Neon Prey (Lucas Davenport #29)

So very, very dissapointed by this sloppy mismash of violence and mayhem serving only one purpose… putting more money in Sanford’s pocket. There really should be a return policy for rotten products such as this. The authorities (FBI Police Marshalls) at one turn are competent and then utter fools… depends on where Sanford needs the plot to advance… aggravating and stupid. Sanford has also resorted to Lee Childs (Reacher) tendency to pull “facts” out his arse so the story can progress. Doctor and hospital give a patient prescriptions when the patient refuses to give a name (so a prescription with no patient name???!!!) And then they track the prescription down to a pharmacy when they have no idea what the name is on the prescription. Judas Priest!!!! And with cannibalism, rape, killing on every level, brutality and a body count beyond comprehension, Sanford is showing he has lost the ability to write and should stop, but I would imagine the prospect of more and more money will override his judgement. Really sad to see a good writer go down this path. Stay with Michael Connelly and such who maintain a level of excellence that Sanford never reached and never will. By the way, I’ve given some of his previous books 4 stars or more, so it’s not vitriol I’m writing.

Neon Prey is in Sandford’s great police procedural style complete with authentic cop banter. But it’s missing any heart. It’s just boring. At the climax when someone is yelling “what do we do?” my thought was: I don’t care and that sums it up. Maybe too realistic police procedural, a little Keystone Kops running around but with a cannibal and rape…so boring and horrible all at the same time. Just no heart to the story there’s no one to care about.

I am a big fan of the Prey novels and have read most of them, and will keep doing so, but I have noticed in the last few novels by John Sandford that his liberalism is showing more and more, come on Sanford do what you do best and write good books without all the liberal garbage in them.

I didn’t finish it because frankly – I didn’t care. It was so confusing and jumped around too much. There was not enough classic Davenport. Maybe if I would have read it until the end, it would have made more sense. But there are so many books to read and so little time – I just didn’t care to stick with something that was so boring. When I find myself skimming and skipping pages, it is time to go on to something else. I’m not giving up on Davenport but hope for a better story next time.

I’ve read all the Prey books, some of them multiple times. Although I consider Phantom Prey to be the worst book in the series, Neon Prey comes in a close second. I just don’t want to hear Lucas Davenport complaining about being old and his coworkers saying he looks old. The villain was flat and uninteresting. It’s also time to move on from the Marshals Service and get Lucas back to Minneapolis. Bob and Rae just aren’t as compelling as Del, Sloan, Jenkins, Shrake and Marcy. Maybe the next book could take place back when Lucas was with the BCA, which would be more interesting. I’ve found that several of my favorite authors, Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, and now John Sandford seem at a loss as to what to to do with their aging characters. Maybe going back to the past when they were younger and setting a book in that time period is the answer.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member