Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (8)
Recommended Reading: "The Dawn Patrol"
May 14, 2008
One of the best things about receiving random galleys and ARCs is that I get books I'd never otherwise even find, let alone pick up and read. I normally try and write about them around their release date, but I'm going to make an exception for this title, because a) it comes out right after Book Expo, so it may get lost in the shuffle; and b) it's a book I think you'll love having on your summer reading list, which you may be putting together now, before Memorial Day weekend.
The book is The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow (acclaimed author of The Winter of Frankie Machine). The 
"patrol" of the title is a bunch of baby-boom-era San Diego surfers who include Boone Daniels, ex-cop PI and de facto group leader. Boone has the requisite unfortunate exit from the police department, his friends have the requisite oddball characteristics, and the novel has the requisite seamy vein of crime and tragedy running through it -- yep, it's a thriller, through and through.
But a few things make Winslow's latest more than just another thriller. First is Winslow's taut phrasing and tight pacing; I don't think there was a single page that I found myself skimming or skipping. While the Dawn Patrol probably has the same habits and accoutrements as any other group of surfers, the book's tone allows Winslow to present things like board size, fish tacos, and surfer slang as if they're just facts of life and not something Hip and Fresh.
However, the most interesting thing to me about The Dawn Patrol is that it is so fully imagined that I found myself wanting to read "the others." Alas, there are no "others" -- this book is a one-off, a stand-alone that reads like book five or ten in a long-running series. I wish there were "others," but since there aren't, I'll just have to read some of Winslow's "other" books. Something tells me that won't be a hardship.
If you're already a Winslow fan, tell me: which of his novels should I read next?
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on May 14, 2008 | Comments (8)
