Certain Prey - John Sandford

Two of the female central characters in Certain Prey were very interesting. 1) Carmel Loan, a successful defense lawyer with a weakness: she had to have what she wanted. She wanted Allen Hale and hired a professional killer to kill Hale's wife. When things went wrong, she even became crueler than the pro. 2) Clara Rinker, the pro. As the story went, the reader would find that she had more heart than the lawyer who had hired her. I was glad the police and the mafia could not touch her in the end. She reminded me of hitmen from French movies.

The problem first appeared when Carmel Loan found out that she was being blackmailed for Mrs Hale's murder. Surprisingly she contacted Rinker again to help her. Rinker apparently liked her and together they killed more people who could tie Carmel Loan to the Mrs Hale murder.

Deputy Chief Lucas Davenport was first suspicious of Carmel Loan when Allen Hale came and told him how Carmel had wanted him for years. Davenport illegally entered Carmel's apartment and during the search he found a bullet which could tie Carmel to the Hale murder. Since then, the investigation was focused to her.

In this book, the relationship between Davenport and Sgt Sherill had ended and there was a funny moment when he had to used a BMW for a trip to Wichita because he feared of flying and the Porsche was not for long distance drive. Davenport's life was in danger twice, first when he was shot by Carmel and the second shot by Rinker.