02/24/2020
The six crime novellas in this disappointing collection from bestseller Winslow (the Cartel trilogy) lack the superior plotting and forceful prose of the author’s best work. The opening of the weak title story suggests that the focus will be on New Orleans 911 dispatcher Eva McNabb, the wife of a tough, abusive ex-cop, and the mother of two current police officers, but it shifts to the two sons. Jimmy McNabb’s disruption of a major meth shipment has tragic unintended consequences that set his family on a path toward bloody revenge in a story that prioritizes action over depth of characterization. Other selections offer nothing particularly new. In “Crime 101,” a dogged police lieutenant pursues a thief targeting jewelry couriers in California; in “The San Diego Zoo,” the one light-hearted entry, a humane cop tries to disarm an escaped chimp that managed to get its hands on a gun without injuring the primate. Readers should be prepared for graphic violence and staccato prose (“Harold’s shotgun is at his hip./It blasts the would-be shooter into the wall./The doors close”). Winslow fans will hope for a return to form next time. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. (Apr.)
A master of thrills shows his range, and his bite . . . [Winslow is] a writer from whom others can learn the ropes.”Janet Maslin, New York Times
"Winslow, whose work includes a dozen of the finest crime novels written in the last 20 years, displays all of his strengths, including propulsive narration, compelling characters and a tight, staccato writing style, in "Broken," a collection of six remarkable novellas." — Bruce De Silva, Associated Press
“This is an outstanding sextet in which – praise be! – ‘love and loyalty trump the law.’ It is fast, furious, and very funny.” — The Times [ London]
“Don Winslow has made his name with propulsive thrillers about drug lords, corrupt cops, retired hit men, and surfer-outlaws. His brisk, colorful prose and artful shorthand, showcased in 2019’s The Border, shine in this collection of six novellas.” — New York Magazine
"Recently, lengthy blockbusters such as The Border have secured [Winslow's] place in the upper echelons of American crime writing. . . . Winslow proves to be as adroit with these forms as with his arm-straining epics . . . . In pared-down Hemingway-esque prose, every one of these pieces is top-drawer Winslow — and they will do nicely until the next hefty tome." — Financial Times
“After three epic-scale masterpieces—The Cartel (2015), The Force (2017), and The Border (2019)—Winslow returns with a delicious serving of small plates. . . . A greatest-hits album but with all-new melodies: what could be sweeter?!” — Booklist [starred review]
"Fans of the author will eat up these neat, taut, action-packed stories, told in staccato sentences and one-line paragraphs." — Library Journal
“Exhibiting a remarkable range, [Winslow is] just as good at sprints as long distances, is as adept at mimicking screwball capers as mobster movies, and can charm as well as chill. . . . A dazzling display of versatility, this set of novellas shows Winslow to be an author who has hit his prime.” — The Sunday Times (UK)
"With the passing of Elmore Leonard a few years back, it’s now safe to proclaim Winslow America’s greatest living crime writer. His consistency is matched only by his creativity, his talent exceeded by his ability to surpass himself time and time again." — Jon Land, Providence Journal
“One of the masters of mystery and thriller, Don Winslow’s latest volume is a reading bonanza: a collection of six crime-focused short novels . . . that riffs off the genre with technical virtuosity, building to a staggering immersion in the possibilities of the form. It’s a hugely enjoyable crash course in the chameleon-like possibilities of crime.” — The Arts Desk (UK)
"A great collection of short crime fiction." — Kirkus Reviews [starred review]
“Entertaining . . . . All six yarns feature Mr. Winslow’s talent for narrative thrust and linguistic economy.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Broken will make you laugh and cry, but in the end will explain why The New York Times thinks Winslow is simply ‘the greatest.’ . . . He crafts every sentence until it beats to a rhythm of its own. . . . Broken is devastating and brilliant.” — Sydney Morning Herald
"Broken is a masterful collection from a writer at the peak of his powers." — Daily Express (UK)
“While Winslow is in widely fluent in many different prose techniques — from the twisty punchline felonies of Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker to the rebop riffs of James Ellroy to mega-works of dark literature a la Cormac McCarthy and James Lee Burke — he's not "copying" anyone. He's writing his OWN masterpieces and just happens to do so in the fashion appropriate to the work. . . . Every piece in Broken is a winner and compellingly different.” — The Day (CT)
“Winslow [is] a writer known for the emotive intensity of his storytelling.” — Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“Told with great style, this is one of my favorite books of the year.” — Daily Mail (UK)
“The six little doses of crime fiction here run the gamut from gritty, bloody thrillers to a humorous encounter with a gun-wielding chimpanzee. . . . Time and again, Winslow creates deeply believable characters by highlighting their desires and the setbacks to fulfilling those desires — goals to which readers can easily relate.” — Nashville Scene
“If you’re a Don Winslow fan – and of course you are – you’ve surely been waiting for reunions with Ben and Chon or the Dawn Patrol, that Hemi V-8 elegy to Highway 101, or a border-crossing saga to match the author’s ferocious anti-Trump Twitter feed. You just never imagined they’d arrive in the same 335-page package. . . . An arresting set of six short novels.” — The Oregonian
After three epic-scale masterpieces—The Cartel (2015), The Force (2017), and The Border (2019)—Winslow returns with a delicious serving of small plates. . . . A greatest-hits album but with all-new melodies: what could be sweeter?!
