While Drowning in the Desert

Neal Carey #5

by Don Winslow

Neal Carey is asked to pick up an aging comic named Nathan Silverstein in Las Vegas and take him home toPalm Springs after Nathan witnesses arson by two criminals who are now hot on his trail, in a trip that becomes an action-packed chase across miles of desert. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Audiobook, Humor, Noir

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

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 5 out of 5]

Look. This isn't a super serious read. In fact, you could probably read it in the bath before it gets too cold. It is clever, warm, and tight. I loved how playful Don Winslow was with this Neal Carey novel. I loved the epistolary yuppie romance. I loved the cranky old Jewish comic's long-winded digressions and Abbott and Costello routines. I loved the diary entries from an older, but not washed out Cocktail Chanteuse Extraordinaire. I even loved the German Nazi and his Syrian sidekick.

Anyway, I'm not done fleshing this out, but above all I adore Don Winslow. Not just because he kicks ass on Twitter. He is one of America's gifts to the world. The Neal Carey mysteries are underappreciated masterpieces (at least the two I've read so far).

[Verge Noir · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, quick read by a master storyteller. While not as visceral as his recent work it's quite enjoyable as a stand-alone despite being the last book of the Neal Carey series. By far my favorite character is that of Nathan Silverstein, oh I tell you, this guy... If you enjoy old wooden jokes being told by an eighty-six year old ex- vaudevillian top banana, then you're in good company. I enjoyed this book so much that it felt like a novella to me. I believe a re-read is in order.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s not to like about a tale involving the safety of an old Jewish stand-up comic who played the Catskills and claims to have taught Lou Costello the “who’s on first” bit? Peppered with golden age Jewish stand-up classics! Lots of fun.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really sorry this series appears to be over. I've enjoyed it thoroughly. I listened to the audio version of these books in the car and the narrator was excellent too.

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoyed the madcap comedies of years’ past, run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore, Amazon, or Audible and get this book. It’s very funny, all the while paying admiring homage to the burlesque comedians of the thirties and forties. Remember “Who’s on first”?

Nate Silverstein, a retired vaudeville comedian, claims to have been the origin for that classic Abbott and Costello routine. (If you have never seen the piece, you must have grown up in an Eskimo igloo. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA8... and watch it. If it doesn't crack you up, you have no sense of humor and won't like this book.) Anyway, Neal (the fixer who works for the Friends of the Bank) is asked to bring Nate back from Las Vegas to his home in Florida. Neal’s job is not to ask why -- ostensibly it’s just because his daughter is worried about him. There follows a series of comic misadventures as Nate tricks Neal to avoid having to return (there’s a good reason that Neal doesn’t know about.)

It’s a silly plot, but a wonderful book. Read or listen to it and enjoy.

[Michael Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well before his ascension to the throne of 'King of the Drug War Novel' (no exaggeration- he really is), Don Winslow wrote a series of mysteries starring erstwhile part-time private eye Neal Carey. 'While Drowning in the Desert' is one of the series, and it's not Winslow at his best. It's a sort of slight affair, both in length (198 short pages) and content, but still an enjoyable read.

Drowning in the Desert begins with the soon-to-be-married Carey accepting an assignment from his mentor that seems very easy. Drive down to Vegas, collect an old codger (Nathan Silverstein, aka Natty Silver) at a hotel, and fly with him back to his home in Palm Desert, California. Unfortunately for Neal, that's not the whole story. The geezer is a legendary old-style comedian who seems to be on his last legs, he doesn't necessarily want to leave for home, he won't shut up, and he has the libido of a 20 year old. After a number of false starts, the long drive (the flying thing didn't exactly work out...) to the Coachella Valley begins and eventually the reason for Natty Silver's reluctance to return home is exposed. All hell breaks loose with a pair of moronic insurance fraudsters trying to clean up loose ends.

