A Cool Breeze on the Underground

This fast-paced thriller is full of delightfully quirky characters you can count on to do the unexpected. Neal Carey, a bright, streetwise kid, lives with his junkie mother, doing the best he can to put food on the table and stay out of the way of mom’s pimp. Then, he meets Joe Graham, who quickly becomes his mentor in everything he needs to know to take care of himself. Showing exceptional potential, Neal is quickly adopted by a mysterious organization called Friends of the Family, who solve problems for a chosen clientele by any means possible. After years of training, Neal goes to London on his first critical mission, where all hell breaks loose. Full of violence, crazy plot twists, and witty dialog, this is a book you won’t want show more to put down until the last page. show less

The Kitteridge Bank, owned by a small Rhode Island family, has thrived over the years, in part, thanks to a small, off the books, department known as Friends of the Family. It specializes in helping out the bank's richer customers by providing services that they would like hidden. Joe Graham, one of their detectives "adopted" Neal, a street urchin, taught him some of the less savory aspects of the business, but also sent him to college and grad school where he now wants nothing better than to teach 18th century English Lit. Unfortunately, a vice-president wanna-be, needs Neal to find their daughter before the Democratic National Convention just a few weeks down the road so they can control the spin on their daughter's decadent and show more runaway life and it seems they believe Neal is the only one with the street and upper crust smarts to do the job.

There is some marvelous writing and imagery, much of it tongue-in-cheek. I loved the scene when Neal is picked up by the African safari guide who drives like a maniac, has only been in 2 or three life-threatening accidents, and who tailgates in a way that resembles "sodomizing a dairy truck." He also has hundreds of first editions including a very special annotated book by Smollett, the subject of Neal's thesis. Then Winslow manages to ruminate on all things London while Neal tries to find the girl by sitting on a park bench and traveling the subways. Never having been to London, I have no idea if he is spot on, but I suspect as much. Neal has just nine weeks to find the girl and he is not to bring her back early or later than August 1st. And his graduate school subsidy hangs in the balance.

Soon, it's con on con. Mix in the reportedly non-existant Smollett first edition Pickle, some delightfully seventies punk characters, a Chinese gang, and a bank that provides extra services to its clients and you have a marvelous romp. You'll love it. show less

I have been pretty sick, mostly unable to focus on even simple audiobooks let alone anything in text format or anything with depth. This book was a good choice under the circumstances. Simple as it is it still took me a week to listen to. Slowly but surely I made it to the end. This was Don Winslow's first book. You can see the beginnings of the talented writer to come, but there is also a lot here that feels contrived and/or borrowed from other crime dramas, (and IMO many of the crime dramas borrowed from were not great to start.) We do get the beginnings of a good detective character so that is a positive thing. This is for the Winslow completists.

I had read two other books in this series, so I finally got around to reading the first! And I'm so glad that I did! We get a lot of background on Neal and how he became who he is, and how Graham fits in to his life and upbringing, and it's all fun to read! (especially how Graham uses his prosthesis to "catch" Neal!) We also learn about the foundation of Friends Of The Family, and that's a good tale too! The "main" story is good too, Neal goes to London to find a gal, but it's much more complicated than all that! Don't let the lame cover fool you, this is a good read indeed!

Somehow Don Winslow's early books escaped me. But, I've got 'em now and A Cool Breeze is the first. It introduces Neal Carey, a detective from the other side. Neal was a nearly abandoned street kid who was 'adopted' by an agent for a kind of underground fraternity. My explanation makes not sense, I know… You really have to read it to get it. But, reading it is what I recommend anyway. Winslow has a fabulously witty voice and his plots and his characters make his books a treat. I have four more of his here on my shelf that I haven't read yet. It's like having a pot of gold.

Neal is a Dickensian criminal with a desire to do well but not at the expense of a pragmatic approach to solving the immediate problem. The problem is that some egocentric, narcissistic, “cool" criminal has physical possession of Allie, or Alice, a damsel in distress. Neal, trained in criminal ways since age 13 by mentor Graham, is sent to find Allie with promises of money and future benefits if he succeeds within a certain time frame. But Allie loves drugs and pimp Colin. Allie seemingly enjoys her life and doesn't want to leave it. How this plays out is why you want to read the book. There is sufficient action at a pace that keeps the reader attached. Very minimal sex will segments will not offend any but the strictest prude. There show more is a surprise traitor thrown in, but to reveal the identity would be a spoiler. show less

Neal Carey is a graduate student who simply wants to be left alone to finish up his Masters in literature. But, Neal also happens to be a P.I. A P.I. who works for "The Family." They took him in as a "friend" of the "Family" when his drug addict mother failed to follow through on her duties. Then the "Family" paid for Neal to go to college. So, when the "Family" comes knocking on Neal's door to put his P.I. skills to work finding Allie Chase, the missing daughter of Senator Chase, Neal doesn't have much choice but to comply.

Senator Chase is in contention for the vice presidency and he needs his missing, drug-addict daughter home and clean for a wholesome family appearance before the Democratic Convention. Allie was spotted in London and show more that's where Neal heads and finds more adventure than he had planned.

A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND is Don Winslow's first book in the Neal Carey series. I listened to this one on audio. It was read by Joe Barrett who did a very nice job with voicing the various characters. He didn't grow overly dramatic and his inflections were well-placed and timed. I enjoyed his reading of this book.

Winslow's characters are superb. He did make use of the damsel in distress, which I'm not especially fond of, but he saved himself from my bigger pet peeve at the conclusion of the novel, but to avoid spoilers, I'll let you find that one out for yourself.

I absolutely loved "Dad." Joe Graham is the man who taught Neal everything he knows about P.I. work. And Neal refers to him as "Dad." Joe has an artificial arm, which amusingly plays a role in how Neal and Joe end up meeting. Throughout the book Winslow flashes back to various events in Neal's P.I. "education." The relationship between Neal and Graham is humorous and vital to understanding both characters.

COOL BREEZE's plot is a mover, filled with plenty of twists, as Neal explains, the life of a P.I. is lies.

A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND is a fast, funny, enjoyable beginning to the Neal Carey series. I look forward to reading more. show less