Book Talk: Sandford, ‘Gathering Prey’

Imagine the Merry Pranksters from Ken Kesey’s Beat-Generation classic, On the Road. They were the motley crew who traveled across the United States with the author in a “psychedelically” painted school bus, holding parties, and passing out the hallucination-producing drug of choice for the Beats (and later, the Hippies): LSD. Their motto was “the obliteration of the entire nation.” In 2014, prankster Ken Babbs explained, “…not taken literally of course.” They didn’t kidnap, rape, or kill anyone.

That is not the case in John Sandford’s Gathering Prey (2015, 416 pages in hardback edition). In this, his 25th “Prey” novel, the crew is led by Porter Pilate, a cult leader who is described as “the devil” by followers Skye and Henry. Pilate’s “travelers” not only sold drugs, but also raped people, tortured people, and murdered people.

Sandford’s perennial protagonist Lucas Davenport first learns about the travelers from his adopted daughter Letty who encountered Skye and Henry in San Francisco. During her visit to the “City by the Bay,” she became intrigued by the two nomads, buys them a meal, and gives them her phone number in case they ever get to Minneapolis, where the Davenports live. She’s now home from college at Stanford University. In an ominous call from Skye, she’s informed that Henry has “gone missing” and is suspected to be the victim of foul play.