Righteous Prey - A Prey Novel, Vol.32

Informationen zum Autor John Sandford Klappentext "Beloved heroes Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are up against a powerful vigilante group with an eye on vengeance in a stunning new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford"-- Leseprobe One   Bitcoin billionaire, amateur art historian, onetime farm boy George Sonnewell sat on a concrete abutment in a sour-milk-smelling alley near Union Square in San Francisco, the cement rough against his jean-clad butt.   The night was chilly, a good excuse for the long-sleeved work shirt and nylon Air Force jacket, heavy jeans, and boots, although a neutral observer might have been puzzled by the translucent vinyl gloves he wore on his hands.   The clothing had been worn only this once, the better to minimize the transfer of DNA to a murder victim.   And he waited, a predator in plaid.   Overhead, between the buildings, he could see exactly one star, surrounded by roiling purple nighttime clouds that reflected the kaleidoscope of city lights back to earth. Though he rarely used alcohol, Sonnewell had three-fourths of a jug of Burnett's peach vodka by his hip.   Bait.   His hands trembled. Nerves, he thought. He was scared, but he was going for it.   And here came Duck Wiggins, right on schedule, down the alley that he considered his alley. He spotted Sonnewell and the jug. Wiggins was a battered man, his face a collection of fleshly crevasses, eroded by his years on the street. His beard might almost have been mistaken for religious expression, so twisted and solid with filth it was.   Wiggins said, "Hey! This is my street, bitch!" and a moment later, "Whatchagot there?"   Sonnewell, matching the aggression: "What the fuck is it to you?"   "Gimme a taste."   "Why should I?"   Wiggins: "Give me a taste and I'll blow you. Later." He was lying. He was the top of the food chain, not this dweeb sitting on the wall like Humpty Dumpty.   Sonnewell pretended to think about it: "Bite me and I'll kill you."   "I don't bite."   Sonnewell pretended to think about it some more: "Okay."   They sat together, a yard apart on the abutment, silent except for the steady gurgling of the vodka-Wiggins got on it and never let up. It occurred to him at one point that the other man was neither drinking nor complaining, but if he wasn't complaining, then Wiggins wasn't complaining.   Sonnewell turned as if to say something, but instead cocked his arm and struck Wiggins at the base of the skull with a scything forearm blow, knocking the other man off the wall, facedown in the alley. The bottle fell backward, still on the wall, but didn't break.   As Wiggins hit the ground, Sonnewell dropped all his two hundred and twenty pounds on his back. Too drunk to fight, Wiggins tried to push up and then to roll, but the other man forced him down to the broken concrete.   Wiggins, face to the side, mumbling into the dirt: "Wha . . . t' . . . fuck?"   Sonnewell pulled a short hard-finished nylon rope from his hip pocket. The ends of the rope were knotted around four-inch lengths of dowel, like an old-fashioned lawnmower starter rope, the better to grip it. He dragged the rope past Wiggins' forehead, nose, lips, and chin to his neck, and pulled on the dowels for a long three minutes as Wiggins thrashed and kicked and pounded the concrete with his fists.   Sonnewell cursed and looked up and down the alley as he rode the other man, fearing a witness, but he'd chosen the kill site carefully and there were no other eyes. The alcohol was too much for Wiggins to overcome; Sonnewell won in the end.   When he was sure Wiggins was dead, Sonnewell untangled the rope from his victim's neck, put it back in his hip pocket, looked up and down the alley. Then he crossed Wiggins' feet and turned them, rolling the dead man onto his back.   Wigg...

Product details

• Authors: John Sandford
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 04.10.2022
• EAN: 9780593422472
• ISBN: 978-0-593-42247-2
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 26 mm
• Series: A Prey Novel
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense