The Final Score
-
-
4.2 • 241 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
“The best crime fiction I've read in twenty years.” — Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A masterpiece. . . . Don Winslow remains one of my all-time favorite writers." —James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“[Winslow’s] books sing with the small details that transport you to real places." —Washington Post
The trademark literary style, trenchant wit, and incisive characterization that have made #1 internationally bestselling author Don Winslow a repeat New York Times bestseller and “America’s greatest living crime writer” (Providence Journal) are on brilliant display in this new book, a “near peerless crime fiction” (Rolling Stone).
The multi-million-dollar casino heist is impossible—it can’t be done. That’s what makes it irresistible to a legendary robber facing the rest of his life in prison for his “Final Score.” An ambitious, hard-working college-bound teenager has a side job delivering illegal booze to “The Sunday List” until a crooked cop, a seductive customer, and a fake guru threaten to end his dreams. Two wise guys tell each other a “True Story” over breakfast at a diner. It’s all b******t and laughs until someone else has to pick up the check. An otherwise honest patrolman has to make an excruciating choice between his loyalty to the job and his love for a ne’er-do-well cousin in “The North Wing.” The entitled, substance-addicted movie star that surfer/PI Boone Daniels and his crew are hired to babysit in “The Lunch Break” is a problem. She also has a problem—someone wants her dead. Finally, the one terrible, momentary mistake that a devoted family man makes sends him to prison and on a “Collision” course between the man he wants to be and the killer he’s forced to become to survive.
The Final Score is a propulsive, perceptive, and deeply immersive book of crime writing — the ultimate testament to Don Winslow's prowess as a living legend of the genre.
“The book has something for every Winslow fan—suspense, danger, humor and some of the funniest dialogue to appear in the pages of a mystery.” –Denver Pos
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Characters wrestle with the costs of loyalty and the burdens of familial responsibility in this spare collection of six short novellas from Winslow (City in Ruins). In the title story, career thief John Highland faces a lengthy prison sentence after a botched heist. As mounting legal debts threaten to leave John's wife destitute, John devises one last gamble: a scheme to steal millions of cartel dollars from a crooked casino. In the standout "The North Wing," a straitlaced patrolman has his loyalty to his troubled cousin tested after a fatal drunk driving accident. Longtime Winslow fans will welcome the reappearance of surfer/PI Boone Daniels in "The Lunch Break," which finds Boone babysitting a petulant starlet whose addictions have made her an insurance liability for the studio hoping to get one last great performance out of her. Meanwhile, a stalker threatens to end more than just her career. Winslow's keen ear for dialogue shines throughout—especially in "True Story," where two mob associates swap tall tales over a diner breakfast—but some of the entries feel more like outlines than full-blooded narratives. Still, it's always refreshing to spend time with Winslow's inimitable prose.
Customer Reviews
Short stories
The stories (all but one) are great, but I was disappointed as I thought that I had purchased a novel.
AWESOME
that’s it. That’s my review.
Thank you Sir.
Really good. Hard to put down.
Loved the short stories. Keeps you on edge.