Good, but an odd approach since it combines Letty and Lucas (leaving out Virgil entirely, which in a way is good since it probably would have felt even weirder if he was in). Ostensibly, Letty is in charge of the investigation because she's Homland Security, but it feels more collaborative despite her misgivings that dad will take over. He doesn't, but is shunted to the side so much that he's hardly needed and only acts like himself once in the whole book. The crime, while pretty horrible, is difficult to feel completely bad about, at least for me. We are a toxic species that shits where we eat and doesn't care about anything but ourselves and so I had a lot of sympathy for what the bad guys were trying to do; at least sympathy for their perspective anyway. ( )

The fate of the world and most of its inhabitants is the subject of Toxic Prey: A Lucas and Letty Novel by John Sandford. Dr. Lionel Scott has a vision to save a planet besieged by global warming and human overpopulation. Kill a lot of people. Create a new pandemic far more lethal and wider ranging than Covid. Kill billions of people to stop the strain on the world and possibly reverse the coming collapse.

Letty Davenport is sent to England by her boss, Senator Christopher Colles. Officially, she works for the Department of Homeland Security, but the reality is that she is sort of a fixer type for Colles. She is sent to England to talk to three of Lionel Scott’s friends and find out what they know about Scott and if they know where he is.

There is a concern as the good doc previously worked at U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and was currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Scott is an infectious disease specialist and has a lot of knowledge in his head. That knowledge could be dangerous if used by others.

Met by Alec Hawkins of MI5, Letty is shown Oxford, and A few other things. It soon becomes clear that Lionel Scott has a history of depression and a fascination with the possibilities of the Gaia hypothesis.

Simplifying greatly, the theory is that the Earth is a living organism and all life on Earth live in a sort of harmony and are protected by the Earth. That balance has been destroyed by human overpopulation. If you remove billions of humans from the planet, the survivors would live in a world that would steadily improve as nature healed itself. Climate change would immediately stop and would probably reverse. Species and plants would rebound, improving the quality of life for the humans that remained. Those humans would have improved access to housing, resources, etc.

It becomes clear to Letty that Scott might be trying to make that event happen by way of a virus. He has the medical skills to engineer one. He probably has folks with him that believe in the same mission. She knows she needs help and starts raising the alarm.

Before long, Lucas Davenport, Letty, Hawkins, and many others are in New Mexico on Scott’s trail and trying to stop the end of the world before it starts.

A top-notch thriller that offers an all too real scenario, Toxic Prey is a mighty good read. Intense, often violent, it carries readers along at a rapid pace as Lucas, Letty, and others do everything they can to stop a group of people committed to wiping out the vast majority of the human population. Toxic Prey is not only a mighty good read, it is also a scary predicator of what could be done by one man with knowledge and resources easily bought online.

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024 ( )

Lucas vs an Expected "Inferno"
Review of the Penguin Audio audiobook edition (April 9, 2024) narrated by [author:Robert Petkoff|2889695] of the simultaneously released G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover/eBook.

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers novels have often been annual favourites of mine in the suspense thriller genre. They often feature good comic banter to keep the mood light even when the main plots are police procedurals focusing on the pursuit of dangerous criminals. Very rarely there has been a dud along the way, the last being Neon Prey (#29 - 2019) which I reviewed as Only Half a Book, and a Repulsive One at that. Although Toxic Prey is certainly disturbing, I didn't totally dislike it. A 3-star "Liked It" would be a step too far though, so a 2 & 1/2 star it is.

Toxic Prey finds Lucas Davenport and fellow U.S. Marshal Rae Givens together with Davenport's adopted daughter Letty from Homeland Security and MI-5 agent Alec Hawkins seeking to stop a planned world-wide death pandemic virus lab-engineered by a mad scientist and his fellow cult of eco-terrorist believers. This is the tie-in to my lede which hints at Dan Brown's Inferno (2013) which had a similar plot of a population reduction virus.

The engineered virus (a fictional hybrid between Marburg and Measles) is expected to be so deadly that it would wipe out half the earth's population. This leads to some rather disturbing moral choices along the way. The several members of the cult have both infected themselves (having produced their own vaccine ahead of time) and are carrying several vials of the virus with the intention to spread it in transportation hubs such as airports.

The authorities are thus forced into situations of "shoot on sight", as even approaching the suspects becomes a guaranteed further spread of the possible infection. Though the cult is obviously mentally disturbed and dangerous (one is definitely murderous to begin with), it is not quite the same as hunting down vicious criminals. It just left me feeling empty somehow. That is not the feeling I usually expect in a Sandford book. Perhaps the absence of Virgil Flowers from this book also lowered the usual comic relief of cop banter. It became more of a cold-blooded hunt instead.

The audiobook edition is well narrated by the continuing new narrator Robert Petkoff, who takes over duties from the series regular narrator Richard Ferrone (1946-2022). I still miss Ferrone's gravelly voice which always added an additional gravitas to Davenport's voice.

Soundtrack
I didn't notice any musical references during this book unlike the previous book. However, in keeping with the theme, here is a listing of Best Apocalyptic Songs. Add your selections in the comments if you like.

Trivia and Links
There is an April 17, 2024 interview with author John Sandford about Toxic Prey by Barbara Peters at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore's YouTube channel which you can watch here. ( )

I am one of the author's biggest fans. Over the years, I have read all of his books. And enjoyed them very much. BUT THIS ONE!!! Holy smokes! It scared the bejeesus out of me! The whole idea of the bi0-terrorism is horribly frightening. And Sandford really, really outdoes himself in this one. After the whole Covid pandemic, it just seemed like this plot could actually happen.
Sandford brought in his newest character, Letty Davenport, to work alongside her father (Lucas Davenport, the main subject of most of the Prey novels). Together with a re0ccurring cast of characters, they make the book seem so real. I especially enjoyed how, in this novel, Sandford expanded the regular cast by actually bringing in the military. Which seemed pretty logical, considering the scope of the threat. And I'm enjoying the expansion of his world, as poor old Lucas is deserving of a good break.
All in all, this is another home run for the author.
Highly recommend! ( )