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City in Ruins: Book summary and reviews of City in Ruins by Don Winslow

City in Ruins

Danny Ryan Trilogy #3

by Don Winslow

City in Ruins by Don Winslow X
City in Ruins by Don Winslow
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  • Published Apr 2024
    400 pages
    Genre: Thrillers

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Book Summary

Following City on Fire and City of Dreams, City in Ruins is the explosive, impossible to put down conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow's epic, genre-defining crime trilogy and the final book of Winslow's extraordinary career.

Sometimes you have to become what you hate to protect what you love.

Danny Ryan is rich.

Beyond his wildest dreams rich.

The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman – a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.

Life is good.

But then Danny reaches too far.

When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.

Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything – not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.

To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was – and never wanted to be again.

Ranging from the gritty back rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City in Ruins is an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation, vengeance and compassion.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Bolstered by careful plotting and meticulous attention to character, Winslow's ambitious narrative culminates with an exhilarating climax that beautifully wraps up the series' many plot threads. It's a fitting swan song from a giant of crime fiction." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[A] dramatic conclusion... If you love good crime writing but aren't familiar with Winslow's work, read this trilogy in order." —Kirkus Reviews

"If this really is Winslow's final novel, as he's said it will be, then he's going out on a high note. The follow-up to City on Fire (2021) and City of Dreams (2023) showcases everything that makes Winslow a spectacular writer: brilliantly realized characters, dialogue that rings true, and a story that explores the darkness that exists within each of us" —Booklist

"After a long and influential career, Don Winslow delivers his swan song, treating readers to one final epic reading experience... City in Ruins is an instant classic and some of the finest writing you'll find in print today." —The Real Book Spy

This information about City in Ruins 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.

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Author Information

Don Winslow Author Biography

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 ...

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Link to Don Winslow's Website

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