Prey

Prey is a 1996 novel by William W. Johnstone (1938–2004), a genre writer most known for his horror, western, and survivalist stories, of which Prey serves as a blend. The novel is set in the Arkansas Ozarks and reflects a libertarian philosophy toward American life and culture, with characters regularly espousing concerns about “the ever-growing power of big government and the government’s snooping around in citizens’ lives,” in addition to making passing references to the 1983 shooting of Gordon Kahl in Smithville (Lawrence County); the storming of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas; and other such events.

A brief prologue outlines the December 25, 1300, birth of Vlad Dumitru Radu in the Transylvanian Alps of Romania. After this, the scene shifts to Arkansas some 700 years later, with Vlad, an immortal shapeshifter now known as Barry Cantrell (who, in the 1995 book Hunted, went under the name Darry Ransom in Idaho), settling into a rural home in the hills of Arkansas.

Cantrell’s reclusive ways attract the attention of Sheriff Don Salter and local police chief Russ Monroe, but they are preoccupied with the forthcoming arrival of Cliff Madison, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a conservative Republican, for a week’s vacation along the Buffalo River. Specifically, they are worried about what plans might be in the works from local militia types. This includes neo-Nazi Victor Radford as well as Jim Beal, who is part of the Arkansas Freedom Brigade (AFB), which believes “in the complete separation of the races”; the sheriff describes Beal as “a nice guy and a reasonable man.”

Meanwhile, Cantrell is being pursued by both Robert Roche, “one of the five richest men in all the world,” who wants Cantrell for medical study, and Stormy Knight, blond bombshell and ace reporter for the Coyote Network (a stand-in for the Fox Network), who fell in love with him back in Idaho and knows his story.

The Coyote Network has been particularly critical of President Richard “Dick” Hutton, whose popularity has sunk in the wake of various IRS raids, leading “the ultraliberal left of his party” to consider desperate measures for retaining their power. These (presumably Democratic) party members engage the services of John Ravenna, another immortal, who had previously encountered Cantrell during World War II when Ravenna was fighting on the German side. Meanwhile, various goons (employed by Roche) attempt to kidnap Cantrell and later also try to kill Stormy Knight after she arrives with camera operator Ki Nichols in tow. Back in Washington DC, the ultraliberal cadre arrange the assassination of one Senator Holden, a known moderate, making it look like a suicide and leading President Hutton to warn Speaker Madison about a possible plot against his life.

Raising the local political temperature, various organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan (led by Leroy Jim Bob “Bubba” Bordelon) and a chapter of Black Muslims (led by Mohammed Abudu X, also known as Willie Washington), threaten to hold marches in town during Speaker Madison’s visit, which will now coincide with a surprise visit by the president and the first lady, who plan to fly into Little Rock (Pulaski County) and then helicopter up to the area to visit a friend, U.S. Representative Steve Williams (whom the sheriff regards as “a damn sissy liberal puke”). Barry believes that the president is the main target of the coup plotters, who hope to install his more liberal vice president, Adam Thomas, in office. Meanwhile, federal agents arrest Victor Radford on gun charges, but he is shortly released; however, the jail blows up soon thereafter, apparently the work of his followers. In addition, another immortal, Jacques Cornet, has been discovered in the area, killing various people.

On the morning of the dueling public marches (now also featuring gay rights activists), Robert Roche, who has temporarily relocated to the area, succeeds in kidnapping Barry. Stormy gets captured as she and Ki attempt to rescue Barry, who wakes from his drugging and takes out Roche’s hired goons and then forces Roche to strip naked before driving him into the protests and dumping him out. This proves to be the catalyst for mass rioting. While this is going on, the motorcade of the president and speaker is attacked and the president kidnapped. Barry confronts Ravenna, who admits that he was hired to assassinate the president and speaker but had not yet had the chance. Barry locates a bunker nearby and rescues Stormy, and then he finds the bunker where the president is being held and informs federal agents, who then carry out a rescue operation.

Later, in Washington DC, Ravenna brutally murders Senator Madalaine Bowman and other leaders of the ultraliberal faction. Back in Arkansas, Barry and others confront the sheriff, who acknowledges being part of the group tied to the kidnapping of the president before killing himself. The book ends with Barry heading off toward Maine to restart his reclusive life.

For additional information:
Johnstone, William W. Prey. New York: Pinnacle Books, 1996.

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas