La Cité des rêves

Danny Ryan #2

by Don Winslow

Après le magistral premier tome de la nouvelle trilogie explosive du maître du polar Don Winslow, La Cité en flammes , voici le deuxième volume aussi épique et ambitieux, La Cité des rêves .
 
Sur la côte est, la guerre des gangs a fait rage et Danny Ryan a perdu. La Mafia, les flics, le FBI veulent tous le voir mort ou en prison. Avec son fils, son père vieillissant et les quelques rescapés de sa bande, il part tenter sa chance en Californie. À Hollywood, la ville où les rêves les plus fous se réalisent. Le sien est de mener enfin une existence tranquille et paisible. Sauf que les fédéraux le traquent : ils veulent lui demander une faveur qui fera de lui un homme riche, ou mort.
Des rives du Rhode Island aux déserts californiens, des couloirs du pouvoir à Washington aux studios légendaires d’Hollywood, La Cité des rêves happe le lecteur et l’emporte dans une fresque épique, inoubliable.
T raduit de l’anglais ( États-Unis) par Jean Esch
 
À propos de l’auteur
Don Winslow est l’auteur de vingt-deux best-sellers internationaux, dont Corruption , Savages et L’Hiver de Frankie Machine . Sa trilogie de La Griffe du chien , Cartel et La Frontière est en cours d’adaptation série par la chaîne FX. Il vit aujourd’hui entre la Californie et le Rhode Island.

« Un auteur qui a porté le polar aux sommets. » François Lestavel, Paris Match

« On reste pantois devant l’habileté de Winslow, capable de réduire le matériau homérique à son squelette pour le rhabiller d’une chair bien à lui. » Alexis Brocas, Lire Magazine Littéraire
 

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Novels, Mystery Thriller

400 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2023

About the author

Don Winslow is the author of twenty-one acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Force and The Border, the #1 international bestseller The Cartel, The Power of the Dog, Savages, and The Winter of Frankie Machine. Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar-winning writer-director Oliver Stone. The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border sold to FX in a major multimillion-dollar deal to air as a weekly television series beginning in 2020.

A former investigator, antiterrorist trainer and trial consultant, Winslow lives in California and Rhode Island.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

SOGNI E INCUBI



Non all’altezza del primo della serie (Città in fiamme), ma sempre una-pagina-tira-l’altra, difficile da abbandonare.
Non all’altezza del primo della serie perché qui e là non è automatico sospendere l’incredulità. Perché i personaggi da seguire sono diventati numerosi, e dispiace quando Winslow lo fa mettendo da parte il protagonista.
Ma, come dicevo prima, si legge d’un fiato.



Questa volta, dalla costa est l’azione si trasferisce su quella ovest, con l’oceano Pacifico di fronte e tramonti pazzeschi. Danny Ryan, novello Enea, abbandona il New England e fugge in California (e Nevada, visto che buona parte si svolge a Las Vegas). Sì, Las Vegas, Los Angeles e San Diego, i confini dello spazio che vede questa storia svilupparsi.
E non concludersi definitivamente, dato che esiste un terzo romanzo.



Danny Ryan è in fuga, deve nascondersi, dovrebbe tenere un profilo basso, ma la città degli angeli è tentatrice, la chimera chiamata Hollywood esercita un fascino irresistibile. Proprio a questa si riferisce il titolo, città di sogni.
E il bimbo cresce, e la nonna non arretra, e…

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars,rounded up
City of Dreams picks up right where City on Fire left off. Danny Ryan, his son, father and what’s left of his crew leave Rhode Island to go into hiding. Winslow takes his time setting up the premise of this book. But the book really heats up when two of his crew realize a movie is being made about their lives in Providence. Danny ends up getting involved and then falling in love with the star of the movie. For someone looking to lay low, he fails miserably. And that’s when things really catch fire.
This is a busy book, with lots of twists and turns and never a dull moment. It’s a dark story, a gritty story but with some real pathos.
Winslow does a great job of showing the moral ambiguity in all enterprises, those supposedly honest and those criminal. Danny is cutting deals with one FBI agent while he’s pursued by another. All sorts of folks are scratching each other’s backs, while others are doing the opposite, seeing who they can double cross. Everything Danny does is for love, but that doesn’t mean it’s ethical.
I just adored Winslow’s ability to turn a phrase. If I had been reading this, I would have been highlighting phrases for the sheer poetry combined with spot on accuracy. It would be easy to create a bunch of cliched mob and Hollywood characters. But Winslow managed to make them all feel real, even the Altar Boys.
This wouldn’t work well as a stand-alone. And the ending left me wondering how long I’d have to wait for the third in the trilogy.
Ari Fliakos is just an amazing narrator and perfect for this series.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 5 out of 5]

City of Dreams follows on immediately after the events of City on Fire and throws you straight into the action. Danny Ryan and what is left of is loyal crew are on the run from the Italian Mob, the FBi, police - everyone really. Along with his young son and elderly father, they head for the West Coast and a new life. Of course, it is not as easy as that.

With stops in Las Vegas, San Diego and Hollywood, Danny tries to go straight, for the sake of his son. He wants a quiet life but can't rely on the others doing the right thing, as well as being sort out for jobs by others. When the 2 biggest troublemakers of the gang discover a film is being made about the events in Rhode Island, the believe they are entitled to a cut. This brings Danny out of hiding to restore calm. He gets much more than he bargained for, and his life is once again turned on its head.

