City of Dreams: Don Winslow

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This wouldn’t work well as a stand-alone. And the ending left me wondering how long I’d have to wait for the third in the trilogy.

Don Winslow’s epic trilogy about America’s longest war comes to a powerful and troubling conclusion.” – Associated PressDanny relaxes. A little. The good thing about the Altar Boys is that they’re crazy. The bad thing about the Altar Boys is that they’re crazy. Now Keller is elevated to the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster he has created thirty more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in his beloved Mexico. But not just there.

Don Winslow’s books serve as an alternative crime history of America from the 1990s onwards. Credit: Getty Images As their worlds collide in an explosion that could destroy them both, Danny Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born. She wasn’t killed in the war, Danny thinks. Not directly, anyway, but the cancer started after Pat, her beloved brother, was killed, and some- times Danny wonders if that was where it began. Like the grief grew from her heart and spread through her chest. Frankie Machianno, a hard-working entrepreneur, passionate lover, part-time surf bum, and full-time dad, is a widely recognized pillar of his waterfront community. He is also a retired hit man. Once better known as Frankie Machine, he was a brutally efficient killer. Now someone from his past wants him dead, and after a botched attempt on his life, Frankie sets out to find his potential killers. However, the list of suspects is longer than the California coastline. With the mob on his heels and the cops on his tail, Frankie hatches a plan to protect his family, save his life, and escape the mob forever. Then things get really complicated. Join Book Club: Delivered to your inbox every Friday, a selection of publishing news, literary observations, poetry recommendations and more from Book World writer Ron Charles. Sign up for the newsletter.I fell in love with Don Winslow's books last year and adored the first book in this series, CITY ON FIRE. The second one was not quite what I was expecting, but it was certainly an interesting and fascinating read. While FIRE delved deep into the nuances of the mob world and Danny's ties to Dogtown, this novel meanders a bit, spending a lot of time in Hollywood and Las Vegas, as Danny attempts to start a new life, but cannot quite break free from his past. Central to this is the fact that two of his crew, Sean and Kevin, aka "the Altar Boys" stumble upon the fact that there is a movie being made based on the Italian and Irish mob families of Rhode Island--there's even someone playing Danny! As Sean and Kevin become move involved on set, eventually Danny must be as well, and soon he's dating an actress and splashed all over the papers. Not exactly the reclusive Danny Ryan we are used to!