literature
“City in Ruins”: Don Winslow presents his last book
With “City in Ruins”, Don Winslow has presented one last work – and at the same time completed a trilogy that he says he has been working on his entire writing life. Photo
© Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Don Winslow, one of the world’s most successful crime authors, is quitting his writing and his last novel is now being published in German. In the future he wants to devote himself fully to the fight against Donald Trump.
The acknowledgments at the end of the last book by Don Winslow begins with questions: “How is this supposed to work? After a long and happy career, how can I even begin to thank all the people who have contributed to this author’s life, without whom it would not have been possible? It “It’s impossible, but I have to try.”
Seven pages and dozens of names later, Winslow really comes to the conclusion. “Farewells are hard. After a long and wonderful career – much more than I ever dreamed of – I can only say “thank you” to you all in the simplest way. Thank you very much!”
For more than 30 years, the US writer celebrated global success primarily with crime novels – now his last book, “City in Ruins”, which was originally published at the beginning of April, is also being published in German by HarperCollins. The 70-year-old bestselling author wants to dedicate himself to something “that feels heavier”: political activism and the fight against Donald Trump, who wants to be re-elected US President in November.
Future in political activism
Winslow has been involved in writing, including videos and online publications, for several years, but now he wants to concentrate fully on activism. “I just can’t reach as many people with a novel,” Winslow told the New York Times. “And the books take so much time in an era that requires much quicker answers.”
Trump is a “would-be dictator, a fascist who, when he was voted out, tried to take back this power with a coup,” said the writer of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. The Trump side doesn’t shy away from violent attacks, but the other side does: “Unfortunately, the Democratic Party sometimes has reservations about really hitting back. I don’t.”
Trilogy “the work of my life”
With “City in Ruins”, the thriller author has now presented one last work – and at the same time completed a trilogy that he says he has been working on his entire writing life. “Of course I did other things, but I kept coming back to this trilogy. When I got close to completing it, it felt like two rivers coming together. It was the work of a lifetime and completing it felt like the end of something.”
“City on Fire” was released in 2022, “City of Dreams” in 2023, now “City in Ruins”. All three novels are about Danny Ryan, who starts out as a dock worker and mafia member on the US East Coast and eventually becomes a wealthy businessman in Las Vegas. In the third part, Ryan is actually a rich, successful and satisfied entrepreneur, with a girlfriend, family and friends – but his past catches up with him and so things get bloodthirsty again towards the end.
The publisher describes the book as a “thriller about love and hate, ambition and despair, revenge and compassion, ranging from the corridors of power of Washington, DC, to Wall Street, to the golden casinos of Las Vegas.” In any case, Winslow manages to entertain his readers in his usual way, to captivate them, to describe them with concise, precise language and good powers of observation and to always keep the tension high.
“City on Fire” is coming to cinemas
Winslow, who was born in New York in 1953, became famous. According to his own statements, he experienced a lot of the mafia environment while growing up on the US East Coast and later worked as an investigator, especially with crime films about the drug war such as “Days of the Dead” and “The Cartel ” or “Years of the Hunter”. Several of his works have been made into films – and after his writing career ends, Winslow fans can at least look forward to the film adaptation of “City on Fire” with Hollywood star Austin Butler in the leading role.
The end of his life as a writer was hard for him, says Winslow: “It’s hard for me to leave all that behind, but you can’t always choose what times you live in and what tasks they give you.”