Neon Prey

February 25, 2019
In Thriller Award–winner Sandford’s lackluster 29th thriller featuring Deputy U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport (after 2018’s Twisted Prey), New Orleans attorney and loan shark Roger Smith hires enforcer Clayton Deese to send a violent message to Howell Paine after Paine refuses to pay back the thousands he borrowed. The assignment goes awry when Paine resists and manages to bite off “like a feral tomcat, wrenching his head from side to side... a half-dollar-sized chunk of meat” from Deese’s leg. The cops come for Deese later that day, leading to the thug’s arrest on federal racketeering charges. After Deese fails to show up for his trial and his ankle monitor stops working, two of Davenport’s colleagues are sent to Louisiana to track down Deese. They don’t find him, but they do discover the fugitive had buried multiple bodies in the woods behind his home. That the remains were partially cannibalized before burial brings in Davenport, whose political connections enable him to choose his own assignments. Davenport pursues Deese across the country to Las Vegas, Nev., but the plot never gathers much steam, and an unrealistic twist in the final confrontation with Deese is another minus. Fans will hope for a return to form next time. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

March 15, 2019
Deese is a New Orleans hit man who works mostly for a lawyer and loan shark named Roger Smith. It's worked well through the years, though Smith has never known about Deese's propensity for cannibalizing his murder victims. When a burial ground linked to Deese is found with several munched-on corpses, U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport is called to assist the FBI in tracking Deese. With the help of federal agents Bob and Rae (a longstanding series joke referencing the comedy duo Bob and Ray), Davenport follows the trail to Los Angeles, where Deese has hooked up with a home-invasion crew, who have been hugely successful preying on anonymous Southern California multimillionaires. They terrorize but never injure, and then walk away with cash, jewelry, and valuable art. It's a good gig. But as soon as Deese shows up, it all goes to hell. His violence changes the dynamic and brings law enforcement too close, prompting the crew to head for Las Vegas, which is where Lucas, Bob, and Rae close in. The Prey novels are wildly entertaining with their clever plotting, mordant humor, and smart-ass dialogue. This one doesn't break the pattern.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)