★ 2021-06-29
A blistering novel filled with anger and bite.
Danny Ryan is a dockworker in Providence, Rhode Island, who’s “faithful like a dog” to his wife, Terri, of the rival Murphy clan, and sometimes does some less-than-legal errands for his father-in-law, John. He wants more out of his life and wants to “not owe nobody nothing,” but nobody ever leaves Dogtown. One day at the beach, he sees “the goddess who came out of the sea” and who “has a voice like sex.” Terri's brother Liam Murphy accidentally-on-purpose touches the woman’s breast, which sets off a chain reaction of events in which bullets fly and f-bombs and their ilk swarm like cicadas on nearly every page. You know, you just don’t touch a made guy’s woman, and the goddess is going out with Paulie Moretti. The Providence press gleefully reports the other-side-of-the-tracks bloodletting among men who supplement their wages with hijacking trucks and boosting heroin. So Danny wants out with his wife and son, but—well, it’s complicated. Chances are they’ll have to live and die in Dogtown. And, oh yeah, Danny loathes his rich mother, who tries so hard to make amends for abandoning him. The characters are as vividly described as some of them are vile: One guy “never met a job he couldn’t lose.” John Murphy is “the king of an empire that died a long time ago. The light of a long-dead star.” At the ocean, Danny observes that the “whitecaps look like the beards of sad old men.” A Murphy declares, “That Ryan blood….It’s cursed.” But the Murphy blood isn’t exactly touched by angels either. And then there are the Morettis, all of them trapped in a cycle of crime and violence, just looking for an excuse to go to war. One difference between Danny and some of the others is he’s never killed anybody. Yet. Meanwhile, a planned heist might just solve some financial problems for whomever survives all the betrayals.
Plenty of pain for the characters, plenty of thrills for the reader.
"Superb. This is storytelling with a keen edge. City on Fire is exhilarating to read." — Stephen King
"A blistering novel filled with anger and bite. . . . Plenty of pain for the characters, plenty of thrills for the reader." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Gritty, moody, and totally immersive, City on Fire is the first installment in an epic new series that is sure to grip readers from the start. This is Winslow at his very best.” — Karin Slaughter, New York Times and internationally bestselling author
"Don Winslow can hold his own with the best of crime fiction's elite: Mario Puzo, George Higgins, Elmore Leonard. He's a bard of the bad guys and City on Fire is his most relentless book yet. You gotta have it." — Joe Hill, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
“A masterwork of mob fiction. . . . City on Fire does for Rhode Island what David Chase’s The Sopranos did for New Jersey. . . . It’s Winslow’s ways with character, as well as his fluid narrative and highly visual scene-setting, that suggest 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
"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
“Pure genius! Nobody can bring such grit and such heart to crime fiction as Don Winslow—and with such a unique and compelling stylistic voice. This sprawling novel, populated with breathtakingly real characters, will grip you from the first page and never loosen its hold, and that remains true long after you’ve turned the last page. And what a delight that this is the first of a trilogy. Can hardly wait for the others!” — Jeffery Deaver, bestselling author of The Midnight Lock
"Epic, ambitious, majestic, City on Fire is The Godfather for our generation.' — Adrian McKinty, #1 international bestseller and New York Times bestselling author of The Chain
"Winslow’s epic slow-burner, full of richly layered characters and tender personal struggles, bubbles to an intricate, exciting climax. Crime fiction fans will eagerly await the sequel." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"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
“Stunning . . . Echoing Homer’s epic Iliad, Winslow delivers a fast-paced, intense, and brooding story. It’s perfect for readers of William Boyle, James Lee Burke, and Dennis Lehane.” — Library Journal (starred review)
"City on Fire is the best gangster novel since The Godfather." — Steve Cavanagh, bestselling author of the Eddie Flynn series
“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)
"A superior example of the gangster genre." — Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"Winslow’s previous Cartel trilogy is an astonishing achievement that will be hard to beat, but on the strength of this immersive and humane tale of fate, free will, loyalty and betrayal, his new series will rank alongside it." — The Guardian (UK)
“[Winslow’s] books. . . . are adrenalized plot machines whose pages seem to turn themselves. . . . You don’t read City on Fire so much as you let it take you for a ride.” — USA Today
"No one fuses action with emotion like Winslow." — The Times (UK)
"Expert and convincing, with plenty of plot surprises." — Toronto Star
"Rich in action and riveting characters, hugely entertaining, City on Fire brings the reader into a fable about the escalating stakes of underworld warfare, with an emotional depth that lingers long after the book is finished." — Kyle Perry, author of The Bluffs
"Remarkable . . . breathtakingly panoramic and infinitesimally focused." — Financial Times
"An intricately woven crime story. . . . Propulsive." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"City on Fire is as incendiary as its title suggests; a tale of family and friendship, carnage and corruption, that draws on the classics but has roots in the here and now. It ranks alongside his best, and Winslow’s best is as good as it gets." — Mick Herron, CWA Gold and Steel Dagger-Winning Author of Slow Horses
"This superb novel, by the writer of the Cartel trilogy of narco-thrillers, is a bloody tale of greed, lust and violent retribution, and based on various Greek myths, including Helen of Troy." — The Sun (UK)
“The dialogue and action ring true and move the story along quickly, with Winslow’s skillful blending of culture, nationality and even race creating an atmosphere that is as convincing as it is compelling. And the end of the first volume in the planned series will leave readers ready for more.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"As he did in the Cartel trilogy, Winslow adeptly manages the comings and goings of a large cast of characters. . . . By the end of this well crafted, troubling epic, enough people are left standing to offer hope of a future for these deeply flawed families. That, plus a hint that Danny Ryan is heading to a 'warmer shore,' should lure readers to the next installment of what’s shaping up as Winslow’s next juggernaut of a modern-day epic." — Los Angeles Times
"Winslow is a master." — Boston Globe
"Don Winslow’s City on Fire is a masterpiece—wonderfully crafted, beautifully written, and a propulsive, authentic page-turner." — Christian White, bestselling author of The Nowhere Child
"A tour-de-force of the criminal underground. . . . A fierce, biting read." — The News Courier
