Rules of Prey - John Sandford - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend. I have had these books for quite some time, so it was time to read it. I found the book very engaging so it was an easy read for me but I did have a few issues with it as well.
Synopsis
The "maddog" murderer who is terrorizing the Twin Cities is two things: insane and extremely intelligent. He kills for the pleasure of it and thoroughly enjoys placing elaborate obstacles to keep police befuddled. Each clever move he makes is another point of pride. But when the brilliant Lieutenant Lucas Davenport--a dedicated cop and a serial killer's worst nightmare--is brought in to take up the investigation, the maddog suddenly has an adversary worthy of his genius.

I enjoyed the plot of the story a lot. There was good mystery, action, thrills and excitement. All those things you love with a mystery, but you do know who the bad guy is from the start of the story, so the mystery is well known, so that is a little bit of a downfall. The story itself is still written very well though.

Now for the characters. This is where my biggest issues come from. Lucas Davenport is a huge player to start with. He does not show any other flaws or issues with himself. He is a ladies man pure and simple. I particularly like characters like that. Another issue I have with him is that he is pretty much borderline bad cop with his antics and the choices he makes which is kind of annoying. The author obviously wrote him this way for a reason and hopefully he has Lucas straighten up a bit throughout the series. As for our "maddog" character I feel like he was written to be too smart. I know he is supposed to be extremely intelligent, but this seemed to be too much. He makes no mistakes and leaves no clues and I find that to be a little unrealistic. Even the women in this story are annoying to me. I hope that characters can grow and become a bit more likeable and realistic.

This could have easily been a 5 star read for me had I enjoyed these characters a little more. But even though I did not like the characters the story itself was good and flowed very well. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, just know that these may not be ideal characters for readers.