Neon Prey is a thriller from John Sandford that sounds more thrilling than it turned out to be for me. It’s another in his long-running series featuring Lucas Davenport, who is now a US Marshal on the hunt for a killer who actually feasts on human flesh.
A freelance enforcer for organized crime named Clayton Deese skips out on bail after a job that goes wrong for him. During the search, bodies are discovered on his Louisiana property. It is discovered that Deese is also a cannibal and on the run. Lucas Davenport and his team of United States Marshals join in the manhunt which almost gets him killed. Deese is traced to Las Vegas with his group of miscreants, and he turns out to be cleverer than Davenport anticipated.
I have read some Sandford novels before, but I had a hard time getting into this one. I think part of my problem is that nothing feels all that distinctive about Davenport. He’s just another determined cop who maintains his cool no matter what. I did respect that he sort of didn’t dwell on the injury he suffers in the first part of the novel that took him months to complete his recovery. He just basically got back into the fray once he got himself back in shape.
Sandford is an efficient writer, but nothing really pops off the page for me. Even the reprehensible cannibal didn’t really keep my interest. I was just ready to finish the thing and move on to the next book.
Anyway, Sandford has his devotees, and that’s fine. I may return to his works, but it will be a while. I may just prefer his other well-known protagonist, Virgil Flowers. Anyway, this was a disappointing port of call in my unending literary journey.
I will return to a more classic crime novelist who wrote a novel that had two pretty good screen adaptations. I am about to revisit Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald in its original presentation.
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