City in Ruins (Don Winslow)
City in Ruins
by Don Winslow
William Morrow
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 02 Apr 2024
DESCRIPTION/SYNOPSIS:
Following City on Fire and City of Dreams, City in Ruins is the explosive, impossible to put down conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow’s epic, genre-defining crime trilogy and the final book of Winslow’s extraordinary career.
Sometimes you have to become what you hate to protect what you love. Danny Ryan is rich. Beyond his wildest dreams rich.
The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman – a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.
Life is good. But then Danny reaches too far.
When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.
Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything – not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.
To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was – and never wanted to be again.
Ranging from the gritty back rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City in Ruins is an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation, vengeance and compassion.
REVIEW:
City on Fire, the first book in Don Winslow’s crime trilogy (part homage to the story of Helen of Troy) was a revelation to me. Clearly, one of my favorite books read in s023, I devoured it. No surprise it received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist and Kirkus. Trust me, if you were a fan of the television show Sopranos, you will love City on Fire, along with the rest of the trilogy.
Immediately after reading City on Fire, I read the sequel, City of Dreams, which transports Danny Ryan—after suffering a personal tragedy—from the organized crime turf war in Rhode Island to the glitzy world of showbiz in California. Coming up for air, I began my patient wait for the third and final book in the trilogy, City in Ruins…
(Fortunately, that anticipated long wait became much shorter when I noticed the final book was available for review through NetGalley. I promptly logged my request for a review copy—and was overjoyed when I received an approval.)
It’s fair to say that Danny Ryan—despite his rebound from hunted fugitive to financial success in City of Dreams, bolstered by even more success leading up to City in Ruins and his move to Las Vegas—is a haunted man. Haunted by the personal tragedies that befell him at the end of the first and second books in the “City…” trilogy.” But also haunted by the sins of his past, and the burden of his bad reputation, which he can never completely shake no matter how much he tries to go legit. And though he acknowledges the mistakes of his past and tries to suppress his own conscience, the debt that goes along with that guilt takes physical form in the vengeful FBI agent who refuses to let him off the hook, despite multiple ‘hands-off’ warnings from her superiors.
Despite all attempts to avoid repeating the mistakes of his past, Danny Ryan gets pulled back into the vicious circle of attacks and reprisals that marked his mobster days in Rhode Island. But can he escape before paying the ultimate price? Much of the suspense in the final volume of the trilogy is waiting to find out if there is any hope for Danny or if he is doomed to an inevitable collapse into the titular ‘ruins.’
I highly recommend you read City in Ruins—but only after reading City on Fire followed by City of Dreams. This trilogy is the arc of a life seeking redemption along with success, with this final book informed by the events of the past that helped shape Danny Ryan’s personality, while also showing how he affected—and continues to influence—those around him. Rest assured, all three books are highly entertaining, filled with colorful (criminal and otherwise) characters, humorous situations and dialogue, unexpected twists, pleasant surprises, sudden violence, and more than a few gut punches. And, in the final pages, there is hope and satisfaction to be found… but maybe not in the way the reader expects. Though I have a special appreciation for City on Fire, all three books in the trilogy are thoroughly enthralling.
Note: I received a free eGalley of City in Ruins (link) from Net Galley in consideration of an unbiased review.
This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any sales resulting from links to Amazon products on these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.