Don Winslow is always worth reading, his Neal Carey series is a nice one, and Drowning is a decent addition. However, if you want to really experience Winslow's power, you have to read his trilogy about the Mexican drug cartel- it’s incredible. Oh, and a side benefit of Drowning in the Desert is that you get exposed to pages full of old-timey jokes and clever ripostes by the Great Natty Silver.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best in the 'Neal Carey' quintet. I only wish there were another 5 Neal Carey adventures. Then again, maybe not. Generally i'm NOT a fan of series, but for Don Winslow, i might be tempted to make an exception.

[Frank Stollberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best work.Lacks a spark.

[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!

[Matt Wainwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading three or four horror novels in a row, I thought I could use a few laughs and a fast paced novel. I enjoyed the first Neal Carey book, so I went with the shortest one, which was the fifth. A fun read that was just what I needed for a two day read. The dialogue was well written and Joe Barrett did a nice job of capturing Natty Silver as a narrator.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So unlike any of the other Don Winslow books I have read. I don’t know why it isn’t a movie yet with Ryan Gosling as Neal and Danny Devito as Nattie. While not deep, a really enjoyable read!

[Anfri Bogart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non conoscevo questa serie "light" di Don Winslow, molto simpatica.

[Gabriele De Pompeis · Rating 1 out of 5]

La storia è di una linearità e banalità non da Winslow, e il tentativo di inserire il personaggio comico è disastroso con battute inutili e una comicità che semplicemente non funziona. La cosa peggiore però è il cambiamento del personaggio di Neal. Nei libri precedenti è sempre stato un investigatore fuori dal comune, bravo con le armi, forte e combattente. Qui sembra un idiota...non sa sparare, si perde continuamente il tizio che è andato a prendere e si fa ridurre male dai “cattivi” di turno che sembrano poco convincenti quanto lui. Almeno è un libro corto. Il più brutto fra i libri di Winslow (e li ho letti tutti).

[Antonio Parrilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo non è un giallo, è un libro umoristico! Un gran bel libro umoristico, che strappa una risata ad ogni pagina grazie a un vecchietto ex cabarettista, logorroico e sessualmente iperattivo, e alla sua conflittuale interazione con un Neal Carey preoccupato dalle richieste della sua umorale compagna.
Detto questo, se cercate un thriller rivolgetevi altrove. Se invece cercate divertimento e meraviglia, siete arrivati a destinazione.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmm, more a 2 and a half than 3, but I'm giving it a 3 because it's Winslow. It¡s more a short story than a book and there's quite a lot of reading that although entertaining dosen't really add up to the plot. As it's one of his first books let's put it down to lack of experience.

[Giulia Sicuro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sembra che questa intera serie non sia scritta dalla stessa persona che ha partorito quei capolavori sul narcotraffico. Gli ultimi libri sono una delusione dietro l’altra.. unico dato positivo è’ che si leggono alla velocità della luce

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Winslow's best. It was an ok comic mystery.

[Sandra Progettofelice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Banale, scontato e sbrigativo... un vero peccato perché tutta la serie delle indagini di Neal Carey mi erano piaciute molto e sono una grande fan di Winslow.
Peccato.

