Toxic Prey

This 34th outing in Sandford’s “Prey” series (following Judgment Prey) finds Homeland Security agent Letty Davenport and her U.S. Marshal father, Lucas Davenport, working together to track down diabolical infectious-disease scientist Lionel Scott. Scott is a proponent of the Gaia hypothesis, which posits that Earth is in a downward spiral and dying because of overpopulation. Believing that the only way to save the planet is to kill as many people as possible, Scott has created a virulent strain of the Marburg virus and plans to spread disease across the globe with the help of ecoterrorist volunteers. The volunteers carry vials of the virus that they plan on releasing in busy airports, churches, and other large gathering places where many people will be infected and spread the disease to countless others. The audio is narrated by Robert Petkoff, who is relatively new to the series, having taken over from the late Richard Ferrone. Petkoff captures the urgency and danger of the Davenports’ mission, employing spot-on pacing to ramp up the tension.