I loved the California setting for this story. We see a new side to Danny as a father and a son. He knows he has made some dreadful life choices, and wants a different life for his son Ian. It is an emotional read, while still being violent, dark and messy as you would expect. The body count is high, so don't get attached to any of the characters

I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon devouring the last half of this book in one sitting. I already can't wait for book 3 to complete the trilogy.

Thanks so much to Harper Colins Australia for sending me an advanced copy of this book to read and review. Published on April 19th.

[Sergio Ferenczy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐ que redondeo hacía arriba. Una novela que me ha tenido totalmente enganchado y aunque sí que baja un poquito el nivel de adrenalina respecto al anterior, es de un nivel altísimo.

Seguimos exactamente en el mismo punto donde acabó Ciudad en Llamas, el autor tiene el detalle de recordarte brevemente lo que pasó antes por si has pasado mucho tiempo entre la lectura de los libros o eres una despistada/o y has empezado la serie por este.

Winslow nos lleva a Los Ángeles, un lugar donde Danny Ryan y el resto de su banda quieren cumplir el sueño de llevar una vida más normal, pero todos sabemos -y en el fondo es lo que queremos- que no va a ser así. Los fantasmas y muertes del pasado vuelven.

Al estar en Hollywood la industria del cine también entra en la ecuación. He de reconocer que cuando empieza todo el tema de La Película de Providence no me encajaba mucho, lo veía fuera de lugar y me sigue pareciendo poco creíble que unos mafiosetes de la Costa Este acaben en la Oeste siendo aunque de aquella manera importantes en ese sector. Eso no quita que Winslow lo encaje a la perfección, que siga siendo adictiva y como no, que reparta un poquito a la industria del cine.

Me pongo ya mismo con Ciudad en Ruinas, el último de la trilogía.
A disfrutar...

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, the second volume in Winslow's last trilogy, our east coast mobsters head west to Hollywood, but they can never leave their pasts behind.

Danny Ryan is on the run with his newborn son and two of his friends from back home. Not exactly the best of situations for anyone. Danny, once again, figures his way out of some tense situations and lands himself and his buddies on the west coast, free and clear. What's he going to do now? They get into the movie business, of course! Will Danny and friends escape their pasts? Are their lives finally free of the mafia AND the feds? You'll have to read this to find out!

I didn't find this book to be quite as compelling as the first, but it was still good. Winslow creates characters with so much depth and feeling, you can't help but to care for them, especially with Danny. Even though he's slim and Irish, he still reminds me of Tony Soprano. Trying to balance difficult family matters while trying to do business can be frustrating, and Danny worries about being a good father. But he worries more about keeping everyone alive. The only thing Danny is missing is a good therapist!

The denouement here was exciting and it sets the stage for the third and last book of Don Winslow's very last trilogy. I can hardly wait!

*Thanks to William Morrow, NetGalley and the author for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

City of Dreams (2023) is the middle game of the Danny Ryan trilogy, which began with City on Fire (2021) and will end next year with next year’s City in Ruins (April 2024). Winslow has announced that this will be the final book in his writing career and will now focus his energies on making politically-charged videos. This is, without question, an awesome trilogy, although one has to wonder if there is much left to destroy and ruin after the devastation wrought in the first two novels in the series.

City on Fire took two feuding Providence, Rhode Island, organized crime families, the Italian family of the Morretis, and the Irish family, the Murphy-Ryans. As that novel opened, everyone, the Italian and the Irish got along, knew their territories, and even hung out on the beach party, that is until Helen of Troy (Pam) (Paulie Moretti’s girlfriend) came out of the water glistening in her tiny bikini and Liam couldn’t keep his hands off her. The Morettis and their crew beat the living crap out of Liam and, when Pam still mesmerized by Liam’s boyish charms, visited him in the hospital, war broke out, a war to end all wars, that like the Trojan War would leave everyone from victor to loser broken and destroyed.

As book two, City of Dreams opens, Danny Ryan, whose father once ran the Irish mob in Providence, has botched everything. He made a dope deal with a corrupt FBI agent who was in league with the Morretis and, instead of making off with a fortune, he dumped ten million dollars of dope in the Long Island Sound. But, no one believes he didn’t make off with a fortune, not the FBI, not the Morettis, not even the rest of the Irish. Also, he personally killed the corrupt agent. He had no choice, but still it is blood on his hands. Problem though with Danny that we hear again and again throughout this novel is that Danny has a soft spot and can’t finish the job and off his opponents even though everyone in his crew knows it will come back to bite them.

Danny and his crew head out on the highway with Danny’s little boy as he is now widowed thanks to cancer and his elderly father who is fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer’s. On a whim they head out to California and plan their next move with the FBI and the Italians gunning for them. That next move means taking down Cartel money for the CIA’s secret overseas programs. Danny and his crew end up in a long-term motel in Burbank and his crew starts working on a former mate who has sold their tale of violence to the movie studios. First, they break him down dollar by dollar, but then they meet the director, who wants authentic acting, and hires them as consultants. Big mistake because this crew knows how to do only one thing to a business, break it down brick by brick and take all the assets. Danny gets involved to chill things down and the star playing Pam’s role in the movie falls for him. And, he gets famous for being the hood bedding down the starlet. So much for keeping a low profile. The whole Hollywood thing feels kind of humorous until it doesn’t because you just know it is all going to go wrong at some point and everybody and everything is coming down.

