Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2022
368 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of the Cartel Trilogy (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border), The Force, and Broken comes the first novel in an epic crime saga about the Irish and Italian crime syndicates in America during the 1980s and 1990s.
Providence, RI, 1986. Twenty-nine-year-old Danny Ryan is a hard-working longshoreman, loving husband, loyal friend, and occasional "muscle" for the Irish crime syndicate that oversees much of the city. He yearns for something more and dreams of starting over fresh, someplace far away. But when a modern-day Helen of Troy triggers a war between rival mob factions, Danny is embroiled in a conflict he can't escape. Now it is up to him to step into the breach to protect his family, the friends who are closer to him than brothers, and the only home he's ever known.
Exploring classic themes of loyalty, betrayal, honor, and corruption on both sides of the law, City on Fire is a contemporary Iliad from Don Winslow, "America's greatest living crime writer" (Jon Land, Providence Journal).
"Set in 1986, this impressive series launch from Edgar finalist Winslow (the Cartel trilogy) focuses on the follies, vendettas, and private ambitions of warring mobsters in Providence, R.I...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)
"A blistering novel filled with anger and bite...Plenty of pain for the characters, plenty of thrills for the reader." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"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)
"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)
"Superb. This is storytelling with a keen edge. City on Fire is exhilarating to read." - Stephen King
This information about City on Fire was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Jerry Bauer
New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow has written twenty-one novels, including The Border, The Force, The Kings of Cool, Savages, The Winter of Frankie Machine and the highly acclaimed epics The Power of the Dog and The Cartel.
The son of a sailor and a librarian, Winslow grew up with a love of books and storytelling in a small coastal Rhode Island town. He left at age seventeen to study journalism at the University of Nebraska, where he earned a degree in African Studies. While in college, he traveled to southern Africa, sparking a lifelong involvement with that continent.
Winslow's travels took him to California, Idaho and Montana before he moved to New York City to become a writer, making his living as a movie theater manager and later a private investigator in Times ...
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
