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Rogue Prey: A Leon Cazador Thriller
Each hunter has the same equipment—a sniper rifle, five bullets and a machete. An even killing field.
A corrupt organization in Spain is selling the ultimate thrill. They cater to rich amateur game-hunters who hunger for the privilege of stalking and killing human prey. Their targets are non-persons. In effect, the vile process gets rid of illegal immigrants.
Enter Leon Cazador—a half-English, half-Spanish private investigator who occasionally assists the authorities. Eager to take down this immoral organization, he’s tasked with going full cloak-and-dagger.
But when his cover is blown and he’s forced to join nine other captives, will he become the hunters’ ultimate prey?
A corrupt organization in Spain is selling the ultimate thrill. They cater to rich amateur game-hunters who hunger for the privilege of stalking and killing human prey. Their targets are non-persons. In effect, the vile process gets rid of illegal immigrants.
Enter Leon Cazador—a half-English, half-Spanish private investigator who occasionally assists the authorities. Eager to take down this immoral organization, he’s tasked with going full cloak-and-dagger.
But when his cover is blown and he’s forced to join nine other captives, will he become the hunters’ ultimate prey?
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2022
2 people are currently reading
1 person want to read
About the author
Nik Morton
69 books41 followersNik Morton is the author of a collection of 23 crime short stories collected in Leon Cazador, P.I., a romantic thriller series Catalyst, Catacomb and Cataclysm, Write a Western in 30 Days, three psychic spy Cold War thrillers Mission: Prague, Mission: Tehran, and Mission: Khyber, a romantic crime thriller An Evil Trade, a vampire thriller set in Malta, Chill of the Shadow, and five other collections of his short stories: Gifts from a Dead Race (sci-fi, horror, fantasy), Nourish a Blind Life (sci-fi, horror, fantasy), Visitors (westerns), Codename Gaby (historical), I Celebrate Myself (crime and adventure). He is also the author of the noir western Cash Laramie adventures, Bullets for a Ballot and Coffin for Cash, and two sci-fi novellas in Continuity Girl. His fantasy novels Floreskand: Wings, Floreskand: King and Floreskand: Madurava are co-authored with Gordon Faulkner.
Writing as Ross Morton, Nik has 6 Robert Hale western novels published: Death at Bethesda Falls, Last Chance Saloon, The $300 Man, Blind Justice at Wedlock and Old Guns, and The Magnificent Mendozas. He’s the editor of A Fistful of Legends, 21 stories of the Old West.
He sold his first story in 1971 and has had many articles and 120 short stories published, 88 of them in the 5 collection books.
Nik served in the Royal Navy for over twenty years and now lives in north-east England with his linguist/musician wife Jennifer. Their daughter, son-in-law and grandson live nearby. Nik was Editor in Chief of a US Publisher 2011-2013.
Writing as Ross Morton, Nik has 6 Robert Hale western novels published: Death at Bethesda Falls, Last Chance Saloon, The $300 Man, Blind Justice at Wedlock and Old Guns, and The Magnificent Mendozas. He’s the editor of A Fistful of Legends, 21 stories of the Old West.
He sold his first story in 1971 and has had many articles and 120 short stories published, 88 of them in the 5 collection books.
Nik served in the Royal Navy for over twenty years and now lives in north-east England with his linguist/musician wife Jennifer. Their daughter, son-in-law and grandson live nearby. Nik was Editor in Chief of a US Publisher 2011-2013.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 12, 2023
Protagonist Leon Cazador is cut from the same cloth as the genre’s well-known knights in tarnished armour. He has the moral certainty of Earl Swagger; the penchant for a lost cause that motivates Travis McGee, and a skillset to match that of John Rain. Which means he’s the ideal man to untangle a callous conspiracy of heartless human traffickers – and turn the tables on their brutal hunt for helpless victims.
It helps that the bad guys inevitably betray each other, that the thrill-seeking, misogynistic, nouveau riche slimebags are as spineless as they are sadistic. But it would be all too easy for Leon to simply stalk them through the scrublands and mete out jungle justice.
So author Nik Morton complicates the plot with a femme fatale and her paramour, rivalry amongst thieves, back-stabbing and brute force plus – the piece de resistance – a ‘safe haven’ in the hills which turns out to be populated with a most unusual family…
Unlike most modern thrillers where the straw men are set up simply to be knocked down, author Morton takes considerable care in building each character’s back story. The initial premise of the story seems fairly straightforward, but you soon become enmeshed in the intricate plot which elevates this thriller beyond the standard running-shouting-shooting match. Ditto the extensive research, which details the calibre of the firearms, the forging of the knife blade – even unto the powerplant of the whirlybird that stalks our hero from the sky!
