A Cool Breeze on the Underground

By: Don Winslow

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

“One of America’s greatest storytellers.” (Stephen King)

Neal Carey is not your usual private eye. A graduate student at Columbia University, he grew up on the streets of New York, usually on the wrong side of the law. Then he met a PI who introduced him to the Bank, an exclusive institution with a sideline in keeping its wealthy clients happy and out of trouble. They pay Neal’s college tuition, and Neal gets an education that can’t be found in any textbook, from learning how to trail a suspect to mastering the proper way to search a room.

Now it’s payback time. The Bank wants Neal to put his skills to work in finding Allie Chase, the rebellious teenage daughter of a prominent senator. The problem is that she’s gone underground in the London punk scene. To get her back, Neal has to follow her into a violent netherworld where drugs run rampant and rage is the name of the game.

©1991 Don Winslow (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A fresh voice, immensely likeable....Winslow shows he's got what it takes to hook a reader....Where he goes next with Neal is anyone's guess, but it's bound to be a great ride." (Mystery Scene)
"A flair for language, quick wit, and detail complete a winning first novel." (Library Journal)
"Winslow keeps his plot moving quickly despite many twists and turns." (Pittsburgh Press)

This thing's fun!

Don Winslow's a talented craftsman. The story's about a backward Pygmalion. This time the waif's a male,but the Professor's every bit the taskmaster. It's a caper tale that kept me happy from the start on. Of course Joe Barrett's a vocal master. I cannot imagine how he manages to age his characters as the plot develops. Yep, A Cool Breeze blew 15 stars out of my hard-to-please wallet.

Funny, suspenseful, good characters

I was introduced to Don Winslow by reading "The Power of the Dog" which is a tour de force in a genre I would call reality fiction. That book was obviously well researched and I learned a lot about the history, and hypocrisy of the "war on drugs.” "A Cool Breeze on the Underground" is the first in a series that I found hugely enjoyable although not as hard hitting as "The Power of the Dog" or even Winslow's more recent fiction that is set in southern California.
Hard hitting or not, I recommend "A Cool Breeze on the Underground" and for that matter, I recommend all of Don Winslow's fiction.I wish he was still writing the Neal Carey series in addition to his other excellent fiction. The story grabs your attention and keeps it to the end and along the way you will find humor as well as some thought provoking subject matter.
Joe Barrett does an excellent job portraying the somewhat quirky characters.

Joe Barrett and Don Winslow.what a pair of winners

My second Don Winslow novel but first narrated by Joe Barrett is a truly compulsive listening experience.

Though I very much enjoyed the plot with it's plot of Neil and all the back story with the senator, Alli, and the other various characters from a Senator hoping to be Vice President to the pimp that push Alli into the streets, I really connected with Joe Barrets narration. He's great!

I loved this book and am looking forward to other Neil Carry stories in this series. and I'll be also looking for more narrated by Joe Barrett!

Well wrath a credit...but only if you want to purchase the other novels in this series..they are addicting!

Decent Thriller with excellent narration

This is a pretty good thriller set in London. Hired to protect the interests of clients of a large bank Neal Carey has to find a senators daughter in London and convince her to return. She has fallen into a bad crowd so things get complicated and violent quickly. I like Don Winslow books because his dialogue is so great. Fun book to listen to and would recommend to anyone who like this genre. However his California Fire and Life is better.

Joe Barrett is one of the better narrators on audible and turns in another superb performance.

A little bit tough and a lot of smarts

Don Winslow has the style of a race car driver with ability of the football coach to cal the run play or pass play at just the right time.

Excellent!

This was an excellent story. Excellent performance. And yes I would definitely listen to another Don Winslow book.

A bit disconnected

This is an interesting twist for Don. It's OK. It doesn't have the flair of Frankie Machine, The Gentleman's Club, Savages, and other books exploring life is So Cal. It tries, but that's a high bar to reach. It is an interesting story with plenty of good drama that will keep you intrigued.

Violet

A bit long and tedious. Story ok. Narrator good long time getting to the point

amazingly unique!

maybe about 4 hammy parts, but on the whole had plusses too many to count.

Boy version of Veronica Mars

If you could sum up A Cool Breeze on the Underground in three words, what would they be?

Character Driven Interesting

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the background and flashbacks and the gritty parts that made it feel like you were seeing all the dirty laundry of the Hamptons and then transported to punk scene of London.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration matched the story perfectly. English accents,southern accents and all the rest.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A young detective an old family a new life.