After the slight downturn in Gathering Prey, this has Sandford back on form, and neatly ends up solving the "where does Lucas go from here?" question to boot. This is more drawn from current affairs than most; a couple of motivated left-wingers decide to assassinate a Democratic-and-popular-but-not-left-enough female Presidential candidate in the hope that their preferred more-left-wing male candidate gets to be President. I hope this doesn't turn out to be ripped from the headlines; there was enough of that with Clancy's Debt of Honour. The Prey books tend to live in this actual world; obviously Elmer Henderson isn't the governor of Minnesota in reality, but Obama is president. I wonder if Bowden will become President in the books if Clinton does for real?

Also... John? Buddy? Marlys is not a name. I sat still for Del Capslock and Weather and the Fifteen Hundred Lorens, and Google suggests there are people called Marlys out there, but I spent the whole entire book cudgelling my brain to stop reading it as more-than-one-Marly.