Neon Prey

How does Sandford do it?
I mean, book after book, he continues to make Lucas Davenport, (or, in his other series, Virgil Flowers), interesting and intriguing.
This edition is no different. Davenport is hunting another BAD guy, this time a serial killing psycho, who, by the way, just happens to be a cannibal also! The buildup is great, and the action scenes exciting. You feel like you're riding in the car with the main character as he builds his case.
I'm not going to give away the plot, it would spoil the book for you. Suffice it to say, if you liked Sandford's previous Prey novels, you will love this one too!
I don't know how many more Prey books the author has in him, but I will continue reading them until he stops. Hopefully, that day show more is far away!
Bravo! show less

Only half of a book, and a repulsive one at that
Review of the Audible Audio edition (2019) narrated by Richard Ferrone

I’m not going to bury the lead here. This book mostly consists of several set pieces where Lucas Davenport and the U.S. Marshals with occasional other police forces are closing in on/and or confronting the villains. These scenes are then completely repeated from the other point of view i.e. first we get the police side in its entirety and then the entire scene is retold from the point of view of the criminals. This technique might be useful if some sort of intriguing insight was revealed, but that is rarely the case. It just begins to feel like padding, a technique to double the length of the material.

The fact that the show more criminal side is more repulsive than usual just adds to the repellant nature of the results.

I usually find Sandford’s annual Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers crime mysteries to be reliable sources of entertainment with their often engaging banter between the detectives and crafty foes to be detected and defeated. This one just felt off and cheap.

The narration by series regular Richard Ferrone was still excellent though. show less

It’s hard to believe that this is Davenport’s 29th adventure. He’s gotten shot, stabbed, punched numerous times, and suffered various other indignities. In NEON PREY he and his fellow Marshals Bob and Rae are hot on the heels of a cannibal. Multiple bodies have been found in the yard of Clayton Deese, and the Marshals want to ask him some questions. Deese, however, is not cooperating.

When Lucas and Co. discover that the livers from the bodies are missing, and the barbeque grill from Deese’s house has been used, they realize that they are not looking for a typical run-of-the-mill killer. Bob, Rae, and Lucas share the spotlight equally, which is different from previous books. It almost seems as though Lucas is part of the show more supporting cast rather than the main character. Even his “cop talk” is secondary to that of Bob and Rae.

Las Vegas is a quirky setting that provides both sparkle and squalor. There is a section of the book where Deese and his crew hang out at a friend’s ramshackle trailer. As I read on, I could hear the banjos from “Deliverance” in the background – it was that eerie!

My thoughts on this one is that it’s a firm middle-of-the-road Prey novel. What stood out for me was that Davenport seems to be feeling his age (both mentally and physically) here. No spoilers; but I was not ready for some of the plot twists. Kudos to the author for keeping his characters human with relevant emotions. show less

You would think that after 29 books...all two-word title with one of those words being "Prey"... that John Sandford would have run out of situations to write about that puts Minnesota cop turned U.S. Marshall...Lucas Davenport... in the path of all this prey...but seemingly this hasn't happened. I for one, hope that it never does. From book 1 Lucas has been one of my favorite fictional detectives. He has been joined in this venture by two fellow Marshalls... Rae Givens and Bob Matees...who would make wonderful additions to the already great team. This time not only are they hunting the usual serial killer but a serial killer with a taste for cannibalism. Lucas needs all the help he can get. Keep'em Lucas.

I remember the first Lucas Davenport book I bought at the Crown Book store just down the street from me when I first lived in Chicago. Was just starting to get into mysteries when I found Silent Prey in the discounted books section. It was still relative new as Crown moved them quickly. What intrigued me was the author was from Minnesota writing about a Twin Cities police officer - and I had just started to handle Minnesota accounts. What random things start a great relationship. Lucas Davenport and I kind of grew up together and now I am old and Lucas is starting to show his age.

Sorry for the BS but when I read this book it underscored how John Sandford has grown and matured his prized character, Lucas Davenport. No longer is he the show more brash tough guy with a brain who lives kind of on the edge whose life is sometimes all over the place. He has gone through life working for the State Police, Special police assignments, a stretch with the FBI and is now working special cases with the US Marshall services. He has settled down with a very understanding wife and a step daughter he saved during one of this Minnesota cases. His thinking is more rational but still runs on the edge and, I have to believe, he is an adrenaline junky. Through the years and through the novels we have a character that has truly evolved matured and changed. A significant amount of credit has to go to John Sandford for being able to accomplish this without loosing the underlying tense stories that drive a Lucas Davenport book

The writing is still great and, one thing about this series once it got going, the character development is great. Even the minor fringe characters are adequately fleshed out so that there is a realism to them, you kind of miss that this is done generally in only a couple of sentences or paragraphs. In one respect the story lines are formulaic BUT when you get down to it most crime/police/detective stories fallow a simple basic formula and need to do so to tell the story effectively. What makes a difference there is a very base realism in every story. You can feel with the characters even the those in the periphery of the story. These are gritty stories with gritty characters. Generally the dialogue is straight to the point and, again, brings a sense of reality to the story and writing.

I guess what really got me in this book is how Lucas is the same yet he has evolved changed and matured. Even he understands he is not the man he used to be and has become comfortable with himself. In some respects this has less action than many of the other stories but the writing is more intense and the situations more complicated yet the still boil down to really dangerous bad guys that ain't going to come easy. And Lucas Davenport is the man who is going to make certain the pay for their transgressions.

Yes I really enjoy this book. It was a little different than many of the previous one but both John Sandford and his character, Lucas Davenport, have grown and matured. It pleases me to see this in a noticeable manner since it take an exceptional writer to smoothly achieve this over the years.

You need to read all of the Prey series as, to me, it is one of the best crime series, show less

It's May and for the last nearly 30 yeaers that has translated into another visit with Lucas Davenport. Hard to believe it'sbeen that long.At this point Davenport and crew seem as realistic as family. This is a series that started off uniquely strong. Set in the Twin Cities, Davenport was a charismatic protagonist on par with the greats of literacy. Over the years the quality of the series has ebbed and flowed,while never quite reaching the exalted levels of those first 5 books.

There was a period that it felt to me like Sandford's grasp of Davenport had slipped, and he focused more on his other serial series's protagonist Virgil Flowers. Flowers often appears in both books. Gone were the days that found Davenport wrestling with show more depression and always teetering on the edge of violence. What saved the series during that time was the strong supporting characters. Many of whom have since fallen to the wayside to be replaced by new less interesting characters.

The good news is that Neon Prey's Lucas is a little more Lucas-like, the bad news is that the supporting characters in Neon Prey are the extremly less interesting Bob and Rae instead of Shrake and crew. The weak supporting characters coupled with some weak plotting, results in a less satisfying visit with Davenport. In the end the book is still better than most and I'm already markingthe calander for next May. But can Davenport please bring his old friends along? show less

Lucas, Bob, and Rae chase after Clayton Deese, a hardcore killer who eats his victims in this crime thriller. Traveling to L.A. and Las Vegas, the U. S. Marshals have several shootouts with Deese and his gang, but they always seem to get away - until they don't. Lucas suffers in this one but recovers well. Neon Prey is good action interlaced with humor—another winner for John Sandford.