(The Bellagio Water Fountain Show on the Strip in Las Vegas).

If one likes epic crime novels I imagine that you are a fan of Don Winslow.  The author of twenty-five books, seven of which were best sellers, Winslow has established himself as a master storyteller and a person with extensive knowledge of organized crime and drug cartels.  His latest, and I am sad to say his last novel is the final piece of his Danny Ryan trilogy entitled, CITY IN RUINS, a continuation of the story that has evolved through previous books; CITY ON FIRE and  CITY OF DREAMS.

In an April 1, 2024, interview with Benjamin J. Russell of the New York Times Winslow announced that he was retiring from writing crime fiction novels to devote more of his time to political activism.  Winslow who has excoriated Donald Trump in videos and social media posts believes that writing books would not allow him to reach a large enough audience to try and influence the American electorate.  However, his loyal readership will certainly miss him.

In the current work of fiction, Winslow states that the Danny Ryan trilogy which he worked on for over thirty years was like a homecoming.  Winslow left Rhode Island himself when he was a teenager and provides a searing crime novel, which travels through Providence, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., Wall Street and Las Vegas.  In so doing Winslow details the seamier side of Las Vegas through characters who thought they had put their organized crime experiences in the past.

Danny Ryan seems to have achieved everything that life could offer, a respected businessman and a multi-millionaire.  However, his past has produced numerous enemies, a past that included being an Irish mob soldier, and a fugitive from the federal government.  Now, he craves normalcy, however his business plans rub Las Vegas power brokers the wrong way, and an FBI agent bent on revenge sees an opportunity to bring him down.

For Ryan, his prime concern is safety, and safety creates the need for power.  Ryan has power owning hotels and other business interests.  However, a number of threats emerge at the outset of the novel as Congress has created the Gambling Impact Study Commission designed to investigate the impact of gaming on the American people.  Ryan’s fear, along with other power brokers, is that the federal government would gain the power to impact the profitability of his holdings, investigate the seamier sign of his wealth, and possibly imprison him.  These other power brokers, Vern Winegard and Barry Levine were also a threat to Ryan’s position, wealth, and self-image.  Though they met monthly to discuss common issues, Winegard who was about to purchase a prime property on the Strip that Ryan coveted, and Levine who owned three mega hotels across from Ryan’s are major obstacles.  In reality, no matter how hard Winslow tries to normalize Ryan as a legitimate businessman, a loving father, and a generous person who treats those around him well, he can’t seem to break away from the fact that Ryan cannot escape his mobster past.

Winslow constructs his plot lines very carefully. First, we have the Ryan-Winegard competition for control of certain properties on the “Strip” which would allow one of them to dominate the hotel-casino business.  Second, is the role of organized crime as both Ryan and Winegard have a past that does not want to let them go.  Third, centers around Chris Columbo, a mobbed up individual who stole from his bosses, disappears, then reappears ten years later.  Fourth, a trial involving Peter Moretti, another mob figure who killed his mother and stepfather.  Fifth, the revenge sought by FBI Sub Director for Organized Crime, Regina Moneta who blames Ryan for the murder of her FBI boyfriend a decade ago.  Sixth, the ambition of Camilla Cooper, an evangelical Christian who sits on the Nevada Gaming Control Board who sees bringing down Danny Ryan as a step to gaining the governor’s mansion.  How Ryan navigates these threats and certain other situations provide the core of the novel.

Winslow is an expert at creating characters and their backgrounds which immediately spark interest in the reader.  In addition to those previously mentioned there are other important people.  Abe Stern, a 93 year old billionaire who wants no part of Vegas but decides to assist Ryan with his travails.  Stern’s son Josh also plays a vital role.  Dr. Eden Landau, a psychiatrist that Ryan falls in love with. Madeleine, Ryan’s mother who lived with Marty Ryan Dan’s father, likes to see herself as a wonderful grandmother but is heavily involved with the mob over the decades.  Marie Bouchard, the Nevada prosecutor after Peter Moretti and his lawyer Bruce Bascomb.  There are a number of organized crime “types,” throughout be it Ryan’s organization or that of Alfred “Allie Boy” Licata, an old mob boss banned from Las Vegas who years before killed Abe Stern’s brothers and his crew.

Winslow describes Las Vegas and the characters he develops accurately in terms of the historical reality of the “Strip.”  He writes; “Enough isn’t a concept in Las Vegas, an over-the-top town where too much isn’t enough, success is success, and more is always better.”  As one follows the story line each character subscribes to this credo.  Ryan tries to stay clean through most of the novel, but his old enemies keep circling. He does what he can to prevent the power struggle he has unleashed from turning violent, but through a series of miscalculations, bullets start flying, endangering not only his gambling empire but his life and the lives of those he loves.

Years ago, when Winslow first read Aeschylus, he recognized that the Greek father of literary tragedies had explored every major theme found in modern crime fiction, from murder, vengeance, and corruption to power, justice and redemption. He became obsessed, he said recently, with the idea of retelling the ancient stories in a modern-crime fiction trilogy.  In an ode to Greek tragedy Winslow refers to Virgil’s epic poem, “The Aeneid” throughout the novel and the quotes he uses to divide sections of the novel fit perfectly.

While CITY IN RUINS can be read as a standalone, readers would be best served by reading the trilogy from the outset. With his compelling characters, his vivid prose, and his exploration of universal themes, Winslow has produced a masterpiece of modern crime fiction which will not disappoint returning readers or any new audience.

(Las Vegas Strip today)