CITY OF DREAMS

Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2023
Synopsis:

Following the epic, ambitious, instant New York Times bestseller City on Fire, “The Godfather for our generation” (Adrian McKinty), comes the dramatic second novel in an epic crime trilogy from Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Cartel trilogy (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border).

Hollywood.

The city where dreams are made.

On the losing side of a bloody East Coast crime war, Danny Ryan is now on the run. The Mafia, the cops, the FBI all want him dead or in prison. With his little boy, his elderly father and the tattered remnants of his loyal crew of soldiers, he makes the classic American migration to California to start a new life.

A quiet, peaceful existence.

But the Feds track him down and want Danny to do them a favor that could make him a fortune or kill him.

And when Hollywood starts shooting a film based on his former life, Danny demands a piece of the action and begins to rebuild his criminal empire.

Then he falls in love.

With a beautiful movie star who has a dark past of her own.

As their worlds collide in an explosion that could destroy them both, Danny Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born.

Or where they go to die.

From the shores of Rhode Island to the deserts of California where bodies disappear, from the power corridors of Washington where the real criminals operate to the fabled movie studios of Hollywood where the real money is made, City of Dreams is a sweeping saga of family, love, revenge, survival and the fierce reality behind the dream.

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CITY ON FIRE

Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2021
Synopsis:

The first novel in an epic crime saga about the Irish and Italian crime syndicates in America during the 1980s and 1990s.

Providence, RI, 1986. Twenty-nine-year-old Danny Ryan is a hard-working longshoreman, loving husband, loyal friend, and occasional “muscle” for the Irish crime syndicate that oversees much of the city. He yearns for something more and dreams of starting over fresh, someplace far away. But when a modern-day Helen of Troy triggers a war between rival mob factions, Danny is embroiled in a conflict he can’t escape. Now it is up to him to step into the breach to protect his family, the friends who are closer to him than brothers, and the only home he’s ever known.

Exploring classic themes of loyalty, betrayal, honor, and corruption on both sides of the law, City on Fire is a contemporary Iliad from Don Winslow, “America’s greatest living crime writer” (Jon Land, Providence Journal).

“Superb.” —Stephen King

“A blistering novel filled with anger and bite. . . . Plenty of pain for the characters, plenty of thrills for the reader.” —Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

“Winslow’s epic slow-burner, full of richly layered characters and tender personal struggles, bubbles to an intricate, exciting climax. Crime fiction fans will eagerly await the sequel.” —Publishers Weekly [starred review]

“This completely immersive opening act signals a trilogy in the offing that will possess all the power of Winslow’s celebrated Cartel novels.” —Booklist [starred review]

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BROKEN

Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2020
Synopsis:

In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, Broken is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best. In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.

With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.

“After three epic-scale masterpieces—The Cartel (2015), The Force (2017), and The Border (2019)—Winslow returns with a delicious serving of small plates. . . . A greatest-hits album but with all-new melodies: what could be sweeter?!”
–Booklist [starred review]

“A great collection of short crime fiction.”
–Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

“Fans of the author will eat up these neat, taut, action-packed stories.”
–Library Journal

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THE BORDER

Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2019
Synopsis:

The explosive, highly anticipated conclusion to the epic Cartel trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Force
What do you do when there are no borders? When the lines you thought existed simply vanish? How do you plant your feet to make a stand when you no longer know what side you’re on?

The war has come home.

For over forty years, Art Keller has been on the front lines of America’s longest conflict: The War on Drugs. His obsession to defeat the world’s most powerful, wealthy, and lethal kingpin―the godfather of the Sinaloa Cartel, Adán Barrera―has left him bloody and scarred, cost him the people he loves, even taken a piece of his soul.

Now Keller is elevated to the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster he has created thirty more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in his beloved Mexico. But not just there.

Barrera’s final legacy is the heroin epidemic scourging America. Throwing himself into the gap to stem the deadly flow, Keller finds himself surrounded by enemies―men who want to kill him, politicians who want to destroy him, and worse, the unimaginable―an incoming administration that’s in bed with the very drug traffickers that Keller is trying to bring down.

Art Keller is at war with not only the cartels, but with his own government. And the long fight has taught him more than he ever imagined. Now, he learns the final lesson―there are no borders.

In a story that moves from deserts south of the border to Wall Street, from the slums of Guatemala to the marbled corridors of Washington, D.C., Winslow follows a new generation of narcos, the cops who fight them, the street traffickers, the addicts, the politicians, money-launderers, real-estate moguls, and mere children fleeing the violence for the chance of a life in a new country.