[Elvio Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neal Carey è costretto a tornare al lavoro, lui crede di essere ancora nel periodo di convalescenza, il compito che gli hanno assegnato gli Amici di Famiglia, potrebbe portarlo a termine anche un dilettante, visto che si tratta di condurre a casa un 'anziano di 86 anni. Per chi non frequenta Don Winslow, la Banca degli Amici di Famiglia è anche un agenzia investigativa, nata per soddisfare i capricci di ricchissimi uomini che hanno tutti in comune una cosa, custodiscono i loro capitali nell'istituto finanziario della gloriosa famiglia Kitteredge. La gestione del danaro prevede anche un'assistenza esclusiva, recuperare documenti, trovare persone scomparse o altre azioni non convenzionali. Neal è come sempre incerto se accettare il caso, fino a quando Karen la sua fidanzata, inizia ad avere le paturnie, sente che è arrivato il momento del matrimonio e soprattutto di avere un figlio. Neal per fuggire da queste responsabilità, si allontana volentieri dall'ambiente familiare. L'uomo da recuperare è Natty Silver, una vecchia gloria di Las Vegas, un comico del burlesque conosciuto da tutti quando dominava i palcoscenici. Non c'è nemmeno bisogno di cercarlo, infatti a Neal viene dato nome dell'albergo e numero della stanza dove l'anziano alloggia, un incarico facile facile. L'incontro tra i due sarà divertente e insopportabile perchè Natty non chiude mai la bocca, è una raffica di barzellette e ricordi che dopo breve tempo infastidiscono Neal. I problemi più grossi arrivano quando Natty manifesta la sua tendenza a sparire in ogni situazione, solo dopo un po' Neal scoprirà il vero motivo. Natty è stato testimone di un atto criminale, qualcuno lo sta minacciando con la richiesta di non tornare a casa, motivo per cui si comporta come un uomo in fuga. Tutto si risolverà con l'intervento di Joe Graham il padre putativo e reclutatore di Neal.
Palm Desert conclude in breve tempo il ciclo con il personaggio Neal Carey e sinceramente mi fa molto piacere. Scritti tra il '91 e il '96 ma pubblicati in Italia negli ultimi due anni, qui traspare la mancanza di maturità artistica di Winslow. Art Keller e Frank Decker restano per me i veri e assoluti protagonisti dei suoi libri più riusciti. Infatti è pronto The Border il seguito de Il cartello che sembra suscitare già interesse tra gli estimatori dello scrittore ma anche tra i suoi detrattori.
20/10/18

[Lindsay Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neal Carey #5. This short novel/novella seems to be the last of the Neal Carey series. Neal has let go by the bank as he has caused more trouble than he was worth in the precious 4 books. He's living in rural Nevada with GF Karen. They're planning their wedding. She's hoping for a kid ASAP, while he's unsure about his abilities as a father.
Joe calls with a quick and supposedly easy assignment for him. Natty Silver, an aging comedian, has "run away" to Las Vegas from his home in Palm Desert, CA. His daughter banks with the firm and wants their help returning him. Hotel security has found him, so Neal is asked to retrieve Natty in Vegas and escort him back to Palm Desert. Since he's been at odds with Karen about a baby and it seems like an easy gig, Neal agrees to it.
Natty is reluctant to go and does all manner of things to delay and obstruct the trip back. His constant comedic banter drives Neal up a wall but is great for the reader. Neal just thinks Natty is a cantankerous old coot. Karen suggests his life in Palm Desert is boring and unfulfilling compared to Vegas, where Natty is a minor celebrity, and maybe he just wants to stay there.
It turns out that Natty's Palm Desert neighbor burned his own house down in an insurance fraud scheme and thinks Natty witnessed it. The neighbor, a German with Nazi tendencies, has hired an inept and reluctant Lebanese guy to get rid of Natty. Meanwhile, the insurance company is suspicious of the claim and readers get to see the amusing banter between the claim supervisor and the lawyer who is investigating.
When they all meet up in Palm Desert, chaos ensues. It ends pretty much as it should. Neal and Karen make up but agree to take a break while they figure things out. Between the characters, the crazy behavior, and the amusing dialogue, this really reminded me of Elmore Leonard, and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we never find out what the next step was for Neal. Maybe he succeeded in getting his graduate degree in English, became a professor somewhere, and his life was too boring to write about. I hope so.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A private detective struggles to get an old time vaudeville comic of the Milton Berle variety from Las Vegas to Palm Springs.

While Drowning in the Desert is strongly reminiscent of some of Donald E. Westlake's more lighthearted crime stories. Great sense of humor with a dash of the absurd - a sardonic everyman who gets thrust into a serious yet ridiculous situation.

I was impressed with the writing if not the story itself. Octogenarian comic Natty Silver could easily become a flat cliche but Winslow does a good job of making him a fully realized three-dimensional character. Annoying at first then growing on you as the story progresses. Neal Carey gets relegated to a sort of exasperated, sometimes bumbling, sidekick role.