Booklist [starred review]
This is an outstanding sextet in which – praise be! – ‘love and loyalty trump the law.’ It is fast, furious, and very funny.”
"With the passing of Elmore Leonard a few years back, it’s now safe to proclaim Winslow America’s greatest living crime writer. His consistency is matched only by his creativity, his talent exceeded by his ability to surpass himself time and time again."
Exhibiting a remarkable range, [Winslow is] just as good at sprints as long distances, is as adept at mimicking screwball capers as mobster movies, and can charm as well as chill. . . . A dazzling display of versatility, this set of novellas shows Winslow to be an author who has hit his prime.”
Don Winslow has made his name with propulsive thrillers about drug lords, corrupt cops, retired hit men, and surfer-outlaws. His brisk, colorful prose and artful shorthand, showcased in 2019’s The Border, shine in this collection of six novellas.”
One of the masters of mystery and thriller, Don Winslow’s latest volume is a reading bonanza: a collection of six crime-focused short novels . . . that riffs off the genre with technical virtuosity, building to a staggering immersion in the possibilities of the form. It’s a hugely enjoyable crash course in the chameleon-like possibilities of crime.”
"Winslow, whose work includes a dozen of the finest crime novels written in the last 20 years, displays all of his strengths, including propulsive narration, compelling characters and a tight, staccato writing style, in "Broken," a collection of six remarkable novellas."
A master of thrills shows his range, and his bite . . . [Winslow is] a writer from whom others can learn the ropes.
"Recently, lengthy blockbusters such as The Border have secured [Winslow's] place in the upper echelons of American crime writing. . . . Winslow proves to be as adroit with these forms as with his arm-straining epics . . . . In pared-down Hemingway-esque prose, every one of these pieces is top-drawer Winslow — and they will do nicely until the next hefty tome."
"Recently, lengthy blockbusters such as The Border have secured [Winslow's] place in the upper echelons of American crime writing. . . . Winslow proves to be as adroit with these forms as with his arm-straining epics . . . . In pared-down Hemingway-esque prose, every one of these pieces is top-drawer Winslow — and they will do nicely until the next hefty tome."
Told with great style, this is one of my favorite books of the year.”
"Broken is a masterful collection from a writer at the peak of his powers."
Entertaining . . . . All six yarns feature Mr. Winslow’s talent for narrative thrust and linguistic economy.”
Broken will make you laugh and cry, but in the end will explain why The New York Times thinks Winslow is simply ‘the greatest.’ . . . He crafts every sentence until it beats to a rhythm of its own. . . . Broken is devastating and brilliant.
If you’re a Don Winslow fan – and of course you are – you’ve surely been waiting for reunions with Ben and Chon or the Dawn Patrol, that Hemi V-8 elegy to Highway 101, or a border-crossing saga to match the author’s ferocious anti-Trump Twitter feed. You just never imagined they’d arrive in the same 335-page package. . . . An arresting set of six short novels.”
Winslow [is] a writer known for the emotive intensity of his storytelling.
While Winslow is in widely fluent in many different prose techniques — from the twisty punchline felonies of Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker to the rebop riffs of James Ellroy to mega-works of dark literature a la Cormac McCarthy and James Lee Burke — he's not "copying" anyone. He's writing his OWN masterpieces and just happens to do so in the fashion appropriate to the work. . . . Every piece in Broken is a winner and compellingly different.”
The six little doses of crime fiction here run the gamut from gritty, bloody thrillers to a humorous encounter with a gun-wielding chimpanzee. . . . Time and again, Winslow creates deeply believable characters by highlighting their desires and the setbacks to fulfilling those desires — goals to which readers can easily relate.”