A shattering tale of vengeance, violence, corruption and justice, this last novel in Don Winslow’s magnificent, award-winning, internationally bestselling trilogy is packed with unforgettable, drawn-from-the-headlines scenes. Shocking in its brutality, raw in its humanity, The Border is an unflinching portrait of modern America, a story of—and for—our time.

What they are saying:

“A stunning and timely conclusion to Don Winslow’s drug-war trilogy. . . This is a book for dark, rudderless times, an immersion into fear and chaos. . . You don’t read these books; you live in them.” –New York Times

“Mr. Winslow writes gripping action sequences and wields statistics like a crusading journalist. Grand in scope, audacious in its political portraits, convincing in its socio-economic arguments and humane to the core, The Border is not only a formidable thriller but an important and provocative work.” –Wall Street Journal

“I’m totally swept up. You can’t ask for more emotionally moving entertainment. . . Everyone in America—left, right, and center—should read this book. It’s social fiction to rival Tom Wolfe and John Steinbeck. Focused, angry, suspenseful, occasionally hilarious, always hugely entertaining. . . A harsh, important book.” –Stephen King

“These angry, often heartbreaking books stand as the definitive fictional rendering of an ongoing modern tragedy. . . The Border guides us through a savage, wholly believable world. The result is a powerful—and painful—journey through a contemporary version of hell. Rarely has hell been so compelling.” –Washington Post

“If Dostoevsky slung dope, he might have written the fierce morality tale that Winslow began with The Power of the Dog . . . Truth compacted into narrative by way of meticulous research. . . Eerily prescient and scathing. . . quite simply the most important crime saga in modern literature.” –Arizona Republic

“The Border is intricate, mean and swift, a sprawling canvass of characters. . . Granular detail and sharp dialogue have made his drug war trilogy propulsive and compelling. . . The stories unravel broken lives caught in a mesmerizing mosaic fueled by addiction and haunted by bloodshed.” –Los Angeles Times

“A landmark moment in crime fiction. . . It is Winslow’s remarkable ability to translate the utter fiasco of our 5-year War on Drugs into the most wrenching of human stories, tragedy seemingly without end, that gives this novel its unparalleled power.” –Booklist [starred review]

“Peak page-turner. . . Will rattle your soul in those early-morning hours as you come face to face with all the corruption and depravity in the world. . . The crime-fiction equivalent of The Stand—the kind of compulsive Stephen King-esque epic that captivates and horrifies.” –Globe & Mail

“The Cartel and The Force were high water marks in the genre in terms of ambition and reach, and Winslow has excelled again. . . This is Winslow at his sensational best.” –Financial Times

“Don Winslow’s epic trilogy about America’s longest war comes to a powerful and troubling conclusion.” –Associated Press

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THE FORCE

Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2017
Synopsis:

The acclaimed, award-winning, bestselling author of The Cartel—voted one of the Best Books of the Year by more than sixty publications, including the New York Times—makes his William Morrow debut with a cinematic epic as explosive, powerful, and unforgettable as Mystic River and The Wire.

Our ends know our beginnings, but the reverse isn’t true . . .

All Denny Malone wants is to be a good cop.

He is “the King of Manhattan North,” a, highly decorated NYPD detective sergeant and the real leader of “Da Force.” Malone and his crew are the smartest, the toughest, the quickest, the bravest, and the baddest, an elite special unit given unrestricted authority to wage war on gangs, drugs and guns. Every day and every night for the eighteen years he’s spent on the Job, Malone has served on the front lines, witnessing the hurt, the dead, the victims, the perps. He’s done whatever it takes to serve and protect in a city built by ambition and corruption, where no one is clean—including Malone himself.

What only a few know is that Denny Malone is dirty: he and his partners have stolen millions of dollars in drugs and cash in the wake of the biggest heroin bust in the city’s history. Now Malone is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the Feds, and he must walk the thin line between betraying his brothers and partners, the Job, his family, and the woman he loves, trying to survive, body and soul, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all.

Based on years of research inside the NYPD, this is the great cop novel of our time and a book only Don Winslow could write: a haunting and heartbreaking story of greed and violence, inequality and race, crime and injustice, retribution and redemption that reveals the seemingly insurmountable tensions between the police and the diverse citizens they serve. A searing portrait of a city and a courageous, heroic, and deeply flawed man who stands at the edge of its abyss, The Force is a masterpiece of urban living full of shocking and surprising twists, leavened by flashes of dark humor, a morally complex and utterly riveting dissection of modern American society and the controversial issues confronting and dividing us today.

