Way Down on the High Lonely

This is my first outing with Don Winslow's Neal Carey series after enjoying the fine "California Fire & Life," I reaffirmed that Mr. Winslow is a careful and crafty writer. The setting in the Nevada high desert country is well rendered and atmospheric. The dialogue is crisp, though slightly portentous. The characters are larger than life, but carefully drawn.Neal is a member of a mysterious group, "Friends of the Family" who undertake quasi-legal jobs at the behest of a fabulously wealthy philanthropic employer. What looks like a routine child custody abduction by an irresponsible father develops into a huge conspiracy that could have global implications. Sound like "Mission Impossible"? That crossed my mind too. Neal goes deep undercover to locate toddler Cody McCall whose father is tracked to a white supremacist group led by an unctuous Rev. Carter. The group is training on a ranch in a remote Nevada area sponsored by the owner/rancher. Neal quickly makes friends with some very fine citizens in the small community and begins his infiltration of the group. Neal has a present identity problem; it is if, as one friend says, "he has personality, but no character." He literally becomes his undercover guise. The author doesn't pull any punches; Neal betrays his newfound kind friends in order to protect his undercover status, which is very discomforting to read. The villains are just as ruthless, cunning and determined as the protagonists who include beside Nick a bearlike unflappable Ed, and one-armed father figure Joe. The action is fierce; the pace is uniformly swift and retribution satisfying. I'm looking forward to more Neal Carey.