Characters Toxic Prey John Sandford

Rae Givens: U.S. Marshal and Lucas Davenport’s Partner in Toxic Prey

Overview

Rae Givens is a U.S. Marshal and the dedicated partner of Lucas Davenport in John Sandford’s Toxic Prey (2024), the 34th Lucas Davenport novel. She is assigned to the urgent federal task force tracking missing scientist Lionel Scott, who plans to release a hybrid Marburg‑measles virus to depopulate Earth. Rae operates as a tactical field agent, conducting searches, engaging in shootouts, and helping contain the bioterrorist threat. Her actions directly shape the investigation’s outcome, including the critical takedown of cult member Randall Foss. For a full summary of the story, see the Toxic Prey page.

Plot Role

Rae is first introduced in Chapter 4 when Senator Colles’s working group dispatches her, Lucas, and Letty Davenport to Los Alamos. She accompanies Lucas through every major operation:

  • Searches Scott’s Santa Fe house with Lucas, discovering a hidden body and a threatening note.
  • Pursues Rose Turney through the Taos ski valley after the RV shootout.
  • Helps brief Taos police on the “serial killer” cover story and sets up checkpoints.
  • Shoots Randall Foss at the Smith’s supermarket when he reaches for virus vials.
  • Accidentally wounds an armed civilian during the chaos.
  • Tracks Clarice Catton to the Santa Dymphna church and helps quarantine the congregation after Lucas kills Catton.
  • Endures a two‑week quarantine with Lucas to prevent the virus from spreading.

Rae’s presence on every critical scene makes her the team’s secondary enforcer and a reliable point of view for the ground‑level danger.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Professional competence. Rae is consistently prepared and level‑headed. During the Taos chase, she carries an M4 carbine and body armor, and she fluidly coordinates with Lucas and local cops. She demonstrates thorough knowledge of firearms and tactics.

Emotional control under pressure. After the gunfight in the supermarket, Rae calmly cuts the fanny pack off Foss’s body and checks for liquid leaks. She then helps de‑escalate the panicked store.

Dark humor as a coping mechanism. Under extreme stress, Rae breaks into a rare giggle when Lucas teases Letty about Hawkins. The outline notes “Rae started giggling, the first time Lucas had ever heard her do that.” This suggests she uses humor to release tension when the crisis feels overwhelming.

Cultivated intelligence. In Catton’s house, Rae immediately recognizes a painting as a Georgia O’Keeffe and an original Toulouse‑Lautrec poster, showing knowledge of fine art. She also appreciates the irony of the situation.

Moral clarity. Rae has no hesitation about using lethal force when necessary. She shoots Foss without warning when he reaches for the fanny pack, and later, at the church, she fires a warning shot to keep panicked churchgoers from fleeing and spreading contamination. She tells Lucas she would shoot anyone who tries to escape.

Chronological Arc

  1. Arrival in New Mexico. Rae flies with Lucas and Letty to Albuquerque, meets USAMRIID technician Packer, and begins the search at Los Alamos.

  2. Search of Catton’s Santa Fe house. Rae and Lucas kick in the door, discover the body of Jane Shepard, and find the threatening note from the cult.

  3. Taos ski valley chase. After Rose Turney opens fire on the RV, Rae and Lucas pursue her on foot through steep, thin‑air terrain. Hawkins ultimately kills Turney.

  4. Setting up the Taos dragnet. Rae helps convince local police to block all exits using a serial‑killer cover story. She tells the gathered cops these are the worst people imaginable and that they will be killed if they resist.

  5. Supermarket confrontation. At Smith’s supermarket, Rae shoots Randall Foss in the head when he goes for his fanny pack containing virus vials. A civilian draws a gun and Rae wounds him.

  6. Church quarantine. Rae and Lucas track Catton to the church. Lucas shoots Catton; Rae keeps the congregation inside by threatening to shoot anyone who runs. Underwood orders Rae and Lucas into quarantine.

  7. Quarantine. Rae and Lucas sit in an SUV discussing the virus’s lethality. She notes the Marburg‑measles combination makes it a potential pandemic worse than a nuclear strike.

  8. Resolution. Rae survives quarantine without becoming ill. The church compound is destroyed; Letty and Hawkins recover from the infection. Rae is last seen reuniting with Lucas’s family.

