baranchi's review
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Child abuse, Murder, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Drug use, and Bullying
Minor: Ableism
stanl's review
4.0
Structurally, not as substantive as The Power of the Dog, or maybe even The Winter of Frankie Machine. Thematically, maybe more substantive than either of the other two. But, hey, it's Don Winslow. I'll shut up.
darwin8u's review
3.0
"Onto the beach, into the fog"
Don Winslow, The Dawn Patrol
Clearly, I'm a Don Winslow fan. One danger with grading any author is the scale gets warped by their most amazing books. When I judge 'The Dawn Patrol' next to [b:The Power of the Dog|206236|The Power of the Dog|Don Winslow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467260965s/206236.jpg|158974] or [b:The Cartel|23602561|The Cartel|Don Winslow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429552939s/23602561.jpg|44367493], etc., I tend to be really hard on the book I just read. However, if I try to evaluate DP for itself and for what it is, I find I really enjoyed it.
'Dawn Patrol' is escape candy, beach noir, hard-boiled surfer pulp. It has a narrative drive that is one of the big draws of Winslow. He easily delivers when it comes balancing between a page-turning plot, and laid-back details. I will jump into Don Winslow when I'm tired of wrestling with Vollmann or Gaddis. His characters are interesting, but at the margin they DO sometimes flirt with cliché. But overall? I liked it. It isn't Raymond Chandler, or Pynchon's [b:Inherent Vice|5933841|Inherent Vice|Thomas Pynchon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347697574s/5933841.jpg|6151926], but Winslow is edging closer to [a:James Ellroy|2887|James Ellroy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1410226543p2/2887.jpg] territory. And in Window's more brilliant moments (there are some in this book) and more brilliant books (Cartel, etc), he can sit easily with the most literary of crime writers.
Don Winslow, The Dawn Patrol
Clearly, I'm a Don Winslow fan. One danger with grading any author is the scale gets warped by their most amazing books. When I judge 'The Dawn Patrol' next to [b:The Power of the Dog|206236|The Power of the Dog|Don Winslow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467260965s/206236.jpg|158974] or [b:The Cartel|23602561|The Cartel|Don Winslow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429552939s/23602561.jpg|44367493], etc., I tend to be really hard on the book I just read. However, if I try to evaluate DP for itself and for what it is, I find I really enjoyed it.
'Dawn Patrol' is escape candy, beach noir, hard-boiled surfer pulp. It has a narrative drive that is one of the big draws of Winslow. He easily delivers when it comes balancing between a page-turning plot, and laid-back details. I will jump into Don Winslow when I'm tired of wrestling with Vollmann or Gaddis. His characters are interesting, but at the margin they DO sometimes flirt with cliché. But overall? I liked it. It isn't Raymond Chandler, or Pynchon's [b:Inherent Vice|5933841|Inherent Vice|Thomas Pynchon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347697574s/5933841.jpg|6151926], but Winslow is edging closer to [a:James Ellroy|2887|James Ellroy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1410226543p2/2887.jpg] territory. And in Window's more brilliant moments (there are some in this book) and more brilliant books (Cartel, etc), he can sit easily with the most literary of crime writers.
mbelcadi's review
5.0
Just great
An other great novel from Don Winslow.... fun, intelligent, suspenseful and a great ride . Dive in , you will enjoy this ride.
An other great novel from Don Winslow.... fun, intelligent, suspenseful and a great ride . Dive in , you will enjoy this ride.
audreyintheheadphones's review
4.0
I really don't love this book as much as I used to, and I think that's for the best.
merythapy's review
4.0
This was a lot of fun. Winslow has a great, breezy, fun style that catches you up and pulls you along. He's great at imparting the feeling of being in the ocean and why surfers get so obsessed with it. A lot of this book is about interconnectedness: the Dawn Patrol, wrapped up in each other's lives, different California communities and how they intersect, history and the present, and several different storylines all cresting at the same time (sorry about all the puns; not sorry enough to stop).
The characters are all well-established with deep backstories, which is something I always appreciate. I love the way he describes different San Diego neighborhoods; I'm just familiar enough with most of them to be able to visualize them all, and that's always fun.
So I really enjoyed this, and definitely want to check out his other books.
The characters are all well-established with deep backstories, which is something I always appreciate. I love the way he describes different San Diego neighborhoods; I'm just familiar enough with most of them to be able to visualize them all, and that's always fun.
So I really enjoyed this, and definitely want to check out his other books.
nigellicus's review
5.0
Fantastic PI novel which definitively propels Winslow, after Power of the Dog and Winter of Frankie Machine into the must-read pile. Boone Daniels is a burnt out ex-cop who finds solace and escape with a small surfing clique who meet every morning, funding his lifestyle with occasional PI jobs. Hired to find a missing stripper, he soon finds his whole world threatened, not to mention his life.
Written in clipped sentences, like a more lyirical and laid back James Ellroy, Winslow's style should by rights become intensely irritating after only a few pages, but he captures a rhythym and a metre that gets under the skin and rolls the story along at a smooth, fast clip that nevertheless allows plenty of time for character and place; funny, vivid sketches which perfectly combine cyncism and real heart.
A superb crime novel, that's also a lot more.
Written in clipped sentences, like a more lyirical and laid back James Ellroy, Winslow's style should by rights become intensely irritating after only a few pages, but he captures a rhythym and a metre that gets under the skin and rolls the story along at a smooth, fast clip that nevertheless allows plenty of time for character and place; funny, vivid sketches which perfectly combine cyncism and real heart.
A superb crime novel, that's also a lot more.
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