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THE CARTEL

THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

“Winslow’s drug war version of The Godfather...a big, sprawling, ultimately stunning crime tableau...A magnum opus...Don Winslow is to the Mexican drug wars what James Ellroy is to L.A. Noir.” – Janet Maslin, New York Times

“An epic, gritty south-of-the-border Godfather for our time. You don’t have to read Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog to get swept away by THE CARTEL, its ripped-from-the-headlines sequel, but you should. You should try to get your hands on everything Winslow’s written, because he’s one of the best thriller writers on the planet.” – Benjamin Percy, Esquire

“A Game of Thrones of the Mexican drug wars, a multipart, intricately plotted, blood-soaked epic that tells the story of how America's unquenchable appetite for illegal drugs has brought chaos to our southern neighbors and darkened our own political and criminal culture.” – Will Dana, Rolling Stone

“Clearly one of the most ambitious and most accomplished crime novels to appear in the last 15 years, THE CARTEL will likely retain that distinction even as the twenty-first century grinds on.” – Bill Ott, Booklist

“Hugely hypnotic new thriller...the pace and feel of an exploded documentary...a brilliant and informative work of fiction about a nightmare world that flourishes in the bright light of day.” – Alan Cheuse, NPR Books

“Don Winslow is one of the most durable and important voices in American crime fiction. His examinations of character and corruption turn the narco wars into a relentless, bloody opera.” – Nic Pizzolatto, Creator, Writer and Executive Producer of HBO's True Detective

“Don Winslow delivers his longest and finest novel yet in THE CARTEL. This is the War and Peace of dopewar books. Tense, brutal, wildly atmospheric, stunningly plotted, deeply etched.” – James Ellroy

“The Power of the Dog and THE CARTEL, by Don Winslow: I’m totally swept up. You can’t ask more for emotionally moving entertainment.” – Stephen King

“Don Winslow's THE CARTEL is the most important crime saga of the millennium...This is reporting and expose built around an intricate plot, finely etched characters and whip-crack dialogue. Storytelling that matters.” – Robert Anglen, Arizona Republic

"THE CARTEL is a first rate edge-of-your-seat thriller for sure, but it also continues Winslow’s incisive reporting on the dangers and intricacies of the world we live in. There is no higher mark for a storyteller than to both educate and entertain. With Winslow these aspects are entwined like strands of DNA. He’s a master and this book proves it once again." – Michael Connelly

“Sensationally good, even after the near-perfection of The Power of the Dog. Less of a sequel than an integral part of a solid-gold whole.” – Lee Child

“Winslow is the most fearless chronicler of the chaos and violence along the U.S.-Mexico border...who has written what could be the War and Peace of the War on Drugs.” – Erik Hedegaard, Men's Journal

“THE CARTEL is a gut-punch of a novel. Big, ambitious, violent and widely entertaining, Don Winslow's latest is an absolute must-read.” – Harlan Coben

“Steeped in reportage, the novel possesses a virtue I associate with traditional documentaries: it explains things. I finished the book understanding why Juárez is so violent; why cartels murder so many innocent people; why both the American and Mexican governments favor some cartels over others; and why the war on drugs is not just futile, but morally compromised. It’s here that fiction and documentary come together.” – John Powers, NPR Fresh Air

“Winslow has delivered two of the most emotionally resonant novels in the past decade, The Power of the Dog and its epic conclusion, THE CARTEL...his rapid-fire story hits you like bullets from an AK-47.” – Ivy Pochoda, Los Angeles Times

“High-octane...The righteous indignation that fuels Winslow’s tale of cops, cartels, and the near-apocalyptic havoc they can create is addictive.” – Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly

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THE KINGS OF COOL

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2012
Synopsis:

In Savages, Don Winslow introduced Ben and Chon, twenty-something best friends who risk everything to save the girl they both love, O. Among the most celebrated literary thrillers in recent memory, Savages was a Top 10 Book of 2010 selection by Janet Maslin in the New York Times and Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly as well as Sarah Weinman in The Los Angeles Times and publications around the world.

Now, in his high-octane prequel, Winslow reaches back in time to tell the story of how Ben, Chon, and O became the people they are. Spanning from 1960s Southern California to the recent past, it is a tale of family in all its forms—fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, friends and lovers. As the younger generation does battle with a cabal of drug dealers and crooked cops, they come to learn that their future is inextricably linked with their parents’ history. A series of breakneck twists and turns puts the two generations on a collision course, culminating in a stunning showdown that will ultimately force Ben, Chon, and O to choose between their real families and their love for each other.

