In Naked Victim, John Sandford puts Lucas Davenport through some changes. His older manager, Rose Marie Roux, provides shifted up to the state level and taken Lucas with her, creating a special troubleshooter job for him for the cases that are too complicated or politically touchy for others to take care of. In addition, Lucas is currently married and a new father, both of which are fine with him: he doesn’t brain being a family man. But he is a little worried. For every little bit of peace you get, you must pay-and he’s about Nude Prey waiting for the bill.It will come in the form of two people found hanging from a tree in the woods of northern Minnesota. What makes it particularly delicate is that the physiques are of a black guy and a white female, and they’re naked. ‘Lynching’ is the word that everybody’s trying not to say-but, as Lucas starts to discover, in fact the murders are not what they seem to be, and they’re not the end of the tale. There is worse to come-much, very much worse.

Filled with the rich characterization and exceptional drama that are his hallmarks, that is Sandford’s most suspenseful novel yet.