NEON PREY
by
John Sandford
Neon Prey is the 29th book in John
Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series. In this installment, we are reunited with
deputy U.S. Marshall Davenport and two of his co-workers, Bob and Rae.
Clayton
Deese is a hired goon who failed to make a required appearance while on bond.
When law enforcement went looking for Deese at his Louisiana home, they instead
found numerous graves with murdered, cannibalized remains. Just the sort of
case to interest Marshall Davenport. Suspecting that Deese has fled to his half
brother in Los Angeles, Lucas takes the hunt – and Bob and Rae – first there
and later to Las Vegas.
As always,
it feels good to be back with our old friend Davenport; but, this Prey book is a bit different from prior
installments. There is no real mystery, or crime to solve, in Neon Prey. We basically know who did
what. Rather, the plot focuses more on where the perpetrators are and how Lucas
finds them. We are treated to Sandford’s methodical, step by step progression
of Lucas’s hunt; there are no leaps in logic, no unrealistic surmises involved.
This Prey installment has Sandford’s
typical good writing, as well as some of his humor. However, Neon Prey feels more superficial than
the earlier books. Although the plot is detailed, there is only a mention of
some of Davenport’s family and old friends like Flowers, Jenkins, and Strake.
Although this may not trouble many new Prey
fans, to a long time Davenport devotee, this feels like the picture of Lucas
portrayed in Neon Prey is flat or missing
a dimension.
Nonetheless,
I enjoyed my visit with Marshall Davenport, and I look forward to Sandford’s
next installment in the series.