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SATORI

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Year: 2011
Synopsis:

Nicholai Hel – genius, mystic, and the perfect, formidable assassin – was first introduced to readers in Shibumi, the classic #1 bestseller by master storyteller Trevanian. Now critically acclaimed author Don Winslow continues Hel’s story for the first time in this all-new, blockbuster thriller SATORI.

It is the fall of 1951, and the Korean War is raging. Twenty-six-year-old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is a master of hoda korosu, or “naked kill,” is fluent in seven languages, and has honed extraordinary “proximity sense” – an extra-awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world’s most fearsome assassin and now the CIA needs him.

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THE GENTLEMEN’S HOUR

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2011
Synopsis:

Laid back, ultra–California cool, the former cop turned PI begins each day with the Dawn Patrol, a close-knit group of surfers, best friends who not only ride waves together but have one another’s backs out of the water. It’s the life Boone loves, all he wants. To him, “There’s no such thing as a bad day at the beach.” So when one of their own is murdered—especially an icon like Kelly Kuhio, a local hero—and another surfer, a young punk from the Rockpile Crew, stands accused, the small world of Pacific Beach is rocked to its core.

Boone knows he can no longer ignore the painful truth that violence is seeping into the surfing community. But when he agrees to help the defense, the outrage he courts from the community, and the Dawn Patrol, is more than he ever anticipated. He’s risking losing the relationships that define his life— just when he needs them most.

As Boone digs deeper into San Diego’s murkier side, delving into places the city’s reputation conscious establishment would rather he left alone, it becomes clear that more than a murder case is at stake. He soon finds himself out there alone, struggling to stay afloat as the waves get rougher and rougher . . . and more deadly. It’s The Gentlemen’s Hour—and it could be Boone’s last.

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SAVAGES

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2010
Synopsis:

Part-time environmentalist and philanthropist Ben and his ex-mercenary buddy Chon run a Laguna Beach–based marijuana operation, reaping significant profits from their loyal clientele. In the past when their turf was challenged, Chon took care of eliminating the threat. But now they may have come up against something that they can’t handle—the Mexican Baja Cartel wants in, and sends them the message that a “no” is unacceptable. When they refuse to back down, the cartel escalates its threat, kidnapping Ophelia, the boys’ playmate and confidante. O’s abduction sets off a dizzying array of ingenious negotiations and gripping plot twists that will captivate readers eager to learn the costs of freedom and the price of one amazing high.

*Voted Top Ten book of 2010 by The New York Times

*Voted Top Ten Book of 2010 by The Los Angeles Times

*Voted Top Ten Book of 2010 by Entertainment Weekly

*Voted Top Ten Book of 2010 by Chicago Sun Times

*Voted Top Ten Book of 2010 by January Magazine

*Voted Top Ten Book of 2010 by Stephen King

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THE DAWN PATROL

Publisher: Knopf
Year: 2008
Synopsis:

The author of The Winter of Frankie Machine (“another instant classic”—Lee Child) is back with a razor-sharp novel as cool and unbridled as its California surfer heroes, as heart-stopping as a wave none of them sees coming.

Boone Daniels lives to surf. Every morning he’s out in the break off Pacific Beach with the other members of The Dawn Patrol: four men and one woman as single-minded about surfing as he is. Or nearly. They have “real j-o-b-s”; Boone works as a PI just enough to keep himself in fish tacos and wet suits—and in the water whenever the waves are “epic macking crunchy.”

But Boone is also obsessed with the unsolved case of a young girl named Rain who was abducted back when he was on the San Diego police force. He blames himself—just as almost everyone in the department does—for not being able to save her. Now, when he can’t say no to a gorgeous, bossy lawyer who wants his help investigating an insurance scam, he’s unexpectedly staring at a chance to make some amends—and take some revenge—for Rain’s disappearance. It might mean missing the most colossal waves he’s liable to encounter (not to mention putting The Dawn Patrol in serious harm’s way as he tangles with the local thuggery), but this investigation is about to give him a wilder ride than any he’s ever imagined.

Harrowing and funny, righteous and outrageous, The Dawn Patrol is epic macking crunchy from start to finish.

