I really like these books and was wondering if any other authors are like him. I don’t want some super cop B.S…
I recommend the Bosch books by Michael Connelly. He’s not quite as funny as the Lucas Davenport character, but I think the mysteries are just as good, if not better.
Authors similar to John Sandford
Literature Map:
Authors Like John Sandford:
PastTense, thank you, those are wonderful resources, and I had no idea about them until now.
Seconded. Great resources, indeed.
I, too, am a huge fan of the ‘Prey’ books by Sandford. Unfortunately for me, I’ve also read many of the books by the authors that are close to Sandford.
In many ways, Davenport is a super cop. Maybe less so now that the character is aging. Lucas describes himself as a hunter, so in a similar vein, I’d recommend the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly. Completely different style, but Parker hunts the bad guys too.
Have you tried the Virgil Flowers books, also by Sandford? What could be better Sandford than more Sandford?
There is also the “Kidd and LuEllen” series by John Sandford, if you like him. The difference is, they are thieves instead of cops or detectives or whatever.
Lee Child
Brian Freeman
Child’s Jack Reacher books aren’t much like Sandford’s Davenport books.
Jack Reacher is the ultimate super-cop. Well, I guess he’s not actually a cop, he’s a retired military police officer, but still, he’s one step away from being Robocop.
Hmm…the Literature Map puts Lee Child right next to John Sandford and Michael Connelly, smack dab in the middle of the page.
CJ Box
Craig Johnson
Paul Doiron
I’m not sure what their metrics are. But those authors are not very much alike (to my mind). Their similarity is that they’re all better writers than most mystery/thriller writers, I guess.
But Child isn’t even trying to be realistic. He’s writing some kind of Robocop/Superman fantasy stuff. He’s good at it, but that’s what it is. They’re not “police procedurals,” they’re just his Reacher character applying his awesome detective skills and beating up enormous numbers of people.
Connelly writes like he’s trying to write literary detective stories (like, for example, James Lee Burke). He’s okay at it. But you can feel the effort. His protagonist does a lot of deep thinking. And feeling. He feels stuff. In a very macho, masculine way, of course.
Sandford is a very good writer. He’s good at the craft of writing. His characters, including his protagonist, Davenport, are fairly fleshed-out, realistic (within the parameters of the genre) characters.
He’s got a sense of humor, which Connelly entirely lacks. Completely. Child isn’t much better.
Nodding in agreement.
I enjoy the Flowers novels even more.
I love Connelly’s books (I also love Burke’s, for that matter), but this is a hilarious (and accurate) description of his writing.
BTW, if anyone’s interested in a police-procedural-ish mystery story on a spaceship (with some action-thriller stuff thrown in), there’s a great book called Spindown by an author who’s also an active Doper.
Is it u/shameless? 
I also like Connelly a lot, and never really thought about his sense of humor. It’s a fair rap.
The literature map puts Dennis Lehane right up next to Sandford and Child, which makes no sense at all.
If I have to choose between getting rid of shame or book sales, I know which one I’m dropping!
OP might be happy to know that the latest entry in the series, Ocean Prey, was released a few weeks ago.
Just finished John Sandford’s latest Virgil Flowers book, HOLY GHOST. Really good, a page-turner
as always.
Michael Harvey is a similar author. I think his first book is called THE CHICAGO WAY.