A Long Walk Up the Waterslide

Neal Carey #4

by Don Winslow

The popular mystery from New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow—now available as an ebook
Book four of the Neal Carey mystery Home at last, itinerant PI Neal Carey has trouble track him down for a change in the form of a dangerously clueless femme fatale

PI Neal Carey has a talent for uncovering people trying to hide, but this time he has to help his mark stay lost. After Polly Paget, a ditzy actress from Brooklyn, is assaulted by her old boss, “family friendly” TV personality Jackson Landis, a motley assortment of sleazoids, paparazzi, and psychotic assassins are out to get Paget to either talk or shut up permanently. Neal Carey must scramble to hold Polly’s life—and his own—together.
 
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Don Winslow, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Detective, Americana

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2010

About the author

Don Winslow is the author of twenty-one acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Force and The Border, the #1 international bestseller The Cartel, The Power of the Dog, Savages, and The Winter of Frankie Machine. Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar-winning writer-director Oliver Stone. The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border sold to FX in a major multimillion-dollar deal to air as a weekly television series beginning in 2020.

A former investigator, antiterrorist trainer and trial consultant, Winslow lives in California and Rhode Island.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Darwin8u · Rating 3 out of 5]

"All is chaos under the heavens, and the situation is excellent."
- Chairman Mao

This book is essentially My Fair Lady meets a circus juggler meets a mob crime novel. I liked it. A lot going on, humor, and a funky plot, but in the end it wasn't nearly the best of Don Winslow. Sometimes the humor veered too far into absurdism and their were too many characters surrounding Neal Carey to develop many of them well. But, did the narrative pull me along? Absolutely. I'm also trying to become a Don Winslow completist (minus some of the obscure stuff that has only been published in Germany) this year in celebration of all he did to help end 45.

I still need to read:
1. The Death and Life of Bobby Z
2. Broken
3. A Cool Breeze on the Underground (Neal Carey, #1)
4. Way Down on the High Lonely (Neal Carey, #3)

[Les Edgerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think of Don Winslow's work as I do of Miles Davis'. There's long been a debate among jazz fans as to who was better--Miles or Dizzy. I vote for Miles. Reason? He took chances outside of his comfort zone. Not all of those chances worked--most did, but not all. But, by going outside the box, he created brilliant music. Gillespie, on the other hand, was a brilliant virtuoso, but once he found a place of success, didn't depart all that much from it. At least not to the extent Miles did.

And, that's what Winslow does. He doesn't keep writing the same book. Each one is different and some work better than others. However--they ALL work! Like Miles, he doesn't sit back on his laurels, but continues to push the envelop. As a writer, I love what Winslow represents. A true artist who creates new forms.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of the series. Too many sub-plots.

[Piovuta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quanto ho amato questo scrittore nei libri sui cartelli della droga messicani.........quanto l'ho odiato in questo.
Forse mi aspettavo lo stesso stile e invece non l'ho ritrovato in nulla.
Troppi personaggi, troppi nomi, troppi giri........tutto troppo e questo troppo mi hanno fatto fare veramente una fatica esagerata per arrivare all'ultima pagina.
Sicuramente non leggerò i libri che lo precedono.
Il signor Winslow non è quello di questo libro.

[Samyann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Neal Carey Mysteries consist of four novels, plus one novella, totaling approximately 40 hours of listening in unabridged audiobook format. All narrated by Joe Barrett, released from 2008 - 2011 by Blackstone Audio, Inc. This review addresses the entire series. Sequence: 1-A Cool Breeze on the Underground, 2-The Trail to Buddha’s Mirror, 3-Way Down on the High Lonely, 4-A Long Walk Up the Water Slide, and 5-While Drowning in the Desert.

Plot. Neal Carey, a hardened street kid, pick-pockets a wallet from a guy who takes Neal under his wing and teaches him how to become an expert in the art. The mentor is a problem-fixer for a bank with wealthy clients, staying under the radar. Through the series, Neal retrieves the wayward, drug-addicted teenage daughter of a politician running for president, finds a missing scientist with a valuable formula, finds a missing child kidnapped in a custody battle ... more. The missions are never simple, and each story has a beginning-middle-end. No cliffhangers.

