With apologies to William Wordsworth, the child is also mother of the woman.
When John Sandford introduced Letty West in 2003’s “Naked Prey,” he did not foresee her as a recurring character. But she has since appeared in several novels and takes center stage in “The Investigator.”
As a young girl in northern Minnesota, she trapped muskrats and other wildlife to keep her family fed. When two family members were murdered, she quickly dispatched the killers. Adopted by future U.S. marshal Lucas Davenport and his wife, surgeon Weather Karkinnen, she’s now 24-year-old Letty Davenport, a Stanford graduate. Recognizing her investigative and research abilities, her boss, U.S. Sen. Christopher Colles of Florida, obtains a Department of Homeland Security assignment for her.
With DHS operative John Kaiser by her side, she heads to Texas, where a murderous anti-immigration and anti-government militia is stealing and selling oil to raise money for a major attack. And Letty must use the skills she developed as a child to try to foil the plan.
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Militia leader Jane Jael Hawkes, who describes herself as “white trash,” believes that an influx of illegal immigrants is hurting American citizens who occupy the lowest economic level in the country. Aided by a small group of like-minded men, she aims to capture the nation’s attention.
Sandford, a retired journalist, is also the author of 31 Lucas Davenport novels, 12 featuring Virgil Flowers, four in the Kidd series and three standalone works. He has won widespread acclaim for his riveting plots, fully imagined characters and astringent humor. “The Investigator” fulfills those expectations.
Deeply infused with graphic violence, Sandford’s latest offers a terrifyingly plausible plot centered on the threats posed by militias. With rich detail, he hooks the reader as he describes their preparations and raises the temperature to the boiling point as they move toward their objective.
His portrait of Letty—he calls her “a heroine who doesn’t go into violence with fear or regret, but with anticipation”—is brilliantly rendered, endlessly memorable and profoundly satisfying.
An affirmation of courage and an alarm against domestic terrorism, “The Investigator” represents a timely and troubling take on contemporary America—and a rip-roaring read.