Not to be outdone though, back in Providence, the Morretis, winners of the war back there, fall apart in a series of tragedies, essentially taking out each other in an intra-family feud of epic proportions. In the end, there is nowhere for any of these guys to turn because the old life is gone and the walls are all closing in on them.

What Winslow gets so right with this novel and this series and the pervasive sense of tragedy that overwhelms everything. The guys all seem to think that they can make it right with their next move, their next score, their next vendetta, but everything goes sideways and there is no turning back to the clock to what seem like the good old days, but really weren’t so good either. It is another epic Shakespearean tragedy.

[Esti Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Segunda entrega de la trilogía.
Esta parte es más mundana, no hay tanta cosa nostra, ni crímenes de las mafias.
Si la anterior novela estaba ambientada en Rhode Island, esta vez estamos en San Diego, California. Danny Ryan está escondido. Por supuesto, está con sus más fieles, que han huido con él. Su pequeña "familia". Le busca tanto la familia Moretti, para vengarse, como el FBI. Y le encuentran. Él no teme por su vida, pero sí por su hijo de un año y por su padre con demencia.
¿El trato que le ha ofrecido la DEA es una trampa mortal o bien la solución de sus problemas? No le queda otra que aceptar y salir del atolladero en el que se ha metido. Se traga su orgullo y deja a su hijo a salvo con su madre en Las Vegas, la abuela del niño, multimillonaria madre que le abandonó nada más nacer. Su padre se queda en una residencia de ancianos.
No quiero destripar mucho, pero su vida cambia bastante, ya en Hollywood. Tanto a bien como a mal. Y en eso tiene mucho que ver Diane Carson, la actriz de moda del momento y la película en la que está trabajando.
Hay unos cuantos que le quieren muerto. Pero Danny no tiene un pelo de tonto.
El final no me ha gustado, desbarra un poco.
Otra vez pondría 4 estrellas, pero me lo he pasado tan bien que sería injusto.
Veamos que pasa en la tercera parte!

[Michael -- Justice for Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filming the Fire

“City of Dreams” is Don Winslow’s follow-up to “City on Fire,” two books in his City trilogy following Danny Ryan of the Irish mob from Providence, Rhode Island. In this sequel we open with Danny fleeing the East Coast with his ailing father and his young son. His wife has just died, and he cannot even attend her funeral as he has enraged the Italian faction of the mob and is being hunted by the FBI, suspected of having murdered one of their (dirty) agents.

Danny smooths things over with the Feds, carrying out a mutually beneficial solid for them.
The pressure from the mob is easing up as well– as long as he keeps a low profile in his new Southern California home. Hollywood is the city of dreams and Danny is drawn to a financial investment in a movie property, shades of “Get Shorty.” He also finds himself emotionally tangled up with a troubled starlet, a passion landing him smack dab on the cover of every tabloid in the country. So much for the low profile– everybody is after Danny Ryan again.

“City on Fire” was a compelling book and this one only gets better. The characters are stronger– particularly the women– and readers are going to hunger to see the Vegas finale of this saga in the next one, “City in Ruins.”

As a side note, actor Austin Butler (“Elvis") has been cast as Ryan in an upcoming treatment of “City of Fire,” the “soon to be a major motion picture” thing.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #CityOfDreams #NetGalley

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be published April, 2023. This is a thrilling ride, packed with tough guy bravado, loveable but still scary bad guys and enough blood and guts to please the most crime family loving reader. The story is well crafted, fast moving and creates characters that come alive in the readers' imagination. This is crafted really well and was a sit down and read straight through book for me. Highly recommend.

My thanks to the author, Don Winslow, and the publisher, Harper Collins, for my advance copy of this book. #Goodreads Giveaway

[Damo · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Dreams is the second book in the Danny Ryan trilogy, following the wild ride of tense highs and heartbreaking lows of a modern day gangster who has just enough cunning to keep himself and his crew a step ahead of his murderous enemies.

The story begins a mere few hours after the events of City on Fire took place and Danny Ryan is on the run, trying to evade the coming wrath of the Italian mob. He and the Irish had lost the gang war and he has decided it’s time to take himself and the remainder of his family out of Providence before it’s too late.

With the feds and the Italian mob both hot on his trail, it’s the government that makes first contact with Danny. He’s made an offer to help the government in taking down a Mexican cartel in such a way that it would be worth millions to Danny and the slate would be wiped clean.

It’s a deal that is difficult to pass up, particularly when the fed contact suggests that the lives of all of his Irish friends and family would be in serious jeopardy should he refuse.

Not quite the epic gangster story as the earlier City On Fire, this one chronicles the aftermath and the way in which members from both sides of the gang war have coped. While Danny heads west, his counterpart in Providence, Peter Moretti stays and plots his revenge.

It’s set largely in Arizona, Nevada and California and moves at a frantic pace. Through it all, Danny has a helluva price on his head and everyone is keen to cash it in. The problem for Danny is that there are eyes everywhere and laying low is not quite as easy as it should be.

This very much feels as though it’s a transitional book, a much more sedately paced story chronicling life on the run of a former gangster. There’s a great deal of character development going on, something that Don Winslow is highly adept at crafting. This helps us to become more attuned to Danny and his crew along with the changing of the guard in Providence.

While we’re treated to a few short bouts of the violence you’d expect after reading the first book in the trilogy, the majority of the book deals with the Irish fugitives' ideas of laying low. Somehow getting involved in the Hollywood movie scene can not be considered the wisest move, but at least it was an entertaining prelude to what promises to be a cataclysmic showdown to come.

