? There's no jeopardy, nothing at stake. It's comfort food for the mind. There is a place for that, I guess, but, well, I've said my piece.

 

[Andre Jute]

Well, we can agree to disagree. Spenser is the one that really bugs me. He's a gourmet chef, he's got this super-babe girlfriend who's always ready for sex, he's quick and expert with his fists and his gun. The books are action without suspense -- so many of the series books are. You KNOW how it'll turn out. What's the point in reading it? There's no jeopardy, nothing at stake. It's comfort food for the mind. There is a place for that, I guess, but, well, I've said my piece.

I'm a big fan of Robert B. Parker, but Spenser isn't his best work, even if the longest running. I agree with those who say he's plastic. For instance, does Parker ever tell us the cause of Hawk's loyal to so dangerous a friend? Loyal friends who're loyal because they're loyal is jumped Bulldog Drummond bullshit from the 1930s, dressed up in Parkers superior style. Parker's minimalist style has gone over the top with Spenser, which is why the Spensers worked so much better in the TV series, where you could read more into the visuals. But, to get Parker, you have to read some of his other books, including the superior selfstanding novels. And the PI with the miniature bulldog named Rosie, though she suffers the same lacunae in motivation as Spenser at times, including friends loyal to the death for no visible reason, is a hoot. But these are the quibbles of another writer, and a teacher of creative writing at that, and we all know those can over-analyze the thing. What makes Parker good is that he's a storyteller, that he sweeps you along past the perfectly legitimate objections Jon raises.

I'm of the opinion, already expressed above by someone else, that Parker's best series character is Jesse Stone.

 

[Andre Jute]

Duh. I came to say something about Sandford, and was derailed by the remarks about Robert B. Parker, who should really have a thread of his own (and when he does, someobody PM me please in case I miss it -- the boards move so fast).

Just finished Naked Prey again. This is definitely one of Sandord's best. Read this post with my post above about Robert B. Parker. Sandford's style is also minimalist, though probably for different, journalistic, reasons than Parker's reasons, which are a bit pretentious. Sandfords style is not so polished, and is all the better for it. And Sandford is very definitely a great storyteller, sweeping you past doubts that inevitably arise in short novels so tightly stuffed with events as his. Sample: Martha, the mother of Letty, is so quickly sketched that by weight of paper she would be hardly a character, but we believe in her last minute conversion from drunk to mother, possibly because Letty, the little girl with the trapline and the twenty-two singleloader, is such a great, great, great character. Naked Prey has more superb passages. There's a section less than a page long where the two detectives search a house, and a couple of pairs of woman's shoes give them the clue that will essentially break the case. Simple, stunning, inescapable. And then Sandford reinforces the message, zap! It's his journalist's training, of course; all good storytellers do it.

I'm not always sure whether such detailed analysis is of interest to general readers; here on Kindleboards we tend to meet mostly those who are interested, but Sandford's popularity is easy to explain: an apparently endless flow of characters who hold our interest, and minor characters we can identify with. That we can identify with the major characters goes without saying, or the series would long since have wilted, instead of going strong so many books in.

 

[Louie Flann]

How can you not love Virgil Flowers? The guy drives to the crime scenes with his fishing boat hooked onto his car.

 

[Littlejohn]

Well, so I watched the movie, Certain Prey, with Mark Harmon.  I enjoyed it a lot, because I liked the book, and I'm a big Mark Harmon fan.  As I had predicted, Mark made the character, Lucas Davenport, his, and that's what he'll always be like for me, as I read more Prey stories.  One thing's for sure, if he does another one, it'll have to be Chosen Prey, which I'm now reading, as it as the Clara Rinker character in it also.  It is truly a sequel to the movie.

My concern, as to whether or not there'll be another...I came away with the feeling that I enjoyed the movie a great deal more because I'd read other Prey books, and knew who the series characters were.  Dunno, just my concern.

David

 

[Alicia Dean]

I love the Prey series, but I'm a bit behind, too. I noticed last night a movie was on that was made from Certain Prey. I recorded it but haven't watched it yet. I really need to get caught up on all the books. I didn't know about the Virgil Flowers series. I'll have to check that out.

If you're looking for other authors, and you like Lee Child and John Sandford, I'd highly recommend the following, although you probably have already read some, if not all of these:

Dennis Lehane, Ridley Pearson, Michael Connelly, Joseph Finder, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert Crais

Happy Reading!

 

[GerrieFerrisFinger]

They're all right, but I'd rather re-read Dennis Lehane's Patrick and Angie series. Trouble is he didn't write enough of them. I agree that Shadow Prey wasn't his best, although it's been a while since I read the series. Like a lot of long-running series, they became repetitious. But that's just me.
Happy Reading.

 

[Alicia Dean]

I adore the Lehane Patrick and Angela series. He certainly did not write enough of them. I just got the latest one, Moonlight Mile. Haven't read it yet. I thought Mystic River was excellent, even though it's not one of the series.

 

[Littlejohn]

Duh. I came to say something about Sandford, and was derailed by the remarks about Robert B. Parker, who should really have a thread of his own (and when he does, someobody PM me please in case I miss it -- the boards move so fast).

Just finished Naked Prey again. This is definitely one of Sandord's best. Read this post with my post above about Robert B. Parker. Sandford's style is also minimalist, though probably for different, journalistic, reasons than Parker's reasons, which are a bit pretentious. Sandfords style is not so polished, and is all the better for it. And Sandford is very definitely a great storyteller, sweeping you past doubts that inevitably arise in short novels so tightly stuffed with events as his. Sample: Martha, the mother of Letty, is so quickly sketched that by weight of paper she would be hardly a character, but we believe in her last minute conversion from drunk to mother, possibly because Letty, the little girl with the trapline and the twenty-two singleloader, is such a great, great, great character. Naked Prey has more superb passages. There's a section less than a page long where the two detectives search a house, and a couple of pairs of woman's shoes give them the clue that will essentially break the case. Simple, stunning, inescapable. And then Sandford reinforces the message, zap! It's his journalist's training, of course; all good storytellers do it.

I'm not always sure whether such detailed analysis is of interest to general readers; here on Kindleboards we tend to meet mostly those who are interested, but Sandford's popularity is easy to explain: an apparently endless flow of characters who hold our interest, and minor characters we can identify with. That we can identify with the major characters goes without saying, or the series would long since have wilted, instead of going strong so many books in.

Well it's of interest to me...just finished Mortal Prey, liked it a lot (a whole lot, in fact) and about to buy and read Naked Prey. I'm glad to read that you feel it's one of his best, because if it's as good or better than the ones I've read, it will have to be a good one.

Thanks for your input!

David

 

[Jon Olson]

I adore the Lehane Patrick and Angela series. He certainly did not write enough of them. I just got the latest one, Moonlight Mile. Haven't read it yet. I thought Mystic River was excellent, even though it's not one of the series.

Just my opinion, but I think Mystic River is better than anything in the series.

 

[Mike D. aka jmiked]

I watched the movie last night, and I wasn't too impressed (I haven't read any of the books). It just didn't hold my interest until the last half-hour or so. In this case, I blame the script and the director, as I thought it was well cast (I almost always like Mark Harmon's work). The director has done some good work in the past, so I'm a bit surprised that this one fell so flat for me, particularly the dialogue. Maybe it's an argument for not letting directors do their own scripts.

Now I'm going to have to try the book to see if I like the source material any better. I generally do.

Mike