Liked. The action mixes moments of terror and hilarity that will make you worry for a successful mission as you laugh aloud. The narrator's timing and overall voicing are terrific.

Not so hot. The narration is a bit slow, so pumped the Audible app up to 1.4 - not really criticism. Not great literature, not intended to be - just good stories.

Recommend!

[Michael Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don Winslow's 'A Long Walk Up the Water Slide' reminds me a lot of Robert Crais' work in that there's a wisecracking detective, a fairly convoluted story line, lots of secondary characters, many close calls, and a quick pace. Unlike a typical detective novel, the "star", the perpetual student and sometimes gumshoe Neal Carey, isn't doing the detecting. He's hired to sit on (and instruct in the proper enunciation of words) a young lady, Polly Paget, who has accused America's Favorite Family Man, Jack Landis, of rape. Everybody's after her for one reason or another (TV people, Landis' wife, pornographers, Mafia hit men, you name it....) and all Neal and his longtime girlfriend have to do is to keep her hidden for awhile and teach her how to speak proper English so she can show she's no bimbo in upcoming interviews and legal proceedings. It's easier said than done....

Winslow can do no wrong as a writer in my eyes. His later work, especially his trilogy about the drug trade along the border, is spectacular. His earlier period is a little more up and down. The writing's great but the stories are a little less consistent. "A Long Walk..." is a good example: the craft and dialogue are fine, the plot at a high level is OK, but there's just a whole lot of zaniness going on and it was a little difficult to take it all seriously. It's a nice, readable effort but Winslow's best work was yet to come, that's for sure.

[Nicholas Brisbois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love this series. This was a fun book. Very much felt like an 80’s crime comedy. Lots of characters, lots of stuff happening. However; it does feel weaker than the last book.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neal Carey's task? "Turn this bimbo into America's sweetheart." The bimbo being Polly Paget, the woman who is accusing America's most beloved family man, of rape. If that's not hard enough, EVERYONE wants Polly, for all sorts of reasons!

A good read, fun dialogue and lots of quirky characters! There's a lot going on, and it does end on/around a water slide, as the title hints at! (Is that a spoiler? Nah... can't be... it's on the dang cover...) Hope to read more in this series soon!

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A LONG WALK up the Water Slide

Ok, you have to love the title, I did. It was intriguing and I had to find out how it fit the story. My dream came true, but I am not going to give it away.

If you mix thriller and funny, good characters and a down-home plot.. this is it. Neal Carey is the guy who longs to finish his Ph.D. and to be honest, I can't blame him. I liked him, his wifish, Karen, his Dadish, and the bimbo Polly and the tossed over woman, Candy. Jack not so much, but I wasn't sure I was supposed to like him.

The mob shows up, people bond, and people die.. it was great and there was a water slide. Just adorable.

4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was worried Winslow was reverting to The Trail to Buddha's Mirror, but instead of being a poorly motivated book, it's the mob! This ended up being exactly what I was expecting, so I was pretty satisfied. Still a looooong way from his modern books, but satisfying.

This time Neal Carey is in charge of protecting a rape victim. But is she really a rape victim? Her accuser, her accuser's wife, the media, a porno rag, a hit man, and the mafia are all after her. There is good excitement, some decent twists, and strong sneaky plotting by Neal and the Friends.

[Anna Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storia avventurosa e ironica, Winslow riesce a mutare registro, personaggi e storie con grande abilità; unisce elementi disparati che conducono a geniali intrecci che hanno il pregio, come sempre, di tenere incollati i lettori alle sue pagine.

[Kin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non conoscevo questo aspetto “humour” di Winslow.Piacevole. La vicenda è incasinata con decine di personaggi ,per me difficili da reperire, ma non fa nulla, l'importante è farsi due sane risate.Devo leggere anche le altre vicende di Neal Carey.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sempre divertente il primo Don Winslow. Della serie di Neal Carey però China Girl resta per ora il migliore.