I had heard great things about Don Winslow's Neal Carey series so I thought I'd give it a try. I was underwhelmed. The plot is kind of weak (and predictable) and it reads more like a short story that was padded and stretched to reach novella length. It's okay but nothing all that special.

The books in the Neal Carey series are a bit hard to find (at reasonable prices anyway) so I can't say for certain that I will revisit the series again but I would like to, there's definitely some interesting stuff here even if this particular story isn't quite up to par.

[Jonnie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a sad way to end a series that had potential. It was a pointless story with annoying characters. Each book in the series seemed to get worse instead of better. After book 3, it went downhill fast.

The story starts with Karen being even more irritating than she was in book 4. Constantly nagging about a baby NOW even though they aren't married yet. Then at end of the story she wants to delay the wedding and separate when Neal says he is ready. What a crone and reviler. The epilogue made no sense since she knew Neal had a lot of baggage when they first got involved. She was an exasperating character.

Then there were the endless ramblings of Nathan that had me fast forwarding through certain sections. Hope's "dear diary" entries were a ridiculous way to express her POV. Last, there were the idiotic letters/faxes between the lawyer and insurance agent just filling up pages trying to make a short story into a novel. So disappointed in this story. Good thing the book was free or I would have asked for my money back.

Throughout the series I found it ludicrous that Ed and Graham continually withheld case information from Neal then wonder why things go awry. I'm glad there weren't any more books in the series because after reading book 5, I don't think I would have read any more.

[Max Folsom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what happens when you pick up a series five books in. You don't know if the entire series is great, or just the one book. Solution: find the rest of the series and check it out.

I started laughing on page one and I laughed all the way through this book. Sometimes I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldn't see the page; read the book in one sitting because I had to know how it all comes out.

Neal Carey is an investigator/fixer and is sent on a job. He is to go out to Las Vegas and retrieve an octogenarian who has gone missing and whose daughter is worried. The old guy is Nate Silverstein, aka Natty Silver, a top burlesque comedian 'back in the day'. Neal finds Nate and surprise, surprise, - Nate doesn't want to go home. He's having a great time. But there is another reason Nate doesn't want to go home, that Neal doesn't know about. Nate witnessed a crime, and there are some seriously concerned people that think Nate should just disappear altogether.

Nate drives Neal nuts with a running dialogue of old burlesque jokes and stories. He claims to have taught Abbott and Costello their famous "Who's on First" routine. Neal is about ready to do Nate in himself when the bad guys show up and he now has to keep the old guy alive.

[Viva · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember how I got into Don Winslow's books again but I'm done with the Neal Carey series and am pretty glad. Spoilers ahead.

Carey is an artful dodger kind of operative and these aren't really mysteries or detective books. Rather, he is a fixer for a blue blood bank in New England which fixes things under the table for its rich clients.

None of the books in this series are edge of the seat exciting. Rather, I read the first one which was ok and I followed the characters and series due to inertia. One problem that Winslow has is that sometimes the setup takes a long time and sometimes we're given a long and boring sideways trip.

In this particular book, Carey is given the task of escorting octogenarian Natty Silver home. Silver is an aging comic. However, Silver was so unlikeable (Carey didn't like him either) and the task was so mind numbingly frustrating that I happily quit the book. The end. Note to author: if you want people to read the book, they have to want to read it. Don't populate it with unlikeable character(s).

[Nember · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was mach ich bloß aus dir, Neal Carey?
Der Autor wurde mir empfohlen und wie ich halt so bin, starte ich so ein Projekt dann auch chronologisch ganz von vorne.
Es besteht definitiv noch Luft nach oben.
Die Neal-Carey-Reihe ist eine Krimireihe vor der Einführung moderner Technik und liest sich sehr gut weg. Die Hauptfigur handelt zwar irrational und selten wie ein erfahrener Privatdetektiv, hat aber trotzdem genug Tiefe, um gerne weiterzulesen. Die Reihe hat Höhen und Tiefen, dieser letzte Teil ist aber besonders eigenartig.
Von der Grundidee fast am Interessantesten, jedoch urplötzlich aus der Ich-Perspektive geschrieben, viel zu kurz (gefühlt fehlen Akt 3 und 4, direkt nach der Einführung kommt schon der Showdown) und durch ein sperrangelweit offenes Ende gibt es am Ende auch keinen Abschluss der Reihe.
Unbefriedigend.
Mal schauen, was der Autor sonst noch zu bieten hat - ab und zu blitzte es ja auf.

