The Night Crew

I had heard good things about John Sandford’s fiction from a friend, and picked up The Night Crew at a used bookstore to try the author out. I now realize that this book wasn’t the best introduction to the author; it ranks lowest at LT of all of his works, and is (of course) not in any of his popular series.

I found The Night Crew to be rather a disappointment. The premise was promising. The “night crew” is a small group of free-lancers -- headed by Anna Batory-- who roam the streets of Los Angeles in search of news they can videotape. They make a living by selling what they film to local TV stations and the big networks. Robberies, suicides, accidents, and political demonstrations all are fair game for their cameras. The show more particular night that opens the story is a busy one. They are filming an animal rights demonstration with activists releasing animals from a university lab when they get word of an impending suicide; and they make it just in time to capture it on film as a man (“Jacob”) jumps from five stories up. A few hours later, the body of a member of the night crew (Jason) is found; he’s been murdered. The perpetrator is a serial killer who proceeds to stalk Anna herself.

Unfortunately, the plot and the killer’s motives are far from credible. The perpetrator’s identity and motives make no sense. Further, the characters engage in unbelievable actions. Jake Harper, an ex-cop who is the late Jacob’s father, joins their investigation, and starts falling in love/lust with Anna even before his son’s funeral. (Apparently his son’s fatal impact with the pavement had no real impact on dad). Jake finds a connection between Jacob and Jason (yes, the names are confusing) – they had shared a drug dealer, and the dealer is next found dead, with Anna’s name carved on his body. Readers may be disgusted to find that the serial killer has barely been mentioned earlier in the book; for my part, I still don’t understand what the connection was (if any) between him and the drug dealer. And frankly, I don’t care enough to try rereading the book to find out whether it is mentioned.

The Night Crew has moments of excitement, especially at the end. Thus, it’s not without its merits, but its flaws are significant. Given that readers rank the book as relatively low in Sanderson’s oeuvre (albeit with 3.4 stars), I will give the author’s work another try or two. show less

John Sandford is one of those rare authors – a good one who writes about serial killers and other stuff I like. However, his recent offerings have been a bit of disappointment. I miss the “Prey” series, featuring that hard-hearted, role-playing-game-designing detective whose name I can’t recall. Never mind – this book is entertaining, a good brisk read. I only wish that it had dealt more thoroughly with the main characters’ interesting occupation – a freelance film crew who spends their nights filming news footage that they then sell to all of the television stations.

I know that many people disliked this book because it's a departure from Sandford's Lucas Davenport series. For my money, while a solid read, they had become too formulaic. Night Crew takes place in Los Angeles instead of Minneapolis and follows Anna Batory, a freelance videographer who roams the city listening to police calls in hopes of beating regular news crews to a story so she can sell some video to the networks.

Unlike the geography of Minneapolis which stands out in the Prey series, I just didn't get a sense of place in this book. Lots of running around, but I felt like I was hovering over a map instead of being in the place itself, something I think Sandford accomplishes better in the Davenport series. The relationships between show more the characters could have been fleshed out better. Jake Harper, ex-cop, who becomes Anna's lover?/boyfriend?something?, loses his son in the opening scene, but the impact on Jake (pun intended since he jumps from a window) seems slight.

Many people who like the Prey series have not liked this one. I did, but with reservations. It has promise for a new series. We'll see.

The Kidd series is enjoyable; I have tried any of the Virgil Flowers titles yet. show less

A vicious stalker targets a freelance TV news reporter in this fast-paced, suspenseful thriller. As the body count rises, Sanford raises the stakes for Anna Batory - is the killer someone she knows?

This is a page-turner, but if you're looking for true love ever after, look again.

I have to say I was disappointed in this one. The premise of what the Night Crew does was interesting, probably more so at the time of publication than by current day standards, but still intriguing. None of the characters were likeable to me, and that was just based on reader’s instinct, because none were developed to any level of being able to confirm it. It comes across as the beginning of a series and it’s probably just as well it didn’t become one.

This books doesn't feature any of the wellknown characters of the author, such as Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. Too bad. I thought the plot was a bit erratic, rushed at the end, and the characters and places did not have the usual detail and familiarity to the author. I much prefer the Minnesota-based novels by the same author.

Pretty average on all dimensions; just another shoot-em-up ending