California Fire and Life

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An intelligent edge of the seat thriller - Rated
This is the first Don Winslow novel that I've read. Early in the book I was a little cynical, but it gathers depth and pace, and ultimately achieved the accolade of 'unputdownable'. Winslow seems to have the intelligence of Ellroy and the cutting edge of McCarthy,and a nice sprinkling of his own sense of noir. I'll read them all!

Hot Stuff (ho ho) - Rated
Style.

Don Winslow has bags of it, and it's distinctive. Very present tense - very modern.

It hooks you.

And he captures the rhythms of pre-millennial California dialogue, like, sooooo well. Like, maybe he's satirizing it and he loves it at the same time. And the similes? Whoa...roll over Ray Chandler.

English like your primary school teacher taught you not to write. But addictive. Buy this book.

It's a scorcher - Rated
Having done the spy thing in Isle of Joy and the prisoner on the make in The Life and Death of Bobby Zee, Winslow provides another explosive thriller. Jack is a fire investigator for California Fire and Life insurance company. Called to do his thing at a mansion overlooking Laguna Beach, LA, he smells a smouldering match straight away. He figures the husband has torched the place - with his wife inside - and is looking to collect big time. Trouble is Jack is up against an indifferent police force and the Russian mafia - not to mention those who are supposed to be on his side telling him to drop the case. But Jack is a straight up kinda guy and this is one case he won't let drop. It has sex, surf, sea, searing action, flames and fiery dialogue. Burn rubber to get a copy.