Rather than providing the in-your-face high energy that we became accustomed to in City On Fire, City Of Dreams has a more brooding atmosphere. There is danger coming, you can feel it building and this volume is merely the calm before the storm.

It’s book 2 of a trilogy, it’s meant to be read as part of a 3 volume set so you’re definitely going to get more out of it by reading the first volume before cracking this one open.

My thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for my ARC to allow me to read, enjoy and write this review.

[Javir11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7,5/10

Segunda parte de la trilogía de Danny Ryan de Don Winslow. Gustándome esta lectura, he de decir que ha bajado un pelín el nivel con respecto a la primera, tiene algunos peros que en el primero casi ni existían, pero en cualquier caso sigue siendo una buena lectura si te gusta el bueno de Winslow o las novelas de mafiosos.

Destacaría que es un más de lo mismo que el anterior, algo que no tiene porque ser bueno, pero que en este caso si lo es. Buen ritmo narrativo, quizás menos acción, pero bien narrada, buenos personajes y esa atmósfera de los bajos fondos y el hampa, que tan bien sabe su autor trasladarla a una novela, y que nos hace sentir como si fuéramos uno más de la banda de los Murphy.

Me ha gustado menos, que a pesar del buen ritmo general, el libro engancha y se lee muy bien, hay una parte, centrada en Hollywood, que se me ha hecho demasiado larga y a la que para mi gusto le sobraban páginas. Tampoco me ha terminado de convencer del todo el cambio de escenario a California, prefería el Providence con sus muelles, astilleros, sindicatos y demás, es más acorde a lo que en mi mente es una organización de este estilo.

¿Recomendable? Sin duda, si te gusto el primero este lo disfrutarás bastante, ya que continúa donde lo dejo el anterior y lo hace de una forma bastante natural, el pero en mi caso fue el cambio de escenario, pero ya se sabe que para gustos...En cualquier caso, con ganas de que nos llegue el siguiente y ver los derroteros por los que sigue la historia.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second book of Don Winslow's Danny Ryan series, we find Danny Ryan on the run, escaping everything that went down in Providence between the Irish and Italian mob families. He and his loyal crew make for the sunny shores of California--with Danny's elderly father, Marty, and young son, Ian, in tow. Before they know it, they are drawn into the world of Hollywood, and Danny finds himself in love with a famous actress playing a role in a movie based on his Dogtown experiences.

I fell in love with Don Winslow's books last year and adored the first book in this series, CITY ON FIRE. The second one was not quite what I was expecting, but it was certainly an interesting and fascinating read. While FIRE delved deep into the nuances of the mob world and Danny's ties to Dogtown, this novel meanders a bit, spending a lot of time in Hollywood and Las Vegas, as Danny attempts to start a new life, but cannot quite break free from his past. Central to this is the fact that two of his crew, Sean and Kevin, aka "the Altar Boys" stumble upon the fact that there is a movie being made based on the Italian and Irish mob families of Rhode Island--there's even someone playing Danny! As Sean and Kevin become move involved on set, eventually Danny must be as well, and soon he's dating an actress and splashed all over the papers. Not exactly the reclusive Danny Ryan we are used to!

This is a typical Winslow tome filled with a ton of characters--we still hear from a bunch of folks in Rhode Island--but the main focus is, of course, Danny and his new start. There's less focus on the intricacies of the mob world, but plenty of violence and gritty crime. We also learn a lot about the movie business and get more glimpses into the life of Danny's estranged mother. I felt the story bounced around a lot--both character-wise and plot-wise--but I stayed enthralled. Winslow is such a great storyteller, bringing to life his detailed worlds so well. Plus, watching Danny struggle with his conscience (how much does he want, or not want, to remain a part of the world he left behind) and grapple with exactly what he would do to hold his family (both real and crew) together is fascinating and extremely well-done. At his heart, he's a father, a son, and the leader of his crew.

There's excerpt at the end of DREAMS from the third book, and I cannot wait to read it. I also need to continue catching up on my Don Winslow backlist! 4 stars.

I received a copy of this book from William Morrow and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review. Thanks too to Danielle Bartlett for sending me a finished copy of this gorgeous book!

[Tom Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don Winslow does Get Shorty... 3.5.

Winslow is always great fun to read, always entertaining. But this has 'middle book of a trilogy' written all over it.

The plot is all over the place - loads happens but little of it is coherent. Like, there is no way in hell you could read this without having first read City On Fire, and without then going on to read City In Ruins. Which is fine for mega-fans like myself, I guess. And I suppose that's who is reading Winslow at this point, because once you've read one of his books you are a fan for life.

We are all set up nicely for the great man's final bow next year. It's gonna be a sad day and crime fiction will be much poorer for his retirement. He's the greatest living crime writer.

[Jeremy Peers · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Dreams is the second book in the trilogy featuring Danny Ryan by Don Winslow. Beautifully written with intriguing characters, City of Dreams moves through Ryan's life -- the highest of highs and the lowest of lows -- swiftly and deftly. Really, my only bugaboo with City of Dreams was the ending. It felt rushed and honestly, too easy. However, the ending doesn't detract from the near perfect first 95% of the book.

My sincere thanks to William Morrow and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of City of Dreams!

[Ashley Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the book jacket about mobsters in Hollywood I thought oh no. Especially since I loved Book One so much. Unfortunately this book is a dumpster fire. It has none of the old charm, it’s chaotic, and it ends in fever dream confusion that makes no sense. It’s like he drew plot points out of a hat and tried to make them all work. 2.5 /5 stars from a dissatisfied fan

[Marcos GM · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ESP/ENG]

No puedes invitar a dos lobos a cenar y esperar que no coman.

