"It's a crime classic. Winslow's best book, by far. You won't put it down." — Stephen King
"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
"Masterfully executed with class." — Washington Post
“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)
"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
“[City of Dreams] maintains the fierce trajectory of its predecessor, City on Fire. . . . As before with the prodigiously gifted Winslow, we are presented with a cinematic vision in which the moral equivalence of criminal and police organizations is rigorously counterpointed.” — Financial Times
“Get it at top speed! . . . . Irresistible, layered storytelling — and the manner in which Winslow subtly shifts the entire tone, rhythms and energy over two books, from East Coast to West Coast, is stunningly and unerringly well done.” — The Day (CT)
"[City of Dreams] will make readers anxious for the final book of the trilogy." — Denver Post
"Don Winslow has such a way with words, which makes the chapters simply fly by. . . . He is one of the best in the business when it comes to crime fiction, and City of Dreams is no exception." — Bookreporter.com
"Reminiscent of The Godfather . . . . Winslow writes page-turners!" — Dayton Daily News
“Winslow has written an organized crime saga that sits somewhere between the intimate and the epic, between Mystic River and The Godfather, and stands with the best in its genre.” — Sydney Morning Herald on City on Fire
“A masterwork of mob fiction. . . . City on Fire does for Rhode Island what David Chase’s The Sopranos did for New Jersey. . . This novel, the first in a planned trilogy, could well end up in the American-mob canon along with the works of Puzo, Scorsese and Chase.” — Washington Post on City on Fire
“Superb. City on Fire is exhilarating to read.” — Stephen King on City on Fire
“America’s greatest living crime writer.” — Jon Land, Providence Journal
"Winslow is our Dickens of modern crime. I can’t think of anyone better at what he does." — Linwood Barclay, New York Times bestselling author, on City on FIre
"The crime fiction canon has no shortage of memorable mob sagas by such masters as Puzo, Ellroy, and Lehane. City on Fire, with its large cast of memorable characters and low-key allusions to classical literature, maintains Mr. Winslow’s well-earned place in these ranks." — Wall Street Journal on City on Fire
“This completely immersive opening act signals a trilogy in the offing that will possess all the power of Winslow's celebrated Cartel novels.” — Booklist (starred review) on City on Fire
“You don’t read City on Fire so much as you let it take you for a ride.” — USA Today on City on Fire
02/27/2023
In 1988, Chris Calumbo, a lieutenant in the Providence, R.I., Italian mob, sets in motion a risky plan, in bestseller Winslow’s powerful sequel to 2022’s City on Fire. He brokers a deal with the Baja cartel for 40 kilos of heroin; gets his boss, Peter Moretti, and several other New England wiseguys to invest; and arranges for Danny Ryan, the Irish mob’s leader, to hijack the shipment. Calumbo tips the feds, who will bust Ryan and return the dope to the Italians (minus a cut, of course). What could go wrong? Ryan, a recent widower, winds up fleeing Providence and landing in San Diego with his 18-month-old son and elderly father. Ryan and his crew spread out and work anonymous jobs, keeping their heads down until they hear that their nemesis, Moretti, has been killed. In a surreal twist of fate, Ryan ends up in Hollywood, where he finds himself investing in a movie called Providence based on the war between Italian and Irish mobs, and he falls in love with the film’s beautiful, doomed starlet. This classically inspired mob story breaks no new ground, but fans of Dennis Lehane and Richard Price are sure to be well pleased. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. (Apr.)
Ari Fliakos uses his skill with accents, pacing, and ratcheting up narrative tension to deliver this second novel in a trilogy. In the first novel, CITY ON FIRE, Irish mobster Danny Ryan led a mob war against a rival Italian gang. In this follow-up, the war continues, and Fliakos allows Ryan's desperation and exhaustion to creep into his narration. Eventually, the story lands in Hollywood, where Ryan joins a production as a silent advisor and partner. Winslow's capo, Danny Ryan, takes his place alongside the great Mob bosses like Michael Corleone of THE GODFATHER. Fliakos portrays Ryan with intelligence, humanity, and flashes of vocal fireworks. The story is one for the ages, and this audio version is one of the best ways to experience its violent and heartbreaking world. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Ari Fliakos uses his skill with accents, pacing, and ratcheting up narrative tension to deliver this second novel in a trilogy. In the first novel, CITY ON FIRE, Irish mobster Danny Ryan led a mob war against a rival Italian gang. In this follow-up, the war continues, and Fliakos allows Ryan's desperation and exhaustion to creep into his narration. Eventually, the story lands in Hollywood, where Ryan joins a production as a silent advisor and partner. Winslow's capo, Danny Ryan, takes his place alongside the great Mob bosses like Michael Corleone of THE GODFATHER. Fliakos portrays Ryan with intelligence, humanity, and flashes of vocal fireworks. The story is one for the ages, and this audio version is one of the best ways to experience its violent and heartbreaking world. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
2023-03-11
A gangster heads to LA in this bleak sequel to City on Fire (2022).
It's 1988. Recently widowed drug dealer Danny Ryan wants to “get the hell out of Rhode Island,” where the victorious rival Moretti crime family wants him dead. He and a few buddies steal millions of dollars’ worth of the Morettis’ heroin, which he dumps into the ocean. Then they rob the gang of cold, hard cash, lots of it. But Danny won’t kill anyone. “We came for the money, not a massacre, Danny thought. Tens of millions of dollars in cash to start new lives, not keep reliving the old ones.” Then he and his pals head west to Tinseltown. More than anything else, he’d like to protect his young son, Ian, and raise him in a crime-free environment. Perhaps Danny’s estranged mother, Madeleine, can help if he’ll allow it. You’d think he’d keep a low profile, but instead he makes a series of blunders such as investing in a particular movie and boffing a famous actress. Thus, he forgets his old man’s advice: “When you’re on the run, you leave the skirts alone.” Danny is, to play on the book’s favorite profanity, effing inept. (Of course, if he does everything right there is no story, so there’s that.) Instead of leaving his East Coast troubles behind, he brings them along where they metastasize into bloody violence. The story is well crafted but for a deus ex machina ending, and even that is enough of a shocker that readers may not mind. Along the way are a couple of eye-popping twists. And there are some great lines: “I thought Jesus died for my sins…” Danny muses. “Maybe my sins just maxed out Christ’s credit card.” And “Ned Egan has killed more guys than cholesterol.” While the story can stand alone, readers might want to read City on Fire first, as it provides essential background and is the better story. There is a glimmer inside Danny Ryan suggesting he wants to become—could become—a good person if he can only survive. The story has no more violence than many other crime thrillers, but a sense of hopelessness progressively builds. Danny pisses off his enemies, has the FBI’s attention, and brings heartbreak to Hollywood. He may not live to raise his 3-year-old son.
Enjoyable despite a few flaws, but damn, it’s dark.
