John Sandford’s latest incarnation of Lucas Davenport is a solid winner. Moving Davenport out of his Minneapolis comfort zone and into the arms of the U.S. Marshals Service is a stroke of genius by Sandford, as it gives him the opportunity to place his protagonist in an apparently limitless array of geographical settings.

The wheels in NEON PREY start moving when a low-level, low-life loan shark enforcer named Clayton Deese skips bail. The U.S. Marshals who go looking for him come up empty-handed in a way, but find much more than they bargained for. A search of Deese’s cabin and its swampy land in a rural patch of Louisiana lead to the discovery of a number of graves. Their initial interest in Deese was to use him as a conduit to get to his boss, an attorney whose illegal activities provided most of the lucre for his lifestyle. Now, though, they have plenty of reasons to go after Deese himself.

"NEON PREY has everything, which should be more than enough incentive for you to jump aboard or remain a fan of one of the best and longest-running series of any genre that is regularly published."

Davenport and his team are called in, and with an FBI agent along for the ride, the hunt for Deese is on. But Deese has no intention of going down easily as he travels to southern California to hook up with his brother. He puts the squeeze on his boss for money to leave the country while assembling a gang of sorts as an alternative income stream. When the California heat gets too warm, the quartet heads to Las Vegas with Davenport and company in pursuit.

Meanwhile, the only people in any danger from Deese are those who have the misfortune to cross his path. There is an interesting wrinkle to his personality makeup that, while not unheard of, is uncommon enough to make him one of Davenport’s most memorable and grisly antagonists. Davenport does not see the end of the book without injury, and while the wound is not career-threatening, it certainly provides him with room for contemplation. That, however, is a can that he and Sandford can kick down the highway for a bit longer.

NEON PREY has everything, from a frightening villain and a shopping mall shootout to a generous slice of desert noir that makes Davenport’s change of occupations worthwhile all by itself. The relationship between U.S. Marshals Rae Givens and Bob Matees is further clarified while their respective characters are fleshed out just a bit more. Perhaps they aren’t quite ready to step up to their own series at this point, but they could be groomed for something like that down the road. Speaking of which, expectant father Virgil Flowers makes a cameo appearance here while possibly leading Davenport into his next book.

As I said, NEON PREY has everything, which should be more than enough incentive for you to jump aboard or remain a fan of one of the best and longest-running series of any genre that is regularly published. Go get it.