There’s a lot to be said about City in Ruins. But it’s best to start off by acknowledging it’s not only the bittersweet ending of a beautifully haunting trilogy, but it’s also the final book of a phenomenal author who is closing his writing career with the perfect crime thriller that leaves nothing more to be desired and all that is left to do is appreciate its sheer excellence. Don Winslow has written a genuine masterpiece.
Danny Ryan has made it in life. He’s rich, he has gone legit, he’s in love, and he’s got his son and mother with him to enjoy the luxury that comes with being a respected businessman – a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. However, he wants more. It’s the pursuit of this desire for a bigger and better life that puts him in a shooting war against a competitor who himself is no saint and thus begins the fall of the dream Danny has worked so hard to build. Danny doesn’t want to go back to his old ways, but when your back is against the wall, is there any other choice? Will there be anything left to salvage by the time all the blood has dried?
Don Winslow’s trilogy is epic. He set up a fascinating introduction to this world, populated it with believably flawed heroes and despicable villains, drove the large narrative to a tipping point and then brought readers full circle. With so much going on in City in Ruins, it could have been easy for things to get lost in the mix. But not for the master of crime drama; Winslow gives each character a pivotal role to play and it’s because of such powerful roles that you not only begin to empathize with the plight of the characters but you begin to feel for them as you would for someone you’d know intimately. One moment you’re cheering for Danny to achieve his dream and in the next you’re chilled to the bone as you realize what the consequences of such desire would be. You don’t want to unlock the darkness, but the writing is too good to let you get away from its grasp and you tumble down the rabbit hole of misery and pain all passionately described to evoke your most inhibited expressions of love, joy and disgust.
Don Winslow has written many great crime thrillers and while it’s a big decision to pick his best, City in Ruins is his tour de force. Danny Ryan serves as a frayed, but solid beacon of goodness and hope and his arc will forever be remembered as a story of compassion, danger, and redemption in ways that can only be attributed to life’s little mysteries. Winslow ends his auspicious writing career with a finale that couldn’t have been more perfect. I wish we could have more of his thrillers to look forward to, but it has been a hell of a journey growing and maturing as a reader with his impeccable stories.
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Barrington Books
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