While Winslow is in widely fluent in many different prose techniques — from the twisty punchline felonies of Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker to the rebop riffs of James Ellroy to mega-works of dark literature a la Cormac McCarthy and James Lee Burke — he's not "copying" anyone. He's writing his OWN masterpieces and just happens to do so in the fashion appropriate to the work. . . . Every piece in Broken is a winner and compellingly different.”
One of the masters of mystery and thriller, Don Winslow’s latest volume is a reading bonanza: a collection of six crime-focused short novels . . . that riffs off the genre with technical virtuosity, building to a staggering immersion in the possibilities of the form. It’s a hugely enjoyable crash course in the chameleon-like possibilities of crime.”
Broken will make you laugh and cry, but in the end will explain why The New York Times thinks Winslow is simply ‘the greatest.’ . . . He crafts every sentence until it beats to a rhythm of its own. . . . Broken is devastating and brilliant.
This is an outstanding sextet in which – praise be! – ‘love and loyalty trump the law.’ It is fast, furious, and very funny.”
03/20/2020
Crime novelist Winslow (The Force ; "Cartel" trilogy) expands his repertoire with a collection of crime novellas, some of them loosely connected. The first three entries are the strongest. "Broken" has a cop family exacting revenge when their youngest member is tortured and killed by a drug lord. "Crime 101" is a pleasurable cat-and-mouse game played by a jewel thief and an erudite cop, Lou Lubesnick. Lubesnick makes an appearance in the comical "The San Diego Zoo," which has a hapless patrolman chasing an armed chimp and his pretty handler. The other stories have high points, too: surfing and surf culture is lovingly described in "Sunset" and "Paradise," which skews a bit colonialist and features too many plot contrivances. The final piece, "The Last Ride," is a moving but clichéd story about a Texas border lawman who tries to do the right thing against all odds. Winslow's women are as tough as the men, and the author does a good job conveying the "dance of the sexes" but inhabits the men's heads better and more believably. VERDICT Fans of the author will eat up these neat, taut, action-packed stories, told in staccato sentences and one-line paragraphs. Newcomers to Winslow's world will hope to see more of Lubesnick—or almost any of the characters still standing after the stories end.—Liz French, Library Journal
Narrators Kaleo Griffith and Ray Porter perfectly match the noir tone and rhythms of low-life characters who come into the world the same but leave broken. They’re hardened men and women who navigate various criminal worlds—usually unsuccessfully. In these six novellas, jewel thieves tell themselves all they need is one more score. Relentless cops chase high-end thieves who are portrayed by Porter with an audible sneer and a stifled laugh. Griffith uses a lighter tone and a more authoritarian delivery, creating sympathy for the lost, broken souls. Winslow continues to prove himself a worthy successor to masters of crime fiction like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Elmore Leonard. R.O. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
★ 2020-03-02
The world is a broken place, thinks Eva McNabb, a 911 dispatcher in New Orleans in the title novella, and “you come out broken.” Her sons, Danny and Jimmy, are cops, and Jimmy is “as sensitive as brass knuckles.” When he and his partner stumble on a mountain of meth, gunfire and heartbreak follow. In Crime 101 , a jewel thief named Davis notes the basics of successful crime—“keep it simple,” for example. He never strays far from “the 101,” his beloved California Highway 101. When Davis jacks $1.5 million in diamonds, Lt. Lou Lubesnick tries to identify and capture him, and it all comes down to this: “What would Steve McQueen do?” There are so many good lines in these yarns. How could the reader resist The San Diego Zoo ’s opener: “Nobody knows how the chimp got the revolver”? This story is especially funny: A good cop becomes the department’s laughingstock after disarming Champ the chimp. Lowlife Hollis Bamburger once turned in a term paper with the Wikipedia heading still on it. Even Superman and Spartacus take a hilarious turn. Meanwhile, the characters in Sunset and Paradise spend a lot of time surfing or thinking about surfing. A bail bondsman looks for a heroin-addicted surfing legend, and a woman in Hawaii thinks Peter, Paul, and Mary were Jesus’ parents. Each storyline will keep readers entertained with wit, humor, and occasional sadness. Finally, in The Last Ride , a Border Patrol agent simply wants to return one Salvadoran girl to her mother. The tale is sad and powerful as it comes back to the theme that everyone is broken somehow.
A great collection of short crime fiction.