Segunda entrega de las andanzas de Danny Ryan, continuación directa (vamos, como si fuese el siguiente capítulo) de Ciudad en llamas, y no diré mas por no spoilear a nadie.

Winslow hace lo que sabe hacer mejor: escritura directa y sencilla pero que te engancha sin remedio. Aquí cambia la ubicación de Providence (clima frío, poco sol, lugares tirando a deprimentes) por nuevos destinos más soleados y calurosos, lo que es de agradecer porque da un aspecto diferente a la novela, siendo una secuela pero no una repetición. Aquí hay mucho personaje desesperado, y fruto de ello las situaciones también lo son. Una cosa que me ha gustado mucho, siendo un cinéfilo, es el tiempo que dedica el autor a ese apartado, sin ser nada técnico ni novedoso, pero te mete de lleno en ese ambiente.

Esta novela es más de lo mismo que la anterior, pero en el buen sentido. Solo le pongo una pega, y es la que le resta una ⭐ entera, y es el final. Se da una situación que el autor describe muy bien, pero no es lo que pedía la historia, además de generarme una sensación de Deus ex machina. Pero ni con esas me quita las ganas de seguir. De hecho ha ido del tirón el inicio de Ciudad en ruinas, que es el cierre de esta trilogía, y estoy deseando saber cómo acaba.


🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬


You can’t invite wolves to dinner and not expect them to eat.

Second installment of the adventures of Danny Ryan, direct continuation (to the point that it's as if it were the next chapter) of City on Fire, and I won't say more so as not to spoil it for anyone.

Winslow does what he does best: direct and simple writing that hooks you hopelessly. Here the location of Providence changes (cold climate, little sun, places that are bordering on depressing) for new, sunnier and hotter destinations, which is appreciated because it gives a different aspect to the novel, being a sequel but not a repetition. There are many desperate characters here, and as a result the situations are also desperate. One thing that I really liked, being a fan of movies, is the time the author dedicates to that section, without being anything technical or new, but he puts you fully into that environment.

This novel is more of the same as the previous one, but in a good way. I only have one drawback, and it's the one that takes away a whole ⭐, and that's the end. There is a situation that the author describes very well, but it is not what the story asked for, in addition to generating a feeling of Deus ex machina in me. But even with that it doesn't stop me from wanting to continue. In fact, I started right away the beginning of City in Ruins, which is the closing entry of this trilogy, and I'm looking forward to know how it ends.

[Pombar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hollywood.

La ciudad donde se fabrican los sueños.

Danny Ryan se ha dado a la fuga tras perder una guerra sangrienta que enfrentó a bandas criminales de la Costa Este. La mafia, la policía y el FBI lo quieren muerto o en prisión. Acompañado por su hijo pequeño, su padre y los maltrechos restos de su facción de soldados leales, Danny emprende la clásica migración americana con destino a California, dispuesto a comenzar una nueva vida.

Una existencia tranquila y pacífica.

Los federales, sin embargo, dan con su rastro y le piden un favor que podría hacerle ganar una fortuna o costarle la vida. Y cuando en Hollywood empieza a rodarse una película basada en su pasado, Danny exige una parte de los beneficios y comienza a reconstruir su imperio delictivo.

Entonces se enamora.

De una atractiva estrella de cine que también arrastra un pasado turbio.

Cuando sus mundos chocan provoca un estallido que podría acabar con ambos, Danny se ve obligado a luchar por sobrevivir en la ciudad donde nacen los sueños.

O donde van a morir.

Desde la costa de Rhode Island hasta el desierto de California donde se hacen desaparecer los cadáveres, desde los pasillos del poder de Washington donde se gesta la verdadera corrupción hasta los legendarios estudios de Hollywood donde se forjan auténticas fortunas, Ciudad de los sueños es una epopeya arrolladora en torno a la familia, el amor, la venganza, la supervivencia y la brutal realidad que se esconde tras el sueño"

----------

Hay un dicho que cuenta que las segundas partes nunca fueron buenas. Es mentira. Si las escribe Don son maravillosas.

Me ha gustado mucho esta segunda parte. Está el nivel de la primera eso sí, un pelín más lenta. Lo necesita. Es necesario volver a contextualizar la historia pero no os preocupéis, que los protagonistas siguen prefiriendo disparar antes que dialogar.

Aporta aire fresco, ya que existen nuevos personajes, aparecen viejos y ya conocidos y unas nuevas tramas siempre relacionadas con el maravilloso mundo de lo ilegal.

Se forjarán nuevas amistades, se romperán viejos pactos, se volverá a llenar el vaso para poder calmar la sed de venganza, se volverá a tambalear el mundo alrededor de Danny. Y resurgirá el amor. Porque el amor no lo cura todo, pero por lo menos pinta de rosa la cruda realidad.

Don es maravilloso. Te pones a leer un rato y cuando te das cuenta llevas 100 páginas, sin querer.

Estoy deseando hincarle el diente a la tercera parte. Hay muchos flecos que coser en la trama y aún muchos personajes que pueden evolucionar de una manera muy interesante.

Si has llegado hasta aquí, gracias por ver mi reseña.

