Don Winslow’s next series of books will take on organized crime, Deadline reports.
The author announced he’s launching a new trilogy of novels, which will kick off this fall with City on Fire. The books, to be published by HarperCollins imprint William Morrow, will deal with two feuding crime syndicates in New England in the 1980s and ’90s.
“Exploring classic themes of loyalty, betrayal, honor, and corruption on both sides of the law, City on Fire is a contemporary Iliad,” the publisher says on a webpage for the novel.
Winslow acknowledged that the trilogy is a retelling of Homer’s classic epic.
“The ancient Greeks gave us all the themes we still use in modern crime fiction—honor, courage, cowardice, loyalty, betrayal and tragedy,” Winslow told Deadline. “I wanted to see if I could tell that story in a modern context and still have it stand on its own.”
Winslow is one of America’s most celebrated crime authors. He’s best known for his trilogy of novels focused on Mexican drug cartels, composed of The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border. His most recent book, the novella collection Broken, was published in April 2020.
City on Fire is scheduled for publication on Sept. 21; the sequels will be released in 2022 and 2023.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
