An excellent example of American Crime fiction

Don Winslow didn't hit a homerun but doubled, in the bottom of the 9th to even the score. Forgive my tortured metaphor, I am excited for baseball to return.

City On Fire is a hit, exciting and sad in all the ways that make me love Don Winslow. This is the third of Winslow's writing I have enjoyed and I think he might be my favorite author.

Set in a small New England town City on Fire details the less than glamorous and long gang war between an Irish and an Italian mobs. As I read this book I couldn't help but think of Scorsese or Coppola, of course. What sets City On Fire apart is the forgone sadness of it all. In most gangster films everyone wants to win in this book they just want to survive.

The hero of the story is Danny Ryan an outsider in his extended family who reluctantly ends up the leader of his faction. And as allies and foes drop Danny is left trying to survive.

Like Mario Puzo's book there are plenty of characters and they all standout, each fascinating in their own way. There is the previously mentioned Danny Ryan, a respected soldier/debt collector for the Irish Mob/family he married into. He is the son of the previous Irish boss that has been supplanted by the Murphy's after Ryan's father gave into alcoholism. He married the Murphy's charming daughter, Terrie, and despite that connection he is never let into the "back room" to make decisions

City On Fire details a escalating crime war where Danny must overcome a well connected, respected, and dangerous enemy. And as the war gets bloodier Danny rises to the top and each step of the way feels logical, like I could totally understand why a man in his position would do what he did.

What really stuck out for me was how many times this book caught me off guard, shocked me with a twist. And not just a twist for the sake of a twist, but like real life intruding, things got more and more complicated.

The reality of a crime war is laid bare also. Each side has the soldiers and the connections, the Italian mafia has more, but resources and alliances are always a consideration. At no point does a character get introduced that is impossibly skilled or deadly that changes the tide of the war. No, like a chess match, all the players and their pieces are pretty much known from the start and its a matter of attrition. Who can survive the longest. And in any war of attrition, the protracted violence, sadness sets in and that sadness feels realer and is what left the biggest impact on me.

I look forward to the next installment.