Book review: Don Winslow's "City of Dreams"

 

I'll begin by saying I'm a Don Winslow fan. Whatever the subject of his writing (in this case, the mob in Providence, Rhode Island--although most of the action in this book doesn't take place there), he's a great writer whose style has me tearing through each book. I can't claim to be the fastest reader, but I was done with "City of Dreams" in two days.

This installment in his latest trilogy has us following Danny Ryan as he tries to escape his old life and "go straight." He finds himself on the west coast, involved in business he never would have dreamed of in the past. With twists and turns that leave the reader wondering who will survive and who won't, the book is suspenseful, while delivering an ending that I found a bit abrupt and unexpected. I also found at least one segment (thinking of the returning Marine son of one mob boss and his actions when he returns) somewhat disjointed, like it just got dropped in there almost without context. Perhaps there will be a tie-in later, but that didn't seem like it fit well. With that said, Mr. Winslow is an author who can provide surprises, so I will see what the next book brings.

Don Winslow's books aren't for the squeamish. There's some rather graphic violence, although "The Power of the Dog" et seq. were more brutal. In any case, if you're overly sensitive about such things, be warned. But really, this is a good story in a good series about damaged people doing bad things (and occasionally some good things), and I very much enjoyed this installment. Is it his best book? No, but it's very good and better than most of what I've read by other authors lately.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me to read and review this advance copy.

Book review: The Best American Travel Writing 2021

I've read other "Best American Travel Writing" books in prior years, so I know they often contain very serious explorations of cultures, situations, the world around us and so on. But really, in a book that begins with a complete fixation on our world during the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have expected that the non-COVID pieces might have taken a lighter direction; perhaps an exploration of the good things still out there, to remind us of the joys we'll find as we get back to traveling more normally.

But no, that's not this book's direction. And while the pieces may have been written in 2021, not all of them were about things in 2021, so there was room to maneuver. After a very heavy dose of COVID-driven death, we got to learn about the deaths of some good people, deaths of animals, and a very troubling exploration of the very real problems of racism and white supremacy. All of it was good, intelligent writing, but damn, this book really depressed me. So I gave it three stars, because of the good writing, but I really didn't expect it to be quite so depressing and don't think it needed to be. There had to be better ways to balance things out.