[Giulia Sicuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

No.. questa serie non mi ha mai convinta. Niente di che

[Elvio Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Polly Paget si trova al centro dell'attenzione mediatica, la sua dichiarazione è scioccante: sono stata stuprata da Jack Landis. Costui è un notissimo conduttore televisivo, anzi il conduttore, produttore e propietario del Family Cable Network. Jack insieme alla moglie Candy sono un'istituzione, la loro trasmissiene è una religione seguita e amata dal pubblico conservatore, dove al centro di tutto ci sono i valori della famiglia tradizionale. Proprio per questo motivo, quando Polly fa il suo proclamo, i media si tuffano sulla bomba esplosa che darà lavoro per molto tempo. Polly però è costretta a nascondersi, tutti la cercano per ricavarne qualcosa di sensazionale. Tra queste parti c'è anche un cliente della banca Kitteredge, l'oscura associazione della quale fa parte Neal Carey, che viene incaricato di nascondere e proteggere Polly. Quando un'azione mediatica ha una così grande copertura però, diventa impossibile gestire la situazione, così Neal dovrà guardarsi da chiunque. Tutti vogliono Polly, riviste scandalistiche, network televisivi, produttori del porno, famiglie mafiose e soprattutto Landis per dichiarare o comprare la sua innocenza. Neal pensava di essere uscito lentamente dall'associazione della banca dei Kitteredge, infatti si è sistemato con la sua ragazza Karen, ma a quanto pare si sbagliava, si ritrova questo compito che come al solito sembra banale e invece finirà per mettere a rischio la vita di molte persone. Neal deve istruire Polly, fare in modo che la sua credibilità e la sua istruzione risultino efficienti quando in tribunale dichiarerà di essere stata violentata da Landis.
Come al solito dietro la facciata più bella, si nasconde sempre il peggio. Ci sono moltissimi personaggi, mogli, soci, mafiosi, banchieri, ex agenti speciali, politici, faccendieri. Proprio questo miscuglio di parti non permette alla trama di essere fluida e non mi è piaciuto molto questo libro di Winslow. Quando c'è di mezzo il personaggio Neal Carey, c'è sempre qualcosa che non mi convince.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Don Winslow's earlier works; the fourth of five books in the Neal Carey series. It's not necessary to have read the previous books but I would recommend it as the series is a little eccentric or eclectic (?maybe both?), especially as compared to Winslow's more recent works.

Basically, Neal Carey was a street kid who was taken under the wing of a private detective - an experienced "operative" inside a secretive private agency that specializes in helping rich clients with their awkward or unpleasant difficulties. Neal is one of the best in the business but he has left the business and the agency (several times in fact). Now they need him back for another job. All that is just backstory to how Neal ends up playing babysitter to a foul mouthed party girl who is in hiding from the mega church pastor who used to be her sugar daddy. Think something along the lines of My Fair Lady meets every Witness Protection movie you've ever seen or heard of... Then toss in some Elmore Leonard-type complications and you're in the ballpark.

It's good. Not great. Not life-changing but an awful lot of fun full of unexpected and sometimes bizarre twists. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

If you're tastes run to Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, and possibly Donald E. Westlake's more humorous offerings then there's a pretty good chance you'll enjoy this early series from Don Winslow.

[Viva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead. I'm done with this series and finally finished the last book. Actually I dnf'd it because I couldn't stand it. The series is about Neal Carey, a fixer for a blue blood New England private bank, that "fixes" problems for its wealthy clients that can't involve the police or even PIs. Carey is an Oliver Twist artful dodger kind of character whose life story has grown with the series. He now has a fiancée and home in the Nevada desert to look forward to.

As the blurb says, this plot is one of those old fashioned movie plots with lots of characters, the mob, preachers, mistresses with hearts of gold, and a whole bunch of movie cliches. A bit trite to be honest but it works, sorta.

Anyway, a TV preacher is being outed by his mistress (Polly) who cries rape after their affair is over. Carey is tasked with finding Polly and making a deal with her. Two different mobs are involved, there's a bumbling PI, an assassin, the preacher's wife and I don't remember who else. Kudos to the author for not losing track of the plot with so many people around. And of course the story has a happy ending with the bad guys getting the short end of the deal.

It isn't a mystery book as much as it's a 1980's movie script. I enjoyed the series because I like Neal and his supporting cast but I'm pretty glad I'm done with the series.