Relationships

Lucas Davenport. Rae is Lucas’s professional partner. They work seamlessly, often communicating with few words. Lucas trusts her judgment completely—he lets her take the shot on Foss. Rae knows Lucas’s history and jokes about his lack of art knowledge (“you illiterate boob”). Their partnership is characterized by mutual respect and gallows humor.

Letty Davenport. Rae works alongside Letty on the ground, though they have no extended private conversations. In the chase, Rae accepts Letty’s orders as DHS liaison. Letty later quotes Rae’s description of the Catton shooting.

Alec Hawkins. Rae interacts briefly with Hawkins during the ski‑valley chase. She supports his decision to kill Turney.

Billy Greet and the task force. Rae reports to Greet through Lucas. Her professional reputation is established enough that she is included in the initial briefing.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  • Decision to pursue Turney on foot. Rae and Lucas chase Turney up a steep, 9,000‑foot mountain. This leads to Turney’s death and the discovery of the infected captives.
  • Decision to shoot Randall Foss. Rae fires instantly when Foss reaches for his fanny pack. This prevents the virus from being released inside a crowded supermarket, but it also triggers panic and the wounding of a civilian by Rae.
  • Decision to wound the armed civilian. When a man draws a gun and fires, Rae shoots him in the chest. The man survives but is critically wounded. Lucas later calls him a “hero,” noting the tragedy.
  • Decision to fire a warning shot at the church. Rae shoots in the air to prevent churchgoers from scattering, forcing them back inside the contaminated building. This decision—though harsh—contains the biological threat.
  • Decision to accept quarantine. Rae agrees to isolate with Lucas for two weeks, knowing the virus could kill them. She suggests burning down the Realtor’s house to eliminate any contamination.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Moral Dilemmas of Lethal Force. Rae embodies the theme of difficult, split‑second killing decisions. She kills a fleeing terrorist, wounds a possibly innocent citizen, and threatens civilians to contain a plague. The novel uses Rae to examine the emotional weight of lethal force—she visibly giggles from stress afterward, showing the human cost.

Sacrifice for Planetary Salvation (inverted). While the cult seeks sacrifice to “save” Earth, Rae sacrifices her freedom and health—quarantine, potential infection—to protect humanity. She represents the self‑sacrifice of law enforcement against apocalyptic ideology.

Government Secrecy vs. Public Panic. Rae participates in the serial‑killer cover story, lying to local cops about the real threat. This reflects the tension between transparency and the need to prevent mass panic.

Pandemic Threat and Bioterrorism. Rae’s entire arc revolves around containing a weaponized virus. Her actions at the church—quarantining a hundred people—directly relate to the theme of how society must respond to bioterror attacks.

Rae Givens: Book‑Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why did Rae Givens shoot Randall Foss at the supermarket? Rae shot Foss in the head after he shouted “No!” and reached for his fanny pack, which contained glass vials of the Marburg‑measles hybrid virus. She acted instantly to prevent him from breaking the vials and releasing the virus inside a crowded store.

2. How did Rae end up in quarantine after the church incident? After Lucas shot Clarice Catton outside Santa Dymphna church, Rae and Lucas were splashed with bodily fluids that may have contained the virus. Dr. Underwood ordered them into isolation for two weeks to monitor for symptoms. Rae accepted, saying they would know in ten days or so.

3. What does Rae’s knowledge of art reveal about her character? While searching Catton’s house, Rae identified a painting as a Georgia O’Keeffe and a poster as an original Toulouse‑Lautrec, noting their value (roughly two million dollars for the O’Keeffe). This shows she has a cultivated, educated side beyond her law‑enforcement skills, suggesting she is not a simple “boob” as Lucas jokes.

4. Did Rae Givens become infected with the Marburg‑measles virus? No. In the chapter outline, Rae survives quarantine without developing symptoms. The virus kills 64 people at the church compound, but Rae and Lucas remain healthy. She is never mentioned as infected in the resolved storyline.

5. What is Rae’s role in the final confrontation with the cult? Rae does not directly participate in the airport showdown with Lionel Scott. She is in quarantine when Letty and Hawkins kill Scott in the parking garage. However, Rae contributed critically to the manhunt by killing Foss, which prevented the virus from escaping Taos, and by helping contain Catton’s church attack. Her earlier actions made the final confrontation possible.