City in Ruins is Don Winslow showing the rest of us how it’s done. Nobody does it better. The novel builds and builds, the drama, the suspense, our feelings for the central characters—and then everything comes together. Actually, everything explodes. It’s a beautiful, artful thing. Winslow has saved the best for last.” — James Patterson
“The final shattering installment in a gangland trilogy to equal The Godfather. If you like Scarface and Goodfellas, this is where it's at.” — Stephen King
“With City in Ruins, Winslow wraps up a spectacular crime fiction trilogy: a sweeping story that morphs and expands over time.” — Washington Post
“Winslow has produced a masterpiece of modern crime fiction.” — Associated Press
“City in Ruins is a breakneck caper with unrelenting action. Mr. Winslow has said it will be his final book. Happily, it proves to be one of his best.”
— Wall Street Journal
“City in Ruins is filled with fist-clenching drama, incredible action, and riveting twists that’ll have any reader sweating in-between page turns. Is this actually Don Winslow’s final novel, as advertised? We, of course, hope not. But if it is, Winslow goes out with a tremendous, deafening bang.” — The TODAY Show
"Bolstered by careful plotting and meticulous attention to character, Winslow’s ambitious narrative culminates with an exhilarating climax that beautifully wraps up the series’ many plot threads. It’s a fitting swan song from a giant of crime fiction." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“If this really is Winslow’s final novel, as he’s said it will be, then he’s going out on a high note. The follow-up to City on Fire (2021) and City of Dreams (2023) showcases everything that makes Winslow a spectacular writer: brilliantly realized characters, dialogue that rings true, and a story that explores the darkness that exists within each of us.” — Booklist
“[A] riveting finale. . . . If this is truly Winslow’s valediction, one couldn’t ask for anything more fitting and rewarding.” — Library Journal
"[A] dramatic conclusion. . . If you love good crime writing but aren’t familiar with Winslow’s work, read this trilogy in order." — Kirkus Reviews
“Winslow has kept his footing throughout Ryan’s trilogy, with impressive results. Like very few of the gamblers who took their chances in Las Vegas, with City in Ruins, Winslow is going out a winner.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Don Winslow ends his career as a master of crime fiction.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Don Winslow adds one last masterful flourish to his distinguished career.”
— Dayton Daily News
“City in Ruins is a worthy finale to Don Winslow’s epic Danny Ryan series – and the career of this equally epic crime-fiction writer. . . . Winslow’s minimalist but effective, highly charged prose moves the saga along at an urgent clip. All this, and the way moral dilemmas and the many uses of violence are passed from one generation to the next, elevate the Danny Ryan trilogy to the highest circle of mobster myth.” — Air Mail
After a long and influential career, Don Winslow delivers his swan song, treating readers to one final epic reading experience. . . City in Ruins is an instant classic and some of the finest writing you’ll find in print today. — The Real Book Spy
“With his compelling characters, his vivid prose, and his exploration of universal themes, Winslow has produced a masterpiece of modern crime fiction.” — UK Times
"City in Ruins is a terrific finale to [Winslow's] Danny Ryan trilogy. . . .Whether dealing with organized crime or drug cartels, Winslow excels at bringing the reader into those worlds where it’s often hard to tell the good guys and gals from the bad guys and gals.” — Woman Around Town
“Don Winslow is one of three living crime writers that I am hopelessly addicted to. City of Dreams is a mesmerizing coast-to-coast crime epic. Danny Ryan is a good guy, a bad guy, a wonderfully complicated, unforgettable human. City of Dreams is part of a trilogy but you can start anywhere. So go ahead, start.” — James Patterson
“It’s a crime classic. Winslow’s best book, by far. You won’t put it down.” — Stephen King on City of Dreams
“Masterfully executed with class.” — Washington Post on City of Dreams
“The second volume in Winslow’s Danny Ryan trilogy delivers on all the promise of its predecessor. . . the Danny Ryan saga draws great power from its consummate portrait of a man whose unshakable humanity imperils him just as it offers the possibility of salvation.” — Booklist (starred review) on City of Dreams
“With the Danny Ryan trilogy, Winslow seems destined to claim a place beside Mario Puzo’s The Godfather on the Mount Rushmore of American crime fiction.” — Associated Press
In the final book in the Danny Ryan Trilogy, a masterpiece of crime writing, Ari Fliakos delivers an astounding, empathetic performance. Rhode Island Irish mobster Danny Ryan's journey began decades ago when he evolved from a longshoreman to a small-time mobster and then to a multimillionaire Las Vegas hotelier. Winslow based Ryan's journey on the Greek tragedies THE ILIAD, THE AENEID, and THE ODYSSEY. Ryan experiences true love, devastating heartbreak, and unthinkable violence as he faces foes and scheming entrepreneurs, aided and abetted by Fliakos's deft handling of accents, tempo, and emphasis. This epic tale of vengeance and violence is considered to be this generation's GODFATHER. The best way to experience it is through Fliakos's flawless delivery. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
The follow-up to City on Fire and City of Dreams showcases everything that makes Winslow a spectacular writer: brilliantly realized characters, dialogue that rings true, and a story that explores the darkness that exists within each of us.”
