NEON PREY by John Sandford

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.