Isle Of Joy

Isle of Joy by Don Winslow Walter Withers has given the best years of his life to the CIA, setting honey-traps abroad and reeling in the victims of his plots. Now he has returned to Manhatten, and is working as a private investigator. Withers is assigned to bodyguard Senator Keneally’s girlfriend – a simple enough job. But next morning she’s dead – and Withers is the prime suspect. Set in the late fifties, this novel has a distinct flavour of the Kennedy family’s history, including young presidential hopeful Joe Keneally. To clear his name Withers must take on his old masters from the CIA, as well as J Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Withers runs the risk of falling into a rapidly closing trap, but with the surprising help of a Mafia member and some unofficial help from a some young toughs who work in his building, he plans to slip through the noose lying in wait. There are interesting sidelines in this novel, including the background of his girlfriend, a night-club singer called Anne, and a poet/writer, who stands in for a certain ‘beat’ writer by the name of Jack Kerouac. I did wonder why we had to have replace the Kennedy’s with the Kenneally’s. But the story is familiar, down to the beautiful blonde actress who comes to a nasty end. This isn’t my favourite Winslow novel, but it’s a good story and the New York flavour adds a lot of realistic action. For an even better read in the same vein, see his extraordinary and brutal novel: The Power of the Dog. It is a breathtaking book, but it’s not for those disturbed by extreme violence.

Brilliant. I’ve read all his books & he just gets better & better.It gives a deep sense of the scheming politics of America post World War 2 with an always welcome flawed main character

I enjoyed this earlier work but thought it was a bit slow getting to the nub of the matter. Notwithstanding this the author holds your attention throughout so you are never tempted to skim and are rewarded for your patience with a well told credible story.Don Winslow's writing is terrific but if you are new to him I'd maybe start with The Power of the Dog or California Fire and Life, both excellent.

I read anything of Winslow

Unlike all the other books of his I found this one to be rather mediocre and that’s why I’ve given it only 2 stars because I so enjoyed his Force, the Cartel, and Winter of Frankie Machine and this was a disappointment.

Romantic, personal homage to NY and a by-gone genre of crime writing.from a slightly quirky perspective. Thoroughly enjoyed.

When an author has their back catalogue republished it is not always a good thing. On some occasions the older books are ones that the author wishes to forget as they are yet to mature as a writer. However, in the case of Don Winslow his reissued books prove that he is one of the best contemporary crime authors around.`Isle of Joy' is another slice of noir masterwork from Winslow. Unlike his most recent books, which have had modern settings, `Joy' is set in 1958 and it invokes imagery of Capote, Jazz and the Cold War. As is the norm for the author `Joy' is a book that takes its time to rise to the boil. However, Winslow is so effective at creating wonderful sights, sounds and experiences that you wish that even the slowest sections would last forever. Apart from a blip in the overlong American Football section this book is near faultless. With its period setting and lack of extreme action it's not the type of book I would have thought I would have enjoyed. However, Winslow is surly a genius when it comes to crime and he has fast become my all time favourite author.Do yourself a favour and read this book - or the sublime `Power of the Dog'.Sammy recommendation

Reasonable novel, easy read.