[Antonio TL · Rating 5 out of 5]

"City of Dreams" es una digna continuación de "City on Fire". Desde el principio, nos vemos arrojados a un torbellino de acontecimientos que trastocarán la vida del personaje principal. Escenas espectaculares, giros repentinos en la trama y el espectro del peligro que se cierne sobre el héroe hacen imposible romper con la novela. La acción es dinámica, interesante y muy bien pensada, por lo que nunca te aburres con este libro ni por un momento.

En el segundo volumen nos encontramos con personajes que ya conocemos y otros completamente nuevos. También hay una historia de amor. Al principio me dio un poco de reparo, porque parecia que no encajaba en absoluto con la atmósfera de la novela, pero rápidamente me acostumbré a esta incorporación . Todo porque no dominaba la trama, era importante, pero a la vez sutil.

Es posible que los libros de Winslow no sean algo que revolucione el género. Hay muchos títulos de mafia en el mercado que están realmente brillantemente hechos. Parece que ya está todo dicho sobre este asunto. En los dos primeros volúmenes de la trilogía se ve claramente que el autor utiliza patrones y motivos establecidos, y sus personajes son típicos de este tipo de novela. A pesar de todo, Winslow es capaz de contar una historia interesante que resulta impresionante de leer. Toma lo mejor de las novelas de suspense y las plasma en su historia, pero lo hace a su manera, lo que hace que nos divirtamos mucho con cada volumen. Además, al final nos da un anticipo de la tercera parte, que realmente es muy intrigante...

"City of Dreams" es una brillante continuación de la serie policial sobre la guerra de bandas en Estados Unidos que tuvo lugar en los años 1980 y 1990. La historia es atrapante, sorprendente y, además, evoca muchas emociones en el lector. Una gran novela

menos

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

***. Happy Publication Day for this outstanding crime novel. ***

In this, the second book in his City trilogy, Don Winslow picks up right where City on Fire ended and continues the saga of East Coast rival crime families. I'm happy to report that this book is every bit as good as the first, City on Fire.

The war between the Moretti and Murphy crime families is mostly over, The body count was high and now soldier Danny Ryan has risen to lead the remains of the Murphy gang. Escaping Rhode Island in the middle of the night, Danny and his remaining crew head for California, hoping to start their lives anew and maybe leave their gangster life behind. Unfortunately, the Moretti family and the Feds have other plans. Thinking Danny still has some heroin left from a heist that went wrong, Peter Moretti sends soldiers after him, and the Feds, well, they have plans for Danny that is both risky and lucrative.

City on Fire was the first Don Winslow book I read and I found it so engrossing, the characters so vivid, and the atmosphere so gritty, that I was hooked. I kept thinking of the movie Goodfellas as I followed Danny and his crew around Providence, Rhode Island. This book is equally as good and even though they are now in California and trying to go legit, I just knew the temptation would be there to revert to their former selves. And I was right! City of Dreams can be read as a standalone--enough backstory is given to understand the situations the characters face--but I recommend reading City on Fire first, just because it's an excellent read. Now I can't wait for the final book, City in Ruins, to come out.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for an advance copy for review. The publication date is April 18, 2023.

[Jamie Rosenblit · Rating 5 out of 5]

At some point in the past few years, Don Winslow has become a favorite author of mine. His Power of the Dog trilogy blew me away (almost 3,000 pages for the trilogy and I still read every word). When I learned Winslow would be starting a new trilogy based on the mob in 1980s Rhode Island, I was eager to get my hands on it.

City of Fire quickly surprised POTD trilogy to become my new favorite Winslow and upon meeting these characters, I was excited to hear there would be two more books following them. Upon approval for City of Dreams, I dropped everything to pick back up with Danny Ryan & co. There’s not even a cover out for this one yet and I’m already wondering how I can get my hands on book 3.

Thank you to William Morrow for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, but it wasn't as good as the first book. It picked up right where City on Fire left off and I was pretty into it until the last section, where Don Winslow does his own version of the Island of the Lotus-Eaters (it wasn't my favorite part of The Iliad, either.) I'm not 100% sure what actually happened to Danny during/after that... guess I'll have to read the next book to find out.

In other news... how 'bout that gorgeous cobalt blue on the cover! I love it combined with the gold type.

[Lidia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhode Island, 1988.- Han pasado unas horas de la muerte de su querida Terri y Danny tiene que pensar en el futuro de su pequeña familia. Rhode Island ha dejado de ser seguro y menos aún para criar a un niño teniendo a la mafia italiana tan cerca.

Pero, comenzar una nueva vida y pasar desapercibido es muy complicado con el FBI y la mafia pisándole los talones, sabe que no pararán hasta dar con su paradero porque, ambos, tienen ojos en todos los rincones y todo acto tiene sus consecuencias…

Antes de comentaros lo mucho que me ha gustado esta novela os quiero dar un consejo; leed antes 'Ciudad en llamas', la primera parte de esta historia. Si os llama la atención, pero aún no habéis leído la primera parte, podéis encontrar mi reseña en el perfil.

Para los que ya habéis leído la primera parte, pero os pasa como a mí, que tenéis la memoria de Dory de 'Buscando a Nemo', no os preocupéis, Winslow nos refresca la historia anterior en los primeros capítulos, lo que para mí ha sido una maravilla.

La novela comienza inmediatamente después de donde terminó el primer libro, eso sí, esta vez, volvemos a tener una historia de mafiosos, pero un pelín más calmada, aunque no por ello menos interesante.

Se produce un cambio total de escenario, salimos de Rhode Island para viajar por diferentes lugares de Estados Unidos, como Las Vegas o el mítico Hollywood y, aunque me han encantado estas nuevas localizaciones, he de decir que he echado un poquito de menos Rhode Island.