04/26/2024
This is the riveting finale (after City of Dreams) to the Danny Ryan saga penned by the superb Don Winslow, who has stated that this will be his final novel. The pursuit of the American Dream has evolved throughout the narrative of Danny Ryan but is best encapsulated in the culmination. A bloody gang war led to Danny Ryan's flight from Rhode Island in the mid-1980s. Nearly a decade removed from the carnage on the streets of Providence, Ryan is now living in Las Vegas. In the desert mecca, Ryan has remade himself as a high-level executive running a profitable casino. The one-time knock-around guy has become legitimate and yearns to put the past in his rearview mirror. Despite appearances of legitimacy, there is a rogue government agent intent on bringing Ryan down. Soon, Ryan's friendly rivalry with a fellow casino owner becomes contentious. A war for Sin City is about to be waged both in the boardrooms and outside the city limits. Ryan must defend himself, his family, and his friends from threats near and far. VERDICT If this is truly Winslow's valediction, one couldn't ask for anything more fitting and rewarding.—Philip Zozzaro
2023-12-16
The dramatic conclusion to the trilogy about two New England crime families begun in City on Fire (2022) and City of Dreams (2023).
Near the end of his journey, multimillionaire Danny Ryan watches a casino implode in a mushroom cloud of dust and muses about his life’s implosions: “The cancer that killed his wife, the depression that destroyed his love, the moral rot that took his soul.” Danny is from Providence, Rhode Island, and desperately tried to leave his criminal life behind him. But using a ton of ill-gotten gains, he invests heavily in Las Vegas properties. Congress is conducting an investigation into gambling that could destroy his casino business and even land him in jail. An FBI agent plans to take Danny down for major sins he’d like to repent for. Meanwhile, can he make peace with his enemies? Nope, doesn’t look like it. Even if the parties involved want to put the past behind them, the trouble is that they don’t trust each other. Is Vern Winegard setting Dan up? Is Dan setting Vern up? “Trust? Trust is children waiting for Santa Claus.” So what could have been a “Kumbaya,” nobody-wants-to-read-this story turns into a grisly bloodletting filled with language that would set Sister Mary Margaret’s wimple on fire—figuratively speaking, as she’s not in the book. But the Catholic reference is appropriate: Two of the many colorful characters of ill repute are known as the Altar Boys, serving “Last Communion” to their victims. On the law-abiding side and out of the line of fire is an ex-nun-turned-prosecutor nicknamed Attila the Nun, who’s determined to bring justice for a gory matricide. (Rhode Island really had such a person, by the way.) Finally, the prose is just fun: A friend warns Dan about Allie Licata: “In a world of sick fucks, even the sick fucks think Licata’s a sick fuck.” A couple of things to note: This not only ends the trilogy, but it also closes out the author’s career, as he has said he’ll write no more novels.
If you love good crime writing but aren’t familiar with Winslow’s work, read this trilogy in order.