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do enjoy reading Don Winslow's more contemporary fiction. His earlier work (and I am trying to read through his collected work through the public library system,) seems to be a learning to writing in the manner of Elmore Leonard style. There is more humor in these earlier works, such as Water Slide, but that's not necessarily something I'm seeking from a master of suspense and the pathos-bathos, at a loss of contemporary humanity. I write these reviews to remind me of why I read something (and if it's worth going back to at a later date.) I wouldn't bother with this one again.

Winslow succumbs to the urge to write something significant, getting more outrageous and existential as the series progresses. The protagonist is a frustrating mix of nerd, incompetent, and bad-ass. In fact, I still have no idea why he is employed by the criminal enterprise that figures largely in the series. While it is explained in detail. you have to wonder why they even bother with him, much less investing the huge amount of time and money they do in bailing him out of trouble. I was impatient wishing I was done with this book. It was like slogging through desert mud. A tiny puddle and staying in one place with no advancement. Look for Winslow's newer works.

[Jonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that there aren't other unbelievable things in the story, but after the detailed description of the corkscrews, loops, and the height of the waterslide, there is no way Neal could climb up the waterslide in the short amount of time that he had to stop the shooter. Then there was the empty pool at the bottom of the slide which doesn't make sense because the water was running and would have been pulled into that area. These two things alone dropped the story rating to 2.5 stars. I ended up rounding up to 3 stars because there was some decent action at Karen's house earlier in the story.

I thought that the author took a simple plot and made it too convoluted. There was no reason to clutter the main story with so many secret deals between too many players. At times the author added too many superfluous details especially when the climax was approaching (e.g. the football game interjections into Ed and Mark's conversation in chapter 21).

I also don't buy that Polly would turn down 3 million dollars since she had been taking money from two different people to have sex with Landis. Even if she did deserve a confession, she would need a lot more money to take care of the child. Last, Karen became quite annoying in this book, especially after they left her house to hide. For almost being killed, she never listens to Neal on his instructions and doesn't seem to care enough about his situation. This is not the same Karen who was in book 3. I do not like this Karen.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous thriller that is well worth the read. The Neal Carey series gets more humorous with each edition. I read 4 and 5 back to back over a two day period - they were great to keep me occupied while shoveling snow and riding the indoor bike .

Neal is leaving in Austin NV with Karen, the school teacher he met in #3. He's transferred from Columbia to the Univ of Nevada to finish his masters degree. "Dad" calls with a job - he needs Neal to do a "my-fair-lady" trick on a New York woman - Polly - who is claiming she was raped by the man she's been a mistress to for a few years. The man - Jack - is a media personality, who, along with his wife Candy, own a string of TV stations and are building an amusement park with condos in Albuquerque. It seems on of the bank's customers is a minority owner in Jack's company who would like to be majority owner. Polly is needed to ruin Jack's reputation so that he's forced to retreat from leadership of the company. Only, as one might suspect, it's definitely not that simple and soon there are at least three folks, working for 3 different people, trying to find Polly.

First to get there is Candy, Jack's wife, and after a bet of yelling, Candy and Polly bond. Karen makes three, especially after she uses a baseball bat on #2, who was the one hired to kill Polly. He gets away. Neal, meantime, was preventing #3 from getting to Polly. It occurs to Neal that they'd better run and off they go to Vegas, figuring there will be too many people for an easy abduction or killing. Candy comes too.

There's a lot going on here. Mobsters are on both sides - good and bad. I loved the crazy ending.

[Ben Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute gem. Don Winslow is one of the greats in this genre. I read "A cool breeze on the underground" about 4 years ago and have been in pursuit of the remaining books in this series ever since. This is the first one that I managed to find. The cast of characters is magnificent. Neal Carey is incredibly relatable to my generation. I dont know that the relationship between he and Joe Graham is described to it's full extent in this book. Perhaps, a little more of a deep dive in to that relationship was necessary for readers who are new to the series. The plot thickened at every page turn. The final Neal Carey twist is absolutely classic - he always does what seems right to him, no matter what Ed says. I was waiting for Ed to be released on the antagonist 'Overtime' but alas, this turn it wasn't to be. Over all a great read. 5/5.