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THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE

Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2006
Synopsis:

Frankie Machianno, a hard-working entrepreneur, passionate lover, part-time surf bum, and full-time dad, is a widely recognized pillar of his waterfront community. He is also a retired hit man. Once better known as Frankie Machine, he was a brutally efficient killer. Now someone from his past wants him dead, and after a botched attempt on his life, Frankie sets out to find his potential killers. However, the list of suspects is longer than the California coastline. With the mob on his heels and the cops on his tail, Frankie hatches a plan to protect his family, save his life, and escape the mob forever. Then things get really complicated.

Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2006
Synopsis:

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THE POWER OF THE DOG

Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2005
Synopsis:

An explosive novel of the drug trade, The Power of the Dog, takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge.

Art Keller is an obsessive DEA agent. The Barrera brothers are heirs to a drug empire. Nora Hayden is a jaded teenager who becomes a high-class hooker. Father Parada is a powerful and uncorruptable Catholic priest. Callan is an Irish kid from Hell’s kitchen who grows up to be a merciless hitman. And they are all trapped in the world of the Mexican drug Federación. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you’ve never seen it.

“The Power of the Dog throws shadows a mile long. Fearless, humane, aesthetically fervent, it’s also passionate, unapologetic, gorgeously written and unquestionably authentic.” –Dennis Lehane

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LOOKING FOR A HERO

Publisher: University of Nebraska
Year: 2004
Synopsis:

Widely acclaimed as the Vietnam War’s most highly decorated soldier, Joe Ronnie Hooper in many ways serves as a symbol for that conflict. His troubled, tempestuous life paralleled the upheavals in American society during the 1960s and 1970s, and his desperate quest to prove his manhood was uncomfortably akin to the macho image projected by three successive presidents in their “tough” policy in Southeast Asia. Looking for a Hero extracts the real Joe Hooper from the welter of lies and myths that swirl around his story; in doing so, the book uncovers not only the complicated truth about an American hero but also the story of how Hooper’s war was lost in Vietnam, not at home.

Extensive interviews with friends, fellow soldiers, and family members reveal Hooper as a complex, gifted, and disturbed man. They also expose the flaws in his most famous and treasured accomplishment: earning the Medal of Honor. In the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that mar Hooper’s medal of honor file, authors Peter Maslowski and Don Winslow find a painful reflection of the army’s inability to be honest with itself and the American public, with all the dire consequences that this dishonesty ultimately entailed. In the inextricably linked stories of Hooper and the Vietnam War, the nature of that deceit, and of America’s defeat, becomes clear.

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CALIFORNIA FIRE AND LIFE

Publisher: Knopf
Year: 1999
Synopsis:

Jack Wade was the rising star of the Orange County Sheriffs Department’s arson unit, but a minor scandal cost him everything, except his encyclopedic knowledge of fire. Now working as an insurance claims investigator, Jack is called in to examine a suspicious claim: real estate millionaire Nicky Vale’s house has burned to a crisp—with his young and gorgeous wife in it. Jack follows the evidence into the crime infested inferno of the California underworld, filled with Russian mobsters, Vietnamese hoods, American crooks, and enough smoldering vice to char the entire gold coast. Things get so hot and deadly that Jack might not make it out alive . . . that is until he decides to fight fire with fire.

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THE DEATH AND THE LIFE OF BOBBY Z

Publisher: Knopf
Year: 1997
Synopsis:

When Tim Kearney, a small-time criminal, slits the throat of a Hell’s Angel and draws a life sentence in a prison full of gang members, he knows he’s pretty much a dead man. That’s until the DEA makes Kearney an offer: impersonate the late, legendary dope smuggler Bobby Z so that the agency can trade him for one of their own, who was captured by a Mexican drug kingpin. Knowing his chances of survival are a little better than in prison, Kearney accepts, and he winds up in the middle of a desert at the notorious drug lord’s lavish compound. To his surprise he meets Bobby Z’s old flame, Elizabeth, and her son. At first, it’s a short vacation by the pool, but when things turn bloody, the three of them begin the most desperate flight of their lives, with drug lords, bikers, Indians, and cops furiously chasing after them. Whether he pulls it off, whether he can keep the kid and the girl and his life, makes this compelling novel a hilarious, fast-paced thriller about a con caught in a devil’s bargain.

