Naked Prey by John Sandford leaves much to be desired. The quote on the book cover from The Washington Post states: ’’All but impossible to put down.’’ Hmmm....I put it down after the first chapter...then a week later, I put it down for a few days after the fourth chapter...I seem to have no problem putting it down at all. In fact, picking it back UP has been ’’all but impossible’’.
I have read many of Sanford’s Prey series and cannot recall feeling this frustrated with his main protagonist, Lucas Davenport, the Director of the OSR. Even Davenport’s title I found confusing. But moreover, I find Lucas Davenport to be cool, inhuman, emotionless and uninvested in the people who cross his path. Here’s a man who dryly refers to his new child as ’’the kid’’. Perhaps Sandford believed this would make his crime-fighting ’hero’ appear tough and rugged....? Personally, I find Davenport boring. Hence, the problem with picking up this book and actually finishing it.
In all fairness, I am 2/3’s of the way through Naked Prey...and I’m praying for the end. As an avid reader, I have a stubborn compulsion to see a book through to its conclusion. Perhaps something will change...perhaps it will get better...perhaps I’ll be selected as a contestant on The Apprentice...(perhaps I’ll get struck by lightning).
Sandford weaves his story with new characters popping up on every page. While driving in the car, I mentioned this to my husband. How can I possibly keep all these people straight? ’’Oops, there’s another one’’. Halfway down that page two more characters appear. Turn the page and you’ll find two more. Crap! Now I have to go back to the first 5 chapters just to remember who these other people are.
Perhaps Sandford thought this might throw me offtrack. ’’My readers will NEVER suspect who the killer is.’’ At this point, I don’t even care who strung up the two naked bodies in the trees. I don’t care about the husband and wife who were shot by __________.
Yet, in Sandford’s defense, he did manage to bring one interesting character into the mix. A young girl, Letty West...I think she’s 12 (going on 45). I could go back and verify her age but then I’d have to weed through the 50+ characters to find that small reference. Letty is a child in body with a spirit older than any child should have. She is the only likeable person in the story. Maybe she’s the reason I’m torturing myself by continuing to read the book.
I’m wondering if perhaps John Sandford is just simply all ’Prey’d’’ out.
Quit while you’re ahead, that’s all I can say. As a writer myself, I truly hate to ’bash’ another writer’s work. But then on the other hand, I want to know what my fans think. And if I get the same comments from different people then I will know what to change.
I want people to LOVE my characters, HATE my characters, be ANNOYED by them, YEARN for them to be their best friend or THANK GOD they don’t know them. Feel something...ANYTHING for them. That is what makes a ’’pageturner’’! Keep it simple! A plot does not need excessive, annoying characters...we don’t need to know the name of the convenience store owner who passes the killer his bag of potatoe chips, or some lady he passes in the street.
If it wasn’t for ’’Letty’’, I’d be giving this book 1 star. Sandford had a great plot idea. But perhaps it’s time for him to put on some ’new clothes’.
Naked Prey is a naked disaster!
P.S. When you feel like you’re being oxygen-deprived, tortured, strangled, and arm-twisted to finish a book, is it really worth reading?