En cuanto a la historia, continua con un ritmo muy ligero que engancha desde las primeras páginas provocando momentos de mucha tensión.

Al igual que en ' Ciudad en llamas' los personajes son, en mi opinión, su punto fuerte, la historia que tiene detrás cada uno de ellos es asombrosa. Sin duda, tengo que hacer una mención especial para el protagonista, Danny Ryan, un personaje que ganó mi simpatía en el libro anterior y que en este me ha encantado, tiene una evolución muy interesante.

Después de leer este libro, tengo muchísimas ganas de leer la tercera parte que aún no está publicada, tengo el presentimiento de que será una traca final que nos dejará con la boca abierta.

En resumidas cuentas, si te gustan las historias de lealtad y venganza en las que la mafia es la principal protagonista, tienes que leer esta trilogía.

[Tara — on semi-hiatus for health reasons; will check in when possible. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the epic, ambitious, instant New York Times bestseller City on Fire,comes the dramatic second novel in an epic crime trilogy from Don Winslow,


Hollywood. The city where dreams are made.

On the losing side of a bloody East Coast crime war, Danny Ryan is now on the run. The Mafia, the cops, the FBI all want him dead or in prison. With his little boy, his elderly father and the tattered remnants of his loyal crew of soldiers, he makes the classic American migration to California to start a new life.

A quiet, peaceful existence.without any bloodshed

But the Feds track him down and want Danny to do them a favor that could make him a fortune or kill him.

And when Hollywood starts shooting a film based on his former life, Danny demands a piece of the action and begins to rebuild his criminal empire

Than he falls in love with a beautiful movie star who has a dark past of her own.When they make their love public Danny live is in danger as the paparazzi take pictures of him and his new love interest and put them in a tabloid. When he’s supposed to lay low That could destroy them both, Danny Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born.or were they go to die.

From the shores of Rhode Island to the deserts of California where bodies disappear, from the power corridors of Washington where the real criminals operate to the fabled movie studios of Hollywood where the real money is made, City of Dreams is a sweeping saga of family, love, revenge, survival and the fierce reality behind the dream.


This book checks all the boxes and then some
Non stop intensity, thrills betrayals, greed, grit and with writing as sharp and insightful as a razor blade.

I literally stayed up all night reading, I was literally spellbound, a real page turner full of exciting plot twists
Winslow is a master storyteller, with a knack of bringing characters to life . . .
City Of Dreams 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Rating
Highly recommend

I would like to thank NetGalley and Mira for the ARC of City of Dreams by Don Winslow in exchange for my honest review

[John McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never thought I'd find myself thinking, saying, or writing this sentence, but Don Winslow's literary effort, was disappointing, in parts trite, and, the last 10 or 15 pages a botched attempt to mimic the unintelligible Irish author James Joyce, an anti-climax.

To make matters worse for me, he writes about San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter as though it remains the sordid underbelly of San Diego that it was 50 to 100 years ago when sailors, prossies, and drunk came up from their moored vessels at the Harbor to get sex and fun. As someone who is very familiar with San Diego, the Gaslamp District today as pretty much defines chi-chi, with expensive apartments and stores and the Chinese Historical Society Museum located in the middle of it with Petco Field only blocks walking distance from it. It is almost as though Winslow hadn't visited the locus in quo before he wrote about it.

The shock of it first hit me hard reading about the attempt to describe Dianne Carson's life before she hooked up with Danny Ryan. Oh no, Winslow really is plowing through the LA landmarks and tabloid stereotypes of successful actresses moving to the top in LA. For a time, I thought I was reading a merged script of The Godfather and The Departed (remember that scene where Leonardo DiCaprio gives a beatdown to 2 hoods from Providence, only minutes before Jack Nicholson murders them on a beach).

Winslow still reigns as one of my favorite authors whose books I look forward to enjoying long before they hit the stalls. His books are exciting to read, and I've found only a few current and living authors who capture my attention the way Winslow does (Mick Herron ranks up there). My expectations were high, therefore, but what I got was the transition book to Danny Ryan setting up in Las Vegas (the next in the trilogy, which I will read despite my disappointment with the City of Dreams.)

[Hugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first Winslow book I didn’t finish. Put it down with less than 50 pages left.

This book makes me want to reassess everything I’ve read by Winslow. Was he always a dime-store Elmore Leonard?

The Power of the Dog is an all-time favourite of mine. Everything since then has been a let down to a different degree. The rest of that trilogy was pretty good. Savages was bad but original, The Force was cheesy but kind of fun, City on Fire was derivative but energetic and twisty.

This was just bad! The one thing about all of those books was that the characters were real (by pulp novel standards). The decisions they made had logic to them, and reason.

Not here. Nothing makes sense in this book. I don’t know why there’s a whole Get Shorty knockoff jammed in here, but it doesn’t work.

[Bonnie G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single best use of mescaline in literature ever (yes, I read The Doors of Perception and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.)

I just gobbled this up, as I also did with the first in this series. I am always reading multiple books because I am a quivering ball of ADHD so while I can sink into a book for hours at a time, once I put it down I generally cannot pick it back up for a while. But this is the book I kept wanting to return to, night after night. I have been busy with work and social things, but I have spent most every alone moment for four days with this book. Thankfully I consumed this in audiobook form (beautifully read by Ari Fliakos, who also read the first in the series) or I am sure I would not have cleaned or done laundry or walked anywhere during that time.

