Neal and his books have been featured on ESPN, the History Channel, C-Span, Fox, TNT, and NPR, and have been reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and Entertainment Weekly. Here’s what others have said…
Praise for HURRICANE SEASON:
A resurrection story, pure and simple. —PASTE magazine
The scenes of the hurricane, its aftermath and the difficult season will move even the stoniest of hearts. Friday Night Lights in crisis mode, this book packs an undeniable emotional punch. —Publishers Weekly
This book is a rousing page turner. Like all great sports stories, the saga of the Patriots has a larger spiritual dimension. —The Times-Picayune
It’s not often that a non-fiction book will put a lump in your throat. —The Montreal Gazette
With grace and beauty, Thompson shows us that the human spirit cannot be conquered, even in the ashes of Katrina. —Buzz Bissinger (best-selling author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August)
One unforgettable season. —Entertainment Weekly
The Patriots’ story is a distinctive wrinkle on the traditional big-game sports comeback. How do you beat a hurricane? Where do you start? … [Thompson] is never far from the action as the Patriots’ season heads to its improbable ending. —The New York Times
Praise for DRIVING WITH THE DEVIL:
Thompson exhumes the sport’s Prohibition-era roots in this colorful, meticulously detailed history. —Time
There are more divorces, drunks and wrecks than you can shake a checkered flag at…A thoroughly researched account of a ‘simpler time’. —NBC News anchor Brian Williams, in The Wall Street Journal
Thompson mines the rich heritage of Southern culture and mixes macho adventurists, speed, grim determination, and the automobile, capturing not only the regional appeal of the sport, but also the tenor of the times. —Library Journal
A fascinating and fast-moving account of NASCAR’s fledgling days. —The Atlanta Journal Constitution
The enthusiasm of this breathless, nostalgic account will be contagious. —Publishers Weekly
Here’s the real story, not just of NASCAR, but of the new South that emerged from moonshine and speed. —Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life
He knows how to get inside the character of the eccentrics who shaped the sport. —The Chicago Sun-Times
Praise for LIGHT THIS CANDLE:
Just what a biography should be: sharp, evocative, and brisk. —Kirkus Reviews
One of the finest books ever written about the space program. —Homer Hickam(author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Rocket Boys )
A rare, warts-and-all portrait – and Shepard had a lot of warts. Thompson does a stellar job painting a real-life figure who never really showed his true self to anyone. —The Vancouver Sun
Shepard always had to be first and best. The fires that drove him made him a fierce competitor, a womanizer and a wealthy businessman, and enabled him to overcome the disease that threatened his career. Thompson has written an extremely readable account of America’s first astronaut-hero. —The Dallas Morning News
Tough to say what’s cooler: that Alan Shepard was the first American in space, or that he hit a golf ball on the moon … [Thompson] chronicles the amazing life of the brashest, funniest astronaut ever. —Men’s Health
Thompson’s persistence in interviewing Shepard’s surviving colleagues has bared Shepard’s soul in ways the man himself seemed incapable of doing. —Kansas City Star
Praise for the AUTHOR:
Story-telling at its best … Thompson makes you feel that you are there. He takes history from the textbooks and plants it firmly in our heads and hearts… Every page is alive. —David Hartman, former host of Good Morning America
Thompson writes with eloquent grace … The thoroughness of the author’s research is impressive. —The Indianapolis Star
His prose crackles … —The Kansas City Star
Thompson’s writing is superb! He is a grand storyteller and does his homework in terms of research and getting the facts of the story straight. —The Boston Herald
Thompson has attitude, curiosity and affection —The Chicago Sun-Times
The thoroughness of his research is impressive, and his fast-paced narrative keeps the pages turning. —Paul Stillwell, Director, History Division, U.S. Naval Institute
Thompson … displays all the skill of a seasoned journalist in his pacing and savvy storytelling. —Kirkus
It’s not often a non-fiction sports book will put a lump in your throat. —The Montreal Gazette
Thompson brings an infectious energy … —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He has the journalist’s eye for detail and brevity. —The Buffalo News
Thompson knows how to capture character in action. —The Times-Picayune
… in the best tradition of David Halberstam. —Buzz Bissinger
