Don Winslow is an American crime novelist, born in New York City on 31 October 1953, best known for the Cartel trilogy, “Savages”, “The Force” and the Danny Ryan trilogy. His books range from private eye mysteries to long novels about the drug trade, police corruption and organised crime.
Winslow was born on Staten Island and grew up in Perryville, Rhode Island. His mother was a librarian and his father a non-commissioned officer in the US Navy, and he credits both with preparing him to become a storyteller. He studied African history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and later took a master’s degree in military history. Before writing full time he worked as a safari guide in Kenya and as a private investigator.
His first novel, “A Cool Breeze on the Underground” (1991), introduced the investigator Neal Carey and was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Shamus Award for best first novel. Four more Neal Carey books followed. A film and publishing deal for “The Death and Life of Bobby Z” allowed him to write full time and settle in California, the setting for many of his later books, including the two Boone Daniels novels about a surfing private investigator.
“The Power of the Dog” (2005) began the Cartel trilogy, which follows DEA agent Art Keller’s long pursuit of a Sinaloan drug cartel. Its sequel “The Cartel” (2015) won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, the RBA Prize for Crime Writing and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and “The Border” completed the story in 2019. “The Force” (2017) is a standalone about corruption inside the NYPD. Winslow received the Raymond Chandler Award in 2012.
“The Death and Life of Bobby Z” was filmed in 2007. Oliver Stone directed the 2012 film of “Savages”, with a screenplay Winslow co-wrote with Shane Salerno. The 2026 film “Crime 101”, starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry, is based on his novella of the same name.
The Danny Ryan trilogy (“City on Fire”, “City of Dreams” and “City in Ruins”) follows feuding crime families in Providence, Rhode Island, and later moves to Hollywood and Las Vegas. In April 2022 Winslow announced that he was retiring from writing books to concentrate on political videos and activism. He returned in January 2026 with “The Final Score”, a collection of six crime novellas.
