Finished: 'Toxic Prey' and 'Midnight Feast'

 Knocked off a couple beach reads recently, though I did it from my recliner because wifey won't let me retire and move to the beach, just yet.

John Sandford continues to turn out clever and unique Prey novels, this one the 34th of 35 - Toxic Prey. Don't fret if you think I've fallen behind; the 35th one doesn't come out until next April. In this one it seems he channels Dean Koontz a bit, but that's a compliment ...

Lucas Davenport and his daughter, Letty, team up to track down a dangerous scientist whose latest project could endanger the entire world, in this latest thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.

Gaia is dying.

That, at least, is what Dr. Lionel Scott believes. A renowned expert in tropical and infectious diseases, Scott has witnessed the devastating impact of illness and turmoil at critical scale. Society as it exists is untenable, and the direct link to Earth’s death spiral; population levels are out of control and people have allowed disarray and disorder to run rampant. While most are concerned about deadly disease, Scott knows that it is truly humanity itself that will destroy Gaia. It’s only by removing the threat that the planet can continue to prosper, and luckily, Scott is just the right man for the job…

When Scott then disappears without a trace, Letty Davenport is tasked with tracking down any and all leads. Scott’s connections to sensitive research into virus and pathogen spread has multiple national and international organizations on high alert, and his shockingly high clearance levels at various institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, make him the last person they’d like to go missing. As the web around Scott becomes more tangled, Letty calls in her father, Lucas, help her lead a group of specialists to find Scott as soon as possible. But as Letty and Lucas begin to uncover startling and disturbing connections between Scott and Gaia conspiracists, their worst fears are confirmed, and it quickly becomes a race to find him before the virus he created becomes the perfect weapon.

I'll be generous and give it an 8, just because I haven't had a real good one in a while.

** Lucy Foley's The Midnight Feast didn't reach the quality of her previous novels I read, The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. 

It’s the opening night of The Manor, the newest and hottest luxury resort, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And it’s not too long before the local police are called. Turns out the past has crashed the party, with deadly results.

Foley tries to do the short-chapters thing James Patterson made famous, but it became annoying hopping back and forth so often and with some super short ones. Just write the damn story.

And the whole Bird thing just didn't work for me. Seemed outlandish and unnecessary. You can have something spooky in the forest, just make it believable if the rest of the characters were supposed to be believed.

I guess I'm nit-picking a bit, because it was an okay read. It just wasn't great. A 6 here.