Sunday, May 29, 2005

BROKEN PREY IS THE NAME OF THE LATEST John Sanford novel, which I am just pages away from finishing. It is, I believe, the 16th novel in the "Prey" series, which focus on the career of Minneapolis Detective Lucas Davenport and assorted cunning sickos.

I love them not only because most take place right here in my state, but because Sanford is a master at writing thrillers. Alternately, his books can keep me up all night, as with this one, or give me nightmares for days on end.

In addition to great storytelling and edge-of-your-seat suspense each novel contains one joke, usually bad and told by a beat cop or one of Lucas' fellow investigators. In this latest novel the joke comes from Lucas' wife Weather, who is on the phone from England. For context, Lucas is nursing a freshly broken nose in the conversation.

You may have heard some variation of this joke before, but it's still funny.

"Things are a little tense here," Weather said. "We've just heard that France has raised it's terror level. They think something's going on."

"Really," Something else to worry about.

"Yes. They've gone from run to hide..."

The joke was so unexpected that Lucas snorted, and hurt his nose again. He said, "Oh Jesus, don't make me laugh..."

"The only two higher levels are Surrender and Collaborate," Weather said.

"You're killing my nose, goddamnnit," Lucas said. "Davenport's a French name by the way..."

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