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ISLE OF JOY

Publisher: Random House, UK
Year: 1996
Synopsis:

New York: Late 1958 Walter Withers had given the best years of his life to the CIA, setting honeytraps and reeling in the victims of his plots. But Withers has returned to his hometown for an easier, safer life as a Private Investigator. Manhattan in the late Fifties is alive with new possibilities, new sounds and new faces, including young presidential hopeful Senator Joe Keneally. Withers is assigned to bodyguard Keneally’s girlfriend at a society gathering: a simple enough job. But next morning, she’s dead – and Withers is the prime suspect. To clear his name, Withers must take on his old masters from the CIA, as well as J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, all of them determined to set Keneally up. And Withers, expert hunter, becomes another disposable victim of the trap closing in on the Senator.

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WHILE DROWNING IN THE DESERT

Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1996
Synopsis:

Edgar and Shamus Award-nominee Don Winslow combines breathless suspense, zany wit, and whiplash action in his latest novel featuring grad student/private eye Neal Carey. Now Neal’s assigned to escort monkeyish octogenarian Natty Silver home from Las Vegas to Palm Springs. Natty, once a burlesque top banana, has a nonstop barrage of corny jokes, an eye for an aging cocktail waitress, and a chronic disappearing act.

When Neal catches up with him, he can see why Natty doesn’t want to go home. Sole witness to a crime, he’s now the quarry of hard-faced suits, a fascist con artist, and a career-track assassin. And bodyguard Neal-scorching through the trackless desert at 80 mph, brooding on his inner child by freezing starlight, and looking down the barrel of one gun too many-is soon dodging vultures and on the brink of a surprise watery grave.

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A LONG WALK UP THE WATER SLIDE

Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1994
Synopsis:

Sometime student and ever-reluctant detective Neal Carey would rather be finishing a dull doctoral thesis than staring down the nose of a loaded gun– but his new assignment doesn’t sound dangerous. All he’s got to do is pull off the ultimate makeover: turn Polly Paget– a gum-chewing, foul-mouthed, big-haried broad– into a perfect lady in time to testify in a rape case against Jack Landis, head of the Family Cable Network and America’s most beloved family man. But Polly isn’t cooperating, and everyone– including a former FBI agent, and an obsessive-compulsive hitman, the Mafia, a porn prince, and a slew of tabloid reporters– is on her trail turning Neal’s “simple” assignment into a deadly game of duck-duck-goose.

In a hellish and hilarious escapade that takes him from the deserts of Nevada to the bright lights of Las Vegas, and finally to a hair-raising climax in a shoddily built amusement park, Neal tries to escape the mob’s big guns while taking a slippery walk up the world’s biggest water slide.

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WAY DOWN ON THE HIGH LONELY

Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1993
Synopsis:

From domestic war to ballroom brawls. grad student-turned-P.I..I. Neal Carey’s got more than studying on his plate.

Graduate student Neal Carey’s three-year confinement in Chinese monastery is finally over-but his troubles are just beginning. The elusive financial benefactors who have bought his freedom expect a return on their investment. They want him to find Cody McCall, a two-year-old boy recently abducted by his father in a bitter Hollywood custody battle-a task that will propel Neal from the glittering Hollywood hills to the remote wilds of Nevada.

To find Cody, Neal has to turn outlaw in a land of two-bit casinos and roadside cathouses, and infiltrate a vicious white supremacist group spouting hatred and dealing in terror. But the deeper undercover he goes, the deadlier the game becomes. Now Neal must force a showdown with the group’s crazed leader and find Cody before the missing toddler ends up lost in a world of unspeakable evil.

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THE TRAIL TO BUDDHA’S MIRROR

Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1992
Synopsis:

Book two of the Neal Carey mystery series: PI Neal Carey is back on the hunt—this time on a chase across the back alleys and backwoods of China in pursuit of a missing scientist and his beautiful mistress. After a case gone bad, all PI Neal Carey wants to do is drop off the face of the earth. Instead, he’s asked to travel halfway around the world in pursuit of an AWOL scientist who’s taken a lucrative chemical formula to China. When Carey learns the scientist has fallen in love and shacked up with a beautiful woman, he figures he’ll solve the case in no time. But in the twisting streets of Hong Kong and vast reaches of China’s wilderness, Carey finds secrets that run deeper than a simple love affair—secrets that threaten to once again tear his life apart. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Don Winslow, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

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A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND

Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1991
Synopsis:

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 Joe Graham, a one-armed P.I. who introduced him to the Bank, an exclusive New England 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 its 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: Allie has gone underground in London, and to get her back, Neal has to follow her into the punk scene, a violent netherworld where drugs run rampant and rage is the name of the game. Up against punk junkies, antique book thieves, and murderous betrayal, Neal has his work cut out for him to save Allie– and get back above ground for good.