In this book we return to the gangster with a heart of gold, Danny Ryan, in the hours after the event that closed out the first book, City on Fire. Danny is our Odysseus, and this leg of the journey takes him from New Hampshire to Southern California. If you read the first book you know that Danny is broke, in the middle of a hailstorm of grief, and in a lot of trouble at the end of the last book. He is Danny though, and things work out for Danny. I don't want to spoil anything but I will say he ends up dead center in the middle of a studio movie (not as an actor) and we find out there are more similarities than one might guess between the Irish mob in Providence and the LA mob behind the visual content we consume. The end of this, like the end of the last book, is like the finale of a good fireworks show, more and more and more until you think "okay already" and then just one more explosion that makes you realize you were wrong and you needed one more.

Great characters, new and old, utter carnage at random points interspersed with cute children and true love and honor and sweetness and also it is all funny as can be. Winslow says this is it. One more book left in this trilogy (which he says is already written) and that is the end. Luckily he has written a lot of books and they are pretty much all very good (or at least the nine I have read) but I still hope he unretires. He is the best.

[Syafiq Zawawi · Rating 5 out of 5]

City of Dreams is the second installment in the Danny Ryan trilogy but also Winslow's penultimate novel before hanging up the pen and going to a different venture. What a book it is.

This urban gangster-crime drama begins with Irish gangster Danny Ryan having just emerged on the losing side of a battle with the Italian Mafia for criminal control of Providence, a city on the north-east coast of America. Leaving behind a trail of corpses, including a corrupt federal agent, Ryan flees to California with the remains of his gang, his 18-month-old son, and his senile alcoholic father.

While not breaking any new ground, Winslow novels are often considered to be among the best and placed among the top of the crime genre for its sprawling and interconnected web of Shakespearean tragedy, narratively speaking with a large cast of characters and chaotic chain of events acting as force, externally or internally pushing the characters in said interconnected web. Winslow grounded the first two novels in his trilogy in allusions to Virgil’s “Aeneid,” the Latin epic about the Trojan Wars started by, well, isn’t it always a beautiful dame? In “City on Fire,” the mob war began the moment a bikini-clad goddess named Pam, girlfriend of mobster Paulie Moretti, walked out of the Atlantic onto a Providence-area beach and into the arms of the wrong man, an Irish guy. In Winslow’s world, Italians and Irish, like Trojans and Greeks, do not know how to let the little things go.

“City of Dreams,” which begins in 1988, two years after the events of the earlier novel, charts Danny Ryan’s desperate attempt to say goodbye to all the killing and start a new life out West. In Virgilian terms, Danny is Aeneas, a guy who’s a little too morally scrupulous for his own good. Danny married into the Irish mob; he started out as a dockworker, a mostly decent working stiff. While he’s no pushover, Danny still avoids unnecessary bloodshed.

Well, if you know your “Aeneid” — or your Don Winslow crime novels — you know the Fates are never kind for long. That’s a break for us fans of mob sagas masterfully executed with class. Well, one more to go Mr Winslow. I'll miss your epic and complex crime sagas.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for a breezy beach book? Look elsewhere.
Looking for a comedy? Look elsewhere.
Looking for a murder-mystery? Look elsewhere.

Looking for a gritty, intense, incredibly well written novel, #2 in a trilogy, about a man trying desperately to escape the ruins of his life in organized crime? Then settle in and hold onto your hat, 'cause you are in the right place.

Seems to me that just about every book by Don Winslow is gripping, intense, tending towards dark but with just enough light sprinkled in to give you faith that, somehow, against all odds, it'll all work out in the end... maybe. His ear for dialogue, his ability to craft a story and populate it with memorable characters is stellar.

In Danny Ryan, we have a character that is at once both sympathetic and despicable; noble and unsavory; tormented, yet driven by that torment to find peace. Danny is surrounded by other memorable characters whose personalities range from demonic to angelic. The mixture is akin to a perfectly balanced stew, with just the right amount of salty, sweet, and spicy flavors.

If you are an NPR listener, you might have caught Winslow's interview recently in which he revealed that the final installment of this series is the last book he plans to write. I have read many, not all, of his books, but I will be reading #3 in this series, City In Ruins next. I lament his retirement, as there are few authors that match his style and intensity, but take solace in knowing there's a few more Winslow novels waiting to be read. And after that, well, that's what Goodreads is for, right?

[Maćkowy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po przegranej wojnie o wpływy Danny Ryan i jego załoga są zmuszeni opuścić Providence. Irlandczycy udają się na zachód, najpierw do Las Vegas, potem do LA, gdzie Danny wchodzi w biznes filmowy, jednak stare demony i niezakończone sprawy nie dają o sobie zapomnieć.

Drugi tom zaczyna się tam, gdzie kończy pierwszy. Winslow nie wymyśla koło na nowo, daje nam znane z literatury mafijnej motywy, a że pisać potrafi, to czyta się Miasto marzeń świetnie, chociaż jak na mój gust żaden człowiek nie przetrwałby takiej nawałnicy dramatów życiowych, jakich przez te dwa tomy doświadczył Danny Ryan, ale kto chciałby czytać o zwykłych ludziach? Poza tym zakończenie lekko mnie zawiodło, bo jakoś tak za gładko to wszystko się potoczyło.

Dawajcie trzeci tom!

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigo manteniendo que Danny Ryan es bastante tontaco y que tiene más vidas que un gato.

Pendiente de reseña.