A Cool Breeze on the Underground Book Cover – Blackstone Publishing
Following the success of recent hits like The Night Agent, Netflix is reportedly developing alongside Rian Johnson a new series adaptation of Don Winslow’s Neal Carey Series of novels that date back to the 1990s. The series kicked off with A Cool Breeze on the Underground. Here’s what we know so far.
Per GoodReads, here’s a brief synopsis of the first book, A Cool Breeze on the Underground:
“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.”
Five books went on to be published in total, including:
- A Cool Breeze on the Underground
- The Trail to Buddha’s Mirror
- Way Down on the High Lonely
- A Long Walk Up the Water Slide
- While Drowning in the Desert
Author Don Winslow is also known for The Power of the Dog, The Force, Savages, The Border, The King of Cool, and dozens more books in various genres, with his most recent being City of Dreams.
Is the Neal Carey series in development at Netflix?
We first heard that a series adaptation was in the works courtesy of Deadline in April 2021. Then we heard MRC Television, Rian Johnson, and Ram Bergman had simply optioned the book for adaptation. This means that they have the right to turn the books into a series adaptation if they like. Johnson Ram Bergman notably worked together on Knives Out.
Back then, Bad Education’s Cory Finley was attached to the project and was looking to write, direct, and executive produce.
A previous adaptation was in development at Columbia Pictures in the mid-2000s.
News of Don Winslow’s books headed to Netflix comes courtesy of the writer himself, who recently announced that they’d be re-releasing the first five novels with new covers and introductions.
Within the Tweet, he attaches the series in development with Netflix and states that Rian Johnson is still on board although in what capacity is unknown.
I can't believe I wrote these books 30 years ago!
They were my first 5 novels.
Netflix/@rianjohnson are developing as a TV SERIES.
Thrilled to have @BlackstoneAudio re-releasing the entire series Aug. 15 with new covers+a new intro.
You can order wherever you get your books! pic.twitter.com/pQS2Na7tHG
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) May 27, 2023
Netflix has yet to confirm that it will officially adapt the Don Winslow books into a series at the time of publishing.
Are you looking forward to the Neal Carey book series getting adaptations at Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
