From Publishers Weekly
"Making his fiction debut, 'Sandford,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist using a pseudonym his real name is John Camp, has taken a stock suspense plot--a dedicated cop pursuing an ingenious serial killer--and dressed it up into the kind of pulse-quickening, irresistibly readable thriller that many of the genre's best-known authors would be proud to call their own," stated PW. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Lieutenant Lucas Davenport, highly touted killer detective, invents intricate video games that he sells for cash. Called in to aid the Minneapolis team scrambling to stop a psychopathic serial woman-slayer, Lucas almost meets his match. The self-styled "mad dog" murderer views his rape/stabbings as a game as well, setting up obstacles for the police, carefully selecting his victims, and priding himself on clever moves. Despite his largely deja vu plot, debut novelist Sandford ( also the author of The Fools Run due from Holt in September under the name John Camp; see Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/89) delivers tense action, chilling excitement, and thrilling suspense. Fast-moving prose and romantic sidelines add a little zest, too. BOMC featured selection.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Carl Hiaasen
So chilling that you're almost afraid to turn the pages.


Stephen King
It's a big suspenseful read and I loved every minute of it.


Robert B. Parker
A cop and a killer you will remember for a long, long time.


Book Description
The novel that introduced Minneapolis cop Lucas Davenport-and John Sandford's deft touch for heartstopping suspense...

ANNOTATION

Louis "Maddog" Vullion is a young attorney . . . and a murderer. He kills for the sheer contest, playing an elaborate game for which he has written terrifying rules. Police Lt. Lucas Davenport, a brilliant games inventor, is going to have to outmaneuver the killer's clever plan--to beat the mad dog at his own deadly craft.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The haunting, unforgettable, ice-blooded thriller that introduced Lucas Davenport is so chilling that you're almost afraid to turn the pages and so mesmerizing you cannot stop.

FROM THE CRITICS

Sleek and nasty...A big scary, suspenseful read, and I loved every minute of it.

Stephen King

Sleek and nasty...A big scary, suspenseful read, and I loved every minute of it.

Publishers Weekly

``Making his fiction debut, `Sandford,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist using a pseudonym his real name is John Camp, has taken a stock suspense plot--a dedicated cop pursuing an ingenious serial killer--and dressed it up into the kind of pulse-quickening, irresistibly readable thriller that many of the genre's best-known authors would be proud to call their own,'' stated PW. (Apr.)

Library Journal

Lieutenant Lucas Davenport, highly touted killer detective, invents intricate video games that he sells for cash. Called in to aid the Minneapolis team scrambling to stop a psychopathic serial woman-slayer, Lucas almost meets his match. The self-styled ``mad dog'' murderer views his rape/stabbings as a game as well, setting up obstacles for the police, carefully selecting his victims, and priding himself on clever moves. Despite his largely deja vu plot, debut novelist Sandford ( also the author of The Fools Run due from Holt in September under the name John Camp; see Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/89) delivers tense action, chilling excitement, and thrilling suspense. Fast-moving prose and romantic sidelines add a little zest, too. BOMC featured selection.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Quick paced and exciting...A impressive thriller...A chilling, compelling, eminently readable story." — John Katzenbach

"A haunting, unforgettable, iceblooded thriller...Rules of Prey is so chilling that you're almost afraid to turn the pages, so mesmerizing you cannot stop...A crackley of surprises." — Carl Hiaasen