When a favorite author decides to stop writing
- Brett Hiner: A Work in Progress
- April 25, 2024
- 203
It is an odd experience, reading a book from one of your favorite authors, knowing it will be the last. It is a feeling I bet fans of Tom Clancy unexpectedly experienced when the author died of heart failure at the age of 66 or, to some extent, when Anne Rice passed away from complications related to a stroke she suffered at the age of 80.
Between the two of them, according to The Washington Post, they have sold over 300 million books. That is an impressive readership, to say the least.
The finality of their passing often leaves readers wanting more: more imaginative worlds in which to escape to, more characters to get to hang around with, more … words.
Much like a favorite actor or musician, readers invite authors into their homes and, in many cases, their hearts. Lives are enriched based on the time we are fortunate enough to spend with a favorite character and wordsmith who, in what can only be described as literary magic, manages to find a deeply rooted, meaningful connection with an audience.
A little over two years ago, author Don Winslow announced the publication of the first book in an organized crime trilogy, featuring what would become his final protagonist, Danny Ryan. He also announced when the third book came out in April 2024, it would be his final book.
Thankfully, there is no tragedy behind Winslow’s retirement. Ever so thankful for his writing career and those who have tagged along (his next to last book is dedicated to teachers. “Without you these books would never be written or read.”), he is simply shifting his efforts into the realm of politics, where he feels he can have the greater impact.
When “City on Fire” was released in April 2022, followed by “City of Dreams” in April 2023, I intentionally did not read them, in part because I did not want the details of the books, with two years separating book one from book three, to flee the memory banks. But maybe more so because I did not want Winslow’s literary yarns to end. Like a child refusing to eat their lima beans before being permitted to leave the table, I was putting off the inevitable.
Upon the final book’s (“City in Ruins”) release a week ago, I sat back with the trilogy and devoured them with the same enthusiasm I have done with all of his books.
While the “City” series does not seem to quite carry the gravitas of his “Cartel” trilogy, all of the Winslow trademarks are at their absolute best: an explosive story filled with classical structures, crime and punishment, redemption and retribution.
But his strength, at least for me, has always been in his deeply flawed and reluctantly idealistic characters — that is to say they attempt to hold onto some vestige of their humanity before being taken under by the world’s darkness.
At its heart the darkness of Danny Ryan’s world comes with the guilt of not being able to protect his ailing wife, aging father or adolescent son from the dangers (mafia, gangs, lost love, family history, violence) he so desperately wants to avoid. It is character quicksand, where the more Danny struggles to do what is right, the more lost he becomes — literary poetry Winslow has mastered over a 30-year career.
Several years back I ventured up to the Parma Branch of the Cleveland Public Library to hear Winslow chat about his latest book, “The Force.” Whether inspired by his book tour stop locale or tired of reading from his book at the tail end of his book tour, about halfway through he just wanted to talk about two things: libraries and the significant role they played in his childhood and the writing process.
As a NY Times best-selling author, there was no self-indulgence or praise, just an honest chat about why libraries have always been and, hopefully, will always be the great equalizer in society, that regardless of who one is or from where one comes, we all have access to the same information without limitations or judgment or bias.
Regarding his writing style, he offered this anecdote: he placed an open water bottle on a table and slowly began moving the water bottle to the table’s edge. He asked the audience, “when does this get interesting?”
His point was to illustrate that some authors begin their writing at the back of the table — the slower build of characters and plot — while he prefers to write in the atmosphere at the table’s edge, with the metaphorical water bottle ever teetering from falling over the top.
There is an unapologetic rawness in that writing style — a style, when it comes to those who include crime novels in their heart’s libraries, I am not sure will be easily replaced.
With Winslow’s final words being written, along with his beautifully composed concluding acknowledgments, a career spanning 23 books comes to a close.
But, perhaps, a hopeful epilogue:
There is a point about halfway through the second book in the trilogy, “City of Dreams,” where our omniscient narrator states, “But nothing is more persistent, more patient, than the past. After all, the past has nothing but time.”
In context it speaks to the impending doom between Danny and his lover Diane.
Out of context I think it is a hopeful thought for fans of Winslow that time will allow for the opportunity for a revisit or two to live in his fictional worlds once again.
Brett Hiner is in his 27th year teaching English/language arts at Wooster High School, where he also serves as yearbook adviser and Drama Club adviser/director. When writing, he enjoys connecting cultural experiences, pop and otherwise to everyday life. He can be emailed at workinprogressWWN@gmail.com.