A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND

by Don Winslow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 20, 1991

First-novelist Winslow writes of former street-kid now improbably turned Smollett scholar Neal Carey, who's pressed by his one-armed mentor Joe Graham, of the sinister errand-runners Friends of the Family, to take off for London after drugged-out teen Allie Chase, whose VP-hopeful dad wants her cleaned up and at his side in time for the Democratic convention. Complications follow, however: Neal doesn't want to miss an exam (graduate English, Columbia) for the trip; Allie took off because Sen. Chase abused and raped her; he isn't her real father and may not really want her back in one piece; Allie has hooked up with a nasty pimp with heavy drug connections who doesn't want her leaving; the safe house Joe finds for Neal in London contains, among other treasures, a tempting Smollett first edition; while everybody--from the pimp and his connections to a semi-crooked hotel cop to Sen. Chase and his lady--is ready to double-cross everybody else to get money, or control of new drug turf, or insurance against ending up in the wrong section of Newsweek. But Neal deals with these obstacles stylishly, and so does author Winslow, once you get over the gobs of flashback to Neal's troubled youth and the innumerable pearls of street wisdom (""A civilian sees the crowd; a street man sees his way through the crowd""). Promising tough stuff--though it might be better to sit out the top-heavy exposition and wait for the promised sequels.

Pub Date: Feb. 20, 1991

ISBN: 1453206175

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1991

Categories: FICTION