Book Nook: The surprising return of a masterful crime fiction writer

The book begins with the title story, “The Final Score.” A career criminal is about to be sentenced to a prison term that probably means he’ll die in there. He decides to pull off one final robbery, a big one, to steal enough money that his wife will be taken care of while he’s locked up. He decides to hit an impossible target. Such a sizzling opening.

The next one, “The Sunday List,” is probably my favorite in the collection. Set in Rhode Island, in 1970, it is the story of an ambitious young man who wants to go to college and make something of himself. He’s in high school-he’s saving money to pay for college tuition.

He has a job on weekends delivering liquor to customers who placed illegal orders for deliveries on Sundays when the liquor stores are closed. His parents are hippies and also the neglectful villains of this inspiring tale.

Then we get to “The North Wing” and things turn really dark. A police officer’s cousin kills someone in an automobile accident. He had a record of drunk driving and this time he’s bound for prison. His cousin the cop understands that prison will destroy his cousin. How far will this good cop go to try to save his cousin from his terrible fate?

Following that dark gem “True Story” offers readers some comic relief. Two hoodlums are having a conversation. The entire story is their dialogue. One guy does most of the talking while the other guy encourages him and avidly follows along. A surprising ending.

“The Lunch Break” features some characters who will be familiar to Winslow’s hardcore fan base. The author has written books about surfers in the San Diego area. This is another lighter story as some of those surfers are asked to keep a spoiled young starlet safe from various bad influences while she is on a movie set.

The final story is “Collision.” It is the longest story and also the darkest. As this story opens we meet the perfect couple. They are beautiful people. Their lives are wonderful. Everything is great.

After a few minutes reading about their success and happiness I was about to pitch the book across the room. Thankfully then Winslow upends everything as their lives implode and suddenly Mr. Perfect is about to go to prison. This story will make a great film.

You can hear my latest radio conversation with Don Winslow next Sunday morning, Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO, 91.3fm.