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A Cool Breeze on the Underground

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A Cool Breeze on the Underground

By: Don Winslow
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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About this listen

“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. Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense

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)
All stars
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If you are looking for a thriller off the beaten track, then I urge you to try this book. Very well written and plotted with a lot of well drawn and likeable characters, a good mix of thrills and humour, the book hooks you from the off, and it is difficult to break away from from listening so well does the narrative bowl along.

The narration is pretty good too, though there is some unintended hilarity with the many British accents the narrator tries to put across; never has an East-end Londoner or a Yorkshireman sounded quite like this! Oddly enough though, the narrator stills gets the characters well and this doesn't detract from the overall narration or the story.

Strongly recommended. I shall certainly be exploring other works by Don Winslow - one to look out for to be sure.

a quirky and very enjoyable thriller

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It is good twisty plot with some great characters, none of whom are perfect.
Other commentators have mentioned the accents. The English, Scottish and Irish ones do tend to wander a bit between but I didn’t find it a massive drag on my enjoyment.

Good story, full of twists, voice characterisation could be better.

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An American observes the real London. One of those books I didn't want to end. My first Don Winslow - where have you been all my life? Great story. Fabulous writing - the drugged up punk music concert must be the finest example of psychic distance / stream of consciousness. Brilliant.

Captivated

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I enjoyed the story and wouldn't have thought the accents were important but the British ones were a bit distracting.

That wasn't enough to stop me listening, I wanted to know the outcome because I cared about the main characters, which is a sign of a great book to me. Maybe I'd have enjoyed this better reading the book

Good Story - Weird Accents

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Very good story, and the reader was perfect. I remember 1991 and I think this is very much in the essence of the times. Might be a few rough spots for younger readers that are more sensitive to certain aspects of the story ie use of slurs and attitudes towards women. All in all a good experience

Good story & great reading

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