Author:Don Winslow

THE HIGH-OCTANE PREQUEL TO SAVAGES
In Savages, Don Winslow introduced Ben and Chon, twentysomething best friends who risk everything to save the girl they both love, O.
This is the story of how Ben, Chon and O became the people they are. Spanning fifty years forward from 1960s Southern California, The Kings of Cool is an intergenerational epic of drug dealers and crooked cops, friends and lovers, blood and death - and a young generation's future inextricably linked with their parents' history.
A series of breakneck twists and turns puts the two generations on a collision course, culminating in a stunning showdown that will ultimately force Ben, Chon and O to choose between their real families - or each other...
[Winslow] is an excellent crime writer. He writes in the simplest, clearest, most spare way of anybody I’ve read. He’s been honing it for years.
—— Evening StandardPacking more of an emotional heft than Savages, it’s written in the leanest prose possible, with a single-word paragraph being nothing unusual but managing to say more than you’d expect.
—— Alastair Mabbot , HeraldA brilliant, hypnotic novel…A considerably more ambitious book than Savages, seeking to map out not only the history of Savages’ weird love triangle, but also to cast a panoramic eye over the whole history of the drug trade in California from the 1960s onwards. And Winslow fulfils those ambitions fantastically well, with a stylistic swagger and bucketloads of empathy to go with a scintillating, perfectly executed crime-novel plot…Delivered in the sleekest, most sinewy prose you’re ever likely to read. At times, The Kings of Cool verges on a kind of steel-tipped poetry, providing flashes of insight from perfectly carved sentences. It is a simply stunning novel.
—— Doug Johnstone , Independent on SundayAn epic prequel to Don Winslow's Savages . . . Winslow writes the kind of books that Tarantino might- if he had a heart.
—— Julia Handford , The TelegraphAmerican author Don Winslow is so good at capturing LA slacker speak…[His books] are always superb and The Kings of Cool – a new prequel to the brilliant Savages may be his best yet
—— The SunPeter Stenson has done the near impossible in delivering a savage fire-storm of a page-turner while also enabling a hard and earnest look at addiction and love. I tore through Fiend with the crazed fervor of an addict, but like all great stories these characters lingered in my thoughts long after I turned the last beautiful and brutal page.
—— Alan Heathcock, author of VoltWith a pared down snappy writing style, Fiend opens an exciting new chapter for modern horror.
—— Big Issue in the NorthThere is something witty or striking on almost every page
—— Mail on SundayMartin Amis's new novel shows a regathering of his artistic energies
—— GuardianThe buzzing sense of fresh, limitless erotic licence is captured brilliantly...he is beginning to write with Old Master assurance on the important subjects... If Amis keeps writing like this about death, he can still prove everyone wrong
—— The TimesThe recent death of Iain Banks left a gaping hole in contemporary literature, but nowhere was the loss felt more than in his native Scotland. Banks took ordinary situations and rendered them extraordinary; a talent that fellow Scot Sue Peebles, whose first novel won both the Scottish and Saltire book awards, shares in spades… The "sacred geometry" of ageing and the timeless measuring out of love are what sustain this subtle, beautiful book.
—— Catherine Taylor , GuardianDeeply humane tale of memory, loss and the struggle to understand a family’s past… It’s a novel of generous warmth
—— Ben Felsenburg , Metro HeraldA beautiful, brilliant novel destined to cement Sue's place as one of the leading lights of the Scottish literary scene
—— WaterstonesPeebles' keen eye for social observation adds a comic touch to the narrative, expertly showing how black humour is used in bleak times.
—— Rowena McIntosh , The SkinnyPeebles writes poetic prose, capturing Aggie's imaginative character and her need to find meaning in the puzzle of circumstances she finds herself in. The insight into dementia and its impact upon a family is poignant, with Aggie desperate to recapture the history of a beloved Gran who is disappearing in front of her eyes. The novel strongly evokes the Scottish countryside, its link to the past and the secrets it keeps. The story may be a slow burner, but keep going because its gentle pace builds up to a satisfying conclusion
—— Penny Batchelor , We Love This Book






