"Savages" by Don Winslow is a great motherf***king book. Yeah, I know- kind of a crass way to preface my review, but if you're offended by that phrase, than by all means STAY AWAY from this book. The front cover of this book proudly displays a quote proclaiming this as "BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID on autoload." Yep, that about sums it up- if Butch grew and dealt weed, and The Sundance Kid was an ex-Navyy SEAL/occasional mercenary. Oh yeah, and imagine Butch & Sundance were both nailing Etta.
Since picking this book up a year ago, Don Winslow's quickly turned into one of my favorite writers. While I love action movies, book that are heavy on action aren't typically my thing. Action flicks are very viceral, but for a book, character and dialogue are all that counts. Winslow's the exception to this rule, as I've never read anyone else who's written an action scene so well.
"Savages" is heavy on action, with it being about two pot-runners, Chon- as badass ex-Navy SEAL, and his pal Ben- the thoughful half of the duo (who uses his ill-gotten gains to farm crops in the third-world)- who come into bloody conflict with a Mexican drug cartel, after they refuse to give them their pot recipe. The baddies kidnap Chon and Ben's mutual girlfriend O (their's is a polyamourous relationship)- and force the two to go to war to get their girl back.
Now, all of this probably sounds kind of old-hat, and sure enough "Savages" doesn't break any new ground narratively. But- it's the absoulte sence of style, and narrative economy that Winslow brings to the book that makes it so damn effective. It's very sparsely written, in that there's no long chapters full of descriptions, or inner monologues or whatever. It actually reads an awful lot like a screenplay, and sure enough- the film version of this (by no less than Oliver Stone) is coming out this summer. I have no idea how the film will be, but the book kicked ass. It's only about 250 pages, and it's the type of book that's very easy to read in one sitting. It's something I had a really hard time putting down.
Since picking this book up a year ago, Don Winslow's quickly turned into one of my favorite writers. While I love action movies, book that are heavy on action aren't typically my thing. Action flicks are very viceral, but for a book, character and dialogue are all that counts. Winslow's the exception to this rule, as I've never read anyone else who's written an action scene so well.
"Savages" is heavy on action, with it being about two pot-runners, Chon- as badass ex-Navy SEAL, and his pal Ben- the thoughful half of the duo (who uses his ill-gotten gains to farm crops in the third-world)- who come into bloody conflict with a Mexican drug cartel, after they refuse to give them their pot recipe. The baddies kidnap Chon and Ben's mutual girlfriend O (their's is a polyamourous relationship)- and force the two to go to war to get their girl back.
Now, all of this probably sounds kind of old-hat, and sure enough "Savages" doesn't break any new ground narratively. But- it's the absoulte sence of style, and narrative economy that Winslow brings to the book that makes it so damn effective. It's very sparsely written, in that there's no long chapters full of descriptions, or inner monologues or whatever. It actually reads an awful lot like a screenplay, and sure enough- the film version of this (by no less than Oliver Stone) is coming out this summer. I have no idea how the film will be, but the book kicked ass. It's only about 250 pages, and it's the type of book that's very easy to read in one sitting. It's something I had a really hard time putting down.
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