The Kings of Cool: A Prequel to Savages
In Savages, Don Winslow introduced Ben and Chon, twenty-something best friends who risk everything to save the girl they both love, O. Among the most celebrated thrillers in recent memoryâand now a major motion picture directed by Academy Awardâwinning filmmaker Oliver StoneâSavages was picked as a best book of the year by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly, Janet Maslin in The New York Times, and Sarah Weinman in the Los Angeles Times.
Now, in this high-octane prequel, Winslow reaches back in time to tell the story of how Ben, Chon, and O became the people they are. Spanning from 1960s Southern California to the recent past, The Kings of Cool is a breathtakingly original saga of family in all its formsâfathers and sons, mothers and daughters, friends and lovers. As the trio at the center of the book does battle with a cabal of drug dealers and crooked cops, they come to learn that their future is inextricably linked with their parentsâ history. A series of breakneck twists and turns puts the two generations on a collision course, culminating in a stunning showdown that will force Ben, Chon, and O to choose between their real families and their loyalty to one another.
Fast-paced, provocative, and wickedly funny, The Kings of Cool is a spellbinding love story for our times from a master novelist at the height of his powers. It is filled with Winslowâs trademark talentsâcomplex characters, sharp dialogue, blistering social commentaryâthat have earned him an obsessive following. The result is a book that will echo in your mind and heart long after youâve turned the last page.
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Better than Savages,
Ever since I finished “Savages,” I wanted more of Ben and Chon and O’s world. This prequel is a perfect companion, written in the same clever, breakneck writing style that turned some people off of “Savages,” but that I loved. Even better than Ben and Chon’s first forays into the dope business are the flashbacks of their parents’ generation, one that fleshes out Winslow’s world with a few nods to loyal readers who may pick up characters like Bobby Z and Frankie the Machine popping up in 60′s, 70′s and 80′s Laguna. With more twists than the relentless, breakaway sprint that was “Savages,” and a neat wrap up that ties both timelines together, I think Winslow has outdone himself with “Kings of Cool.” Can’t wait for the movie.
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|Wow. LOVED IT!,
I kicked my legs up and down the bed and yelled, “No!” like a little kid when the book was over. I wanted more. It was superbly written with an excellent, compelling and titillating plot line.
I have to admit that I was a bit worried that the prequel would not be able to measure up to the original Savages but I’m happy to say, it actually exceeded greatly beyond my expectations and I’m tempted to say it was better.
This one definitely also deserves its own movie. I don’t know what’s next on Winslow’s list in terms of novels but I’m eagerly awaiting his next installment. He is a masterful writer and I’m smitten. I’m so happy for his success; it’s so deserving.
Chon stole the show. For those of you in love with his character, wait ’till you see him in action in this book.
This was definitely a page turner and for those of you who are turned off by the idea of going back to explore the past in books: don’t be. This story was absolutely engrossing. You will not be disappointed.
Bravo Don Winslow, once again you’ve outdone yourself. I’m a huge fan.
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|(3.5 stars) “Everything hinges on not selling dope to people you don’t know.”,
In a series of short, punchy chapters, Winslow delivers the prequel to Savages, focusing on the early days of his three protagonists, Ben, Chon and O(phelia), as they cut their youthful teeth on the streets of Laguna Beach, California. From the 1960s to 1981 to 2005, Bobby Z and the beginning of The Association, Raymond “Doc” Halliday (Taco Jesus), bookstore owners and purveyors of blotter acid, Stan and Diane, skateboarder entrepreneurs, the influx of the violent Baja Cartel and the inception of Ben and Chon’s hydroponic supergro operation, the novel is teeming with personalities and conflicting intentions, self-made Ben and Chon able to live like the wealthy lawyers and plastic surgeons that skim off the cream and despoil the innocence of California’s beach communities. In a format similar to Savages, the back story of The Kings of Cool evolves, the contemporary surfer-businessmen in conflict with The Powers That Be and the ubiquitous enforcers of the Baja Cartel making a move on the lucrative action.
Maybe the only way to tell this story in relevant terms is to dress it up, like a nose job and a designer wardrobe on the same moldy corruption, but it’s still the ugly tale of drugs and profit turning nature’s bounty into a thug’s paradise. The bottom line: people want their drugs and will not be denied. Either buyers indulge in the familiar, high-grade quality Ben and Chon offer or invite the sharks for breakfast, including the trademark threat and violence of the Baja Cartel, the brutal terrain of Mexican drug wars polluting the coast with sheen of wealth and respectability. Lipstick on a pig. Since his hard-hitting The Power of the Dog, Winslow’s examination of the crisis has expanded, only the style changing with the times- and the shortened attention spans of technically-sophisticated audiences.
The modern-day Supergro Robin Hoods do it with style and their own set of rules (Ben the “paci” and Chon the “fist” in “pacifist”), O obsessed with searching for her birth father. And while there is a new set of villains, Old School and New, the theme remains the same: the threat of yet another takeover. Whether in modern novel or quasi-screenplay, Winslow knows his material. But I liked it better before the deluge of initials (ODB, OGR, etc) and one-word expletive chapters, though, all things considered, many of these characters don’t warrant deeper presentation, interchangeable cutouts of corrupt agents, enforcers, drug dealers and the soulless humanoids that have fooled most observers with surgically-enhanced, polished exteriors. Action. Gunshots. A pile of dead bodies, deals made with law enforcement, the game goes on. Family ties aside, the players keep on playing. Even the iridescent waves breaking on a sandy beach become nothing more than a prop for a downward-spiraling civilization. Luan Gaines/2012.
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