[False · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm trying to read all of Don Winslow's work. This is one of the earlier novels, and you can see how he has improved over time (this isn't always the case with writers.) Neal Carey and his girlfriend have an odd relationship, and it makes me wonder if in real life it would have any survival rate--they seem at such odds with one another. I loathed the whole hormonal "must have a baby" urges of the girlfriend. Babies don't stay babies. They gain voices. They may disagree with you. Since that seems to be her sole role in this book, demanding a baby out of him, I was ready to toss this one aside. The annoying elderly comic that can't seem to make his intents clear without parable or a joke, the usual bullies in the path of protagonist, Neal. The shady "father"; a one-armed bandit in his own right. All in all, I just wanted to be done with this book. I will never be returning to it, and that is the nicest thing I can say about it.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The comedy was too broad and silly, and a couple of the characters are just so goddamned annoying that you just don't want to read about them or care about them in any way. In retrospect, it was probably better for Winslow to end the Neal Carey books rather than continue with any more installments in the vein of "While Drowning In The Desert".

To recap the five Neal Carey novels:

Two of them (Books 1 & 3) were great, and demonstrated the full potential of Carey's character, Friends of the Family, etc.

One of them (Book 4) was "eh, okay." Too much televangelist folderol.

Two of them (Books 2 & 5) were just exasperating and aggravating.

It really makes one appreciate the achievement of Richard Stark (Don Westlake) with his series of Parker novels: 24 books, most of them great, none of them worse than "pretty good".

[Dubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his last outing, Neal Carey learns who's on first -- I don't know, third base! Tasked with bringing aging Vegas comedian Nathan Silverstein home, Neal hears every bad joke and tall tale the old codger ever told as Don Rickles, er, Nate Silver. That includes not only how he taught Lou Costello his signature comedy routine, but the whole story around it.

There's a mystery revolving around why Silver doesn't want to go home that brings in a few other crazy characters. It doesn't amount to much, but that's hardly the point. This is about a classic road trip / buddy movie, the young guy / straight man saddled with wise old wise-cracking war horse, learning a thing or three along the way.

Don Winslow went on to write some long, weighty volumes about criminals and cartels and con men. But his early work with the Carey series, lighter though it is, is still worth revisiting.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks like this is the last of the Neal Carey series and that's too bad. This one is half the length of the previous 4. I'm into the humor now. This one also leaves us up in the air about Neal and Neal and Karen as a couple. Perhaps someday, Winslow will return and fill us in on the missing years.

Neal was supposedly retired at the end of the last book but Dad calls to have him do a very quick job -- go to Vegas, pick up an 86 year-old, retired comedian, and deliver him back to his condo in Palm Springs. Of course it's far more complicated than that! Turns out the old guy saw something he shouldn't have and has a very bad guy trying to kill him.

This was entertaining but less satisfying that the others in the series.

[John Grazide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that's a wrap. The last Neal Carey. It was good, but you know I wish it was longer and offered a little more closure. Anyway, Neal is still with Karen when he gets a call from Dad. And the job, well errand really, is to pick up an old man and bring him home. The location of the old man (we find out is non other than Natty Silver!) is even known. So how bad could it be? Well Natty is an old vaudevillian and he is non stop. And this starts to wear on Neal (and the reader) but they finally start to head out. But the old man makes it harder and harder for Neal to take him home. And Neal starts to wonder why. Hmmmm. When Neal figures it out, it's almost too late. But...