The good news is (spoiler alert!) that if you enjoy this first full-length Leon Cazador story then there are two more in the series.
8/10
It helps that the bad guys inevitably betray each other, that the thrill-seeking, misogynistic, nouveau riche slimebags are as spineless as they are sadistic. But it would be all too easy for Leon to simply stalk them through the scrublands and mete out jungle justice.
So author Nik Morton complicates the plot with a femme fatale and her paramour, rivalry amongst thieves, back-stabbing and brute force plus – the piece de resistance – a ‘safe haven’ in the hills which turns out to be populated with a most unusual family…
Unlike most modern thrillers where the straw men are set up simply to be knocked down, author Morton takes considerable care in building each character’s back story. The initial premise of the story seems fairly straightforward, but you soon become enmeshed in the intricate plot which elevates this thriller beyond the standard running-shouting-shooting match. Ditto the extensive research, which details the calibre of the firearms, the forging of the knife blade – even unto the powerplant of the whirlybird that stalks our hero from the sky!
The good news is (spoiler alert!) that if you enjoy this first full-length Leon Cazador story then there are two more in the series.
8/10
September 16, 2022
This is basically Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond enters THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, with all the necessary high tension, drama, sex and violence - as well as a grisly trip into CHAINSAW MASSACRE land.
It’s brutally fun and feels like a throwback to 1970's pulp thrillers - the kind you'd find on spinning racks. You’ll want to read it quickly, as it doesn’t let up.
It’s brutally fun and feels like a throwback to 1970's pulp thrillers - the kind you'd find on spinning racks. You’ll want to read it quickly, as it doesn’t let up.
February 17, 2023
When writing a novel it’s often useful to create a back-story for the main character(s). Naturally, that will depend on your character(s); each will be different. It will help explain his or her motivation, fears, strengths, and capabilities. You may not begin with many details but as the novel progresses keep adding to that back-story as other characters (possibly from your protagonist’s past) interact.
I created Leon Cazador for a short story in 2005, actually for a writing prompt in the local Writers’ Circle. As I was living in Spain at the time and I was setting the tale in that country, I decided to make him a half-English, half-Spanish private investigator.
Many years ago, I’d been a fan of Leslie Charteris’ Saint books and hankered after creating a modern-day version. The idea of outwitting the con-man, the crooked dealer and the deceivers in society has always appealed. At the time, I was supplying a monthly short story to a local English colour magazine, as well as articles and film reviews. The editor liked the Cazador tale so I decided to use him again, producing a monthly Cazador story for the magazine, many of them based on real events and real people, all of them in the first person.
As the stories evolved, so did Leon’s back-story. Such as when I realized I had to explain how Cazador subsisted. Plenty of do-gooders managed on fees from clients – Travis McGee or Simon Templar, for example – while others were independently rich. Having read that the centuries’ old Knights Templar treasure was still unfound, and there was a strong possibility it could be in Spain, I set to work and everything fell into place.
Readers and reviewers enjoyed the short stories but clamoured for a longer work about Leon. For a few years I’d been mulling over the central theme of Rogue Prey until finally certain ingredients from the real world emerged to make it work.
The back-story – which you can find here: http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/202...
– has served me well for the first three novels featuring Leon.
I created Leon Cazador for a short story in 2005, actually for a writing prompt in the local Writers’ Circle. As I was living in Spain at the time and I was setting the tale in that country, I decided to make him a half-English, half-Spanish private investigator.
Many years ago, I’d been a fan of Leslie Charteris’ Saint books and hankered after creating a modern-day version. The idea of outwitting the con-man, the crooked dealer and the deceivers in society has always appealed. At the time, I was supplying a monthly short story to a local English colour magazine, as well as articles and film reviews. The editor liked the Cazador tale so I decided to use him again, producing a monthly Cazador story for the magazine, many of them based on real events and real people, all of them in the first person.
As the stories evolved, so did Leon’s back-story. Such as when I realized I had to explain how Cazador subsisted. Plenty of do-gooders managed on fees from clients – Travis McGee or Simon Templar, for example – while others were independently rich. Having read that the centuries’ old Knights Templar treasure was still unfound, and there was a strong possibility it could be in Spain, I set to work and everything fell into place.
Readers and reviewers enjoyed the short stories but clamoured for a longer work about Leon. For a few years I’d been mulling over the central theme of Rogue Prey until finally certain ingredients from the real world emerged to make it work.
The back-story – which you can find here: http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/202...
– has served me well for the first three novels featuring Leon.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews