Customer Reviews

A Cool Breeze on the Underground (The Neal Carey Mysteries)

This is a brisk, immensely enjoyable updating of the private eye and noir genres. When we first meet Neal Carey he's a graduate student at Columbia, working on a degree in 18th Century English Literature. But then he receives a call from his "Dad," Joe Graham, who turns out to be the one-armed dwarf who sort of adopted Neal when he was eleven years old and running the streets. A series of flashbacks shows Graham teaching Neal how to survive and grooming him for an eventual position trouble shooting for a shadowy organization called Friends of the Family, who look after the interests of the wealthy clients of the Kitteridge family bank in Providence, RI. Over the years, Neal learned everything from how to tail people to how to search a room without anyone ever knowing, and in the course of these unusual studies, Joe realized that Neal was a gifted student. Eventually the Friends send him to school, but now they need him for a special assignment.
It's 1976 and with Jimmy Carter likely to win the Democratic presidential nomination, he's expected to look for a northern running mate. Senator John Chase of Rhode Island has a decent shot at the job, but there's one significant skeleton in his closet : his troublesome teenage daughter has run away to London. Now it's up to Neal to go find her and bring her back in time for the Convention.
Neal is a streetwise and sassy hero, which makes for plenty of snappy banter. And the London he arrives in is in the midst of the birth of punk rock, which provides an unusually anarchic backdrop to the action. Add in a priceless first edition of Tobias Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle and a double-crosser within the Friends and you've got a mystery that cleverly mixes elements of classic noir with various innovations of the author's own. Imagine Oliver Twist by way of Raymond Chandler with a soundtrack by The Clash, and you'll capture something of the spirit of the story. It all makes for great fun and I look forward to reading the subsequent books in the series.
GRADE : A-

This is a fabulous book, introducing the reader to fascinating characters (Neal Carey, Joe Graham, etc). As the first in a series of Neal Carey mysteries, this is the perfect book to drag you in and hook you, leaving you wanting more. The story is fascinating, and the driving plot makes this a page-turner. And how can you not fall in love with these charatcters?This is one of the best detective mysteries I've read, and I reccommend it to ALL my friends. READ IT!

I read this after loving California Fire And Life (by the same author). What I found was Neal Carey, a wonderful plot, some great dialogue and Don Winslow taking another step up the ladder of my favorite writers.
This book is intriguing, gripping and fun. It is filled with detail and an insight that leaves the reader enriched for the experience. Novels that flit from city to city seldom manage to capture the feel of the setting with any great detail but Don Winslow finds a way to take you from New York to London and have you believe he's lived in both places all of his life. The scenes in Yorkshire are a little stereotyped, but that's nitpicking in the extreme.
Neal Carey is an excellent character, hard, streetwise and compassionate, backed up ably by Joe Graham and a smart mouth. The story is well told and unfortunately believable.

This is my first experience reading a mystery by Don Winslow. I was intrigued by the character development of Neal Carey and Joe Graham. The writing is fun, witty and riveting at times. This is a perfect beach read or long winter evening read. It's a hoot!

Don Winslow's debut novel is scary good. The writing is completely self-assured. The comedic moments and sarcasm are well constructed. And he has created an interesting and hugely appealing main character for a series, and surrounded him with several interesting back plots and secondary characters.

This is a book that will teach you a lot. You'll learn things you didn't know about 18th century English literature, how to tail someone and not get caught, the best way to score drugs in London, and the finer points of picking a load for a shotgun. It will also show you that Don Winslow is a master at scattering gems like that through a book with a fast moving plot, richly drawn characters, and a very good sense of place.

I've read several other books by Winslow. I especially liked The Winter of Frankie Machine, California Fire and Life, and The Power of the Dog. I backtracked my way into the Neal Carey series and was amazed to find that his debut novel is as good as any of his best works.

I don't know how someone comes out of the starting gate with such a well-written first effort, but Winslow has done it. Bravo. I recommend this highly.

Told with a page-turning mix of flashback and "current" time, the plot has some surprises, including the satisfying denouement. Just as interesting is the way the reader gets a look at the education of an investigator. I'm not one myself, but I almost feel like I could be a PI -- with this book, and plenty of practice. First in a series; the second is out in hardback

This is the first of 5 novels featuring Neal Carey, and it was my first encounter with the author. I just loved the style and and the bizarre characters. The protagonist Neal Carey is described in great detail; the first part is nearly a biography, but was not uninteresting or irrelevant to what was to come. With everything pointing toward an exciting climax and conclusion, the author seems to run out of ideas. I found the final switcheroo completely unrealistic and unacceptable, given the context of what had gone before, given the characters involved, and given their health and state of mind. What a letdown. Doesn't an author have a responsibility to his own characters and plot not to just flick it in? It's as if the author had run up against a deadline and had to hurriedly wrap it up. Even given that this was his first publication, I was left wary about reading other books of his. I'll wait for one for which reviewers are unreservedly reassuring.

Well what can I say, this is a fascinating book. I fell in love with Neal and his clever comebacks for Levine and everyone else who gave him crap halfway through the book and by the end I was wishing he was a real guy! Way to go Don Winslow I would also recommend California Fire And Life, its heavy stuff but it totally knocked me out :)

I liked the book-characters, plot and locations-but come on Don, you're an accomplished author. Who's editing your work? The typos are terrible! Maybe it was the Kindle version...

The story itself was solid but there are huge passages that grind things to a halt. I hate having to skim from boredom but there are a few places where the reader can click through multiple pages and not lose any of the core story.

Not a must buy but a fun, suspensful read.

Winslow my favourite author, this book not one of his best - even then, very entertaining with the usual humour