Don Winslow this month published his 21st and final book, as he retires from writing to focus on political activism and film-making. He finishes his career as one of the world’s greatest living crime writers.
I credit Winslow with being the author that got me hooked on crime fiction. I was sent The Power of the Dog on my Mr B’s reading subscription almost a decade ago (by my now-colleague Ed!) and never looked back. Winslow’s books have been there every step of the way and their absence will leave a large hole in my every reading year going forward.
Winslow has proved himself a versatile and highly entertaining crime writer, always bringing knife-edge action, great dialogue, complex characters, and noirish tones to his many novels. But where to start, for the uninitiated? Here is my guide to his back catalogue…
His latest…
The epic, explosive conclusion to his Danny Ryan trilogy, City in Ruins, sees Irish mob muscle-turned-businessman Danny being dragged back into his past once again. Danny is now silent partner in a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip. He’s reconciled with his mother and lives at her mansion with his now 10-year-old son, Ian. Everything seems to be going well, finally. He’s making legal money, his work is rewarding. But nothing is ever that simple with Danny. When he overstretches on a new project, the dodgy foundations of this life start to crumble.
If you only read one…
The first in Winslow’s career-defining Cartel Trilogy, The Power of the Dog is truly his magnum opus. Art Keller, a young US government operative, and Adan Barrera, the rising star in his uncle’s drug cartel, meet in a gym on the US-Mexican border. Their lives and fates will be inexorably bound for the next thirty years, as these two men rise to the top of their respective organisations. Dark, bloody and hyper realistic, this is a ripped-from-the-headlines classic that has come to define the border noir genre.
If you like something hip…
Laguna Beach, California. Ben is an environmentalist and philanthropist. Chon is an ex-mercenary. Together these smart young men run a rapidly growing hydro-weed operation from their beachfront villa. They are also trapped in a sensual love triangle with the enigmatic O. And now they have the Baja cartel and a murderous corrupt cop to worry about. Slick, cool, fast paced and violent.
His most conventional…
Boone Daniels is a private investigator with a difference. He runs his service from the back room of a surf shack and starts his mornings not with the task in hand, but catching waves with his buddies in the Dawn Patrol. With one dead stripper and another missing, he teams up with kick-ass lawyer Petra Hall to take down Hawaiian gangsters and SoCal lowlifes to solve his latest case.
The wildcard…
As a youngster, Winslow was obsessed with Shibumi, the cult novel (apparently the inspiration for John Wick!) by the enigmatic author Trevanian. Shibumi tells the wildly entertaining and deeply satirical story of Nicolai Hel – Go master, epic lover and world’s best spy. In 2011, Winslow decided to write a prequel, Satori, filling the gaps in Hel’s story. It shouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is, but in the master’s hands it is of course brilliant.