PHOTOGRAPHY : COURTESY OF WILLIAM MORROW ; AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT GALLAGHER .
Origin
Story
With his bestselling Danny Ryan trilogy coming to an end , author Don Winslow returns to his Perryville roots . By Andy Smith
Author Don Winslow begins and ends his recently completed crime trilogy in the same
place , the idyllic beaches of South County in the summer sunshine .
It ’ s an apt reflection of his own life . Winslow , seventy , grew up in Perryville , near Matunuck . He left Rhode Island when he was seventeen , for a career that would take him around the world — Africa , China , directing Shakespeare in England , working as an investigator and trial consultant in California . Now he divides his time between California and the old family home in Perryville .
Winslow has had bestselling success with books such as the Cartel trilogy , centered on the brutal drug wars at the Mexican border , and The Force , about corruption within the New York City police force . But he never set a novel in Rhode Island .
Until now . The final book in the Danny Ryan trilogy — City in Ruins — was published in mid-April . It follows the bestsellers City on Fire and City of Dreams .
Set in the eighties and nineties , the series follows Danny , initially a low-level player in organized crime , who gets caught up in the wrong side of a war between Irish and Italian factions in Rhode Island . Danny eventually flees to California and then Las Vegas , but the narrative frequently comes back here .
Why did it take so long for Winslow to return to his origins ?
“ I left when I was seventeen , and I would come back sporadically . About ten years ago , I would return for more extended periods to take care of my mother ,” Winslow says . “ And I found myself falling in love with the place again .”
So Winslow and his family decided to rescue his parents ’ house in Perryville , which was falling apart . “ We thought ‘ Do we let it go , or fix it ?’ We decided to fix it .”
Winslow has announced City in Ruins will be his last book . He ’ s not tired of writing , and he hasn ’ t run out of ideas . But he is turning his attention to politics , namely stopping Donald Trump . “ I think we are at a crisis point in our democracy , and my energies are better spent there ,” he says .
Winslow has almost a million
CityState : Current l Edited by Dana Laverty
“ I think we are at a crisis point in our democracy , and my energies are better spent there .”
— Don Winslow , author of City in Ruins .
followers on X ( formerly Twitter ), where he releases anti-Trump videos , the latest called # TrumpCultWakeUp , that garner millions of views .
“ Nothing will touch Trump ’ s hard-core base ,” he says . “ But I think you can peel away some of the softer edges . There are still people you can talk to and persuade .”
And Winslow may not be writing , but he ’ s still working on the trilogy . Sony 3000 has announced plans to make a movie based on City on Fire , starring Austin Butler of Elvis fame , as Danny Ryan .
The hope , Winslow says , is to shoot at least some of the footage in Rhode Island . “ I ’ m excited about that ,” he says . “ I want to show the producers some locations .”
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