I’ve been stunned into near speechlessness. Don Winslow’s City on Fire is utterly incredible! This book delivers the goods and then some. A masterclass in exceptional storytelling with intense pacing and deep, complex characters thrown into a pressure cooker filled with crime, murder, and mayhem. An epic start to a new trilogy by one of the best crime writers of all-time.
City on Fire centers around a mob war between Irish and Italian factions in Providence, Rhode Island in the later half of the 1980’s. All it took was a tiny spark of perceived disrespect between made men, initiated by the introduction of a gorgeous woman, to blow up previously cordial business dealings and tranquil personal relationships. The result is a vicious game of one-upmanship with escalating violence and retribution that leaves a wake of dead bodies across New England with no real winner. Only pain and suffering on every side.
City on Fire explores numerous themes like family, honor, loyalty, values and codes, love and loss in the way that only Don Winslow can – through the creation of realistic characters that are put into impossible situations where choices are fraught with dangerous consequences no matter the decision. And while Don might be telling a tale that shines a spotlight on the psyche and actions of old school wise guys, he does so in a way that’s easy relatable for everyday men and women even if they’re normal upstanding citizens who wouldn’t know a gumar from an envelope or a no-show job. Because all of us understand and have firsthand experience with the importance of family, of having your friend’s back, of unconditional love, of making hard and sometimes unpopular decisions, and of unbearably heartbreaking loss. Which creates a strong emotional connection between the reader and the characters, allowing us to really experience what’s happening to those on the page and sometimes even sympathize with, or even root for, hardened criminals who we’d ordinarily say deserved a heaping serving of karma.
And holy hell is this novel well-written. Don is a genius with the pen. Everything is sublime. The setup, transitions, details, dialogue, action, character development, and pacing are all exquisite. Throw in several huge twists to go along with gut wrenching conflict that you see coming but are powerless to stop and its near perfection. A cinematic masterpiece in hardcover form.
The best books always leave you with a book hangover as you contemplate what just occurred. Well, City on Fire does that and more. Like the aftermath of a week-long bender in Vegas with the boys, this book will stick with you for a long time.
I look forward with great anticipation to City of Dreams, the next installment of this blockbuster story. My only hope is that September 2022 hurries up and gets here already. The wait is going to be brutal and I’m dying to know what happens next!
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