This is the 9th Prey book I've read. This one is also very good but with a shaky start. About woman serial killer who has murdered to further her husband's career at a bank then killed him when he threatens to turn him in.

Lucas davenport is investigating a murder of a bank official before a bank merger ( )

Who killed the Chairman of the Board turns into who killed his successor and so on. Suspicion passes from big boss to big boss to their wives and ex-wives. The last part of the book delves into the mind of the killer and it is where Sandford rises to the top. It's hard to forget Lucas Davenport's foes. But will Lucas get Winter back? ( )

A deadly climb up the corporate ladder. ( )

I don't want to say too much except that I was shocked at the reveal of who did it in this one. Sandford played a very good game with readers. I honestly didn't get it until we finally see who has been pulling strings all along. I was also sad to see how Lucas is dealing with the fallout to his relationship with Weather ending. Him getting involved with one of his subordinates didn't work for me though. She was a bit too crude (like Lucas) so I don't see them lasting too long.

Lucas is half-hearted in this one. He is dealing with the end of his relationship with Weather after his actions in the last book. He is hitting a depressive episode and all of his friends and colleagues are concerned about him. Lucas wants Weather back, but doesn't know what he can do. When he's asked to keep an eye on an investigation involving a wealthy banker, Lucas feels like it's not going to be a very interesting case. However, the more he probes, the more he realizes that things are not what they same. When Lucas starts probing more, it appears that someone in this banker's circle may have been ensuring that no matter what, someone always came ahead.

The secondary characters in this one like Sloan, Del, Roux, are good. We even get Ellie in this too, though I wanted more. Lucas is at a crossroads in this one with him selling off his business, he just honestly doesn't know if police work is going to fulfill him or not.

The flow was much tighter in this one than in the last book where it was all over the place.

The ending was a surprise, I was shocked at what all goes down. ( )