[John Grazide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the last one, but still pretty awesome. There were a lot of characters to keep stragiht, but after a while they all fell into place.

This one starts with Neil, in Nevada where the last left off, getting a surprise visit form Dad. And Dad has a simple job for Neil. All he has to do is hide a woman, accusing a powerful televangelist of rape, and help her with her appearance for the impending court date. But you know it can't be that easy. Especially when there are several people wanting her dead. And Neil, not knowing who to trust or where to turn, starts questioning his association with the Friends of the Family.

With one more in this too short series, I hope it goes out well.

[Lindsay Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neal Carey #4. Polly Paget is accusing Jack Landis of raping her. Jack, with his wife Candy, are playing a more wholesome seeming Jim and Tammy Fay. Polly is an even-less-polished Jessica Hahn. The Friends have enlisted Neal to play Henry Higgins and get Polly ready for prime time.
Neal is initially suspicious of Polly but starts to go over to her side as Jack's unsavory behavior and character are exposed. Meanwhile, an old school PI is trying to get photos of Polly for a tabloid and mob hit men are all over the place for reasons that aren't yet clear.
This has the flavor of Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiaasen as all the sub-plots unfold into so much more than the original late 80s Bakker scandal. I loved the crazy characters and dialogue!

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amateur detective, Neal Carey, is busy building a non-detective life for himself when he's asked to take on 'a little simple assignment'… He's to train this hick sounding young woman how to talk and conduct herself so that she has credibility as a witness in an important trial. Of course, if you've read any of the other Neal Carey books, you know immediately that this is neither a little or a simple assignment and quickly turns into murder and mayhem. Don Winslow is truly a gifted story teller and writer. My bookshop tells me that he has a new book coming out this year. I can't wait!

[Lorin Cary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story disappointed me. The story idea was good--that a family-friendly televangelist was accused of raping a woman and was out to silence her as she'd filed a suit against him. Neal Carey is hired to protect and refine the bimbo (who turns out to be sharper than anticipated). The mob is involved somehow and the wife of the televangelist befriends the wronged woman. There is a lot of action, but I found the evolution of the tale difficult to follow. I didn't think Neil Carey emerged as a dimensional character.

[Baldurian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una giovane segretaria vittima di stupro coinvolge, suo malgrado, un Neal Carey in prepensionamento in una storia dove niente è quello che sembra. Una premessa apparentemente semplice per il penultimo capitolo di una saga più che discreta: buoni personaggi, un pizzico di azione (questa volta misero a dire il vero) e una spolverata di criminalità che non guasta mai.
Lady Las Vegas non mi ha fatto certamente gridare al miracolo, ma si è rivelato un thriller solido e piacevole da leggere.

[Jim Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read (or heard of) Winslow before this and was unfamiliar with the character of Neal Carey, who seems to be a kind sorta P.I. The writing is tongue-in-cheek and seems less mystery and more social commentary, but I loved it all the same. The writing is engaging and flows nicely, and the characters are interesting in their quirks and flaws. I would definitely recommend this to others and will be looking for the rest of the series in due order.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are moments of great verve and wit here, but too often I thought that the tone veered a tad too much into silly comedy. That, combined with the obvious roman à clef elements (featured characters are obviously based on Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Jessica Hahn, Carlos Marcello, and others) takes the reader out of things a bit at times.

Still, a solid decent read, all things considered.

[Susan Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up.

The protagonist, Neal, is a part-time detective. As the story unfolds, lots of unsavoury characters enter the scene.

The situations could be amusing sometimes, but somehow I just thought it felt dated. I mean, it was published in 1998 but it was more than that. The language, the treatment of women - it's hard to put my finger on it.

Not sure I'll search out more from this author.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Habe das Buch wegen dem Autor gekauft. Leider nach "Germany" jetzt die zweite, relativ enttäuschende Story. Nach Kartell und Tage der Toten bin ich womöglich etwas verwöhnt. Das hier vorliegende Buch ist aber leider nicht mehr als eine durchschnittliche, verwirrende Geschichte voller langweiliger Charaktere.