Don Winslow's Savages Review

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Savages

By: Don Winslow

2.5/5

The best way to describe this novel is intense, from start to finish. Don Winslow describes his characters best when saying they suffer from a case of common Southern-California baditude: bad attitude.

Chon and Ben are two friends who started a new-wave drug dealing partnership void of any violence and pressure. If the dealers want out—they can walk away at any time. The reality is, no one would want out because they receive full benefits and are treated with respect. If the customers don’t pay—that’s fine; they just don’t get anymore of Chon and Ben’s premium weed.

Chon is an ex Navy Seal whose tours in Afghanistan have enabled him to smuggle back some potent marijuana seeds for his partner, Ben, to further harvest. The crop the pair produces is so famous; word of it has made its way down to Mexico.

The Mexican Cartel wants to do business with the boys—they want to take their operation over and pay them a fair price to continue growing their crop. Neither agrees to these terms --Ben is consumed with his philanthropic duties and Chon is too much of a badass/ hothead to work for anyone else.

The Mexican Cartel knows they can out-muscle Ben and Chon and eventually take their California territory. The issue is that they cannot grow the same crop—and that’s where the money lies. So when the duo decides to walk away, the Cartel decides to kidnap their shared girlfriend O –a young free spirit from So Cal. With O missing and the Cartel refusing to back down, Ben and Chon wage a war against the scariest men in the business, led by one strong woman who refuses to settle for anything less.

As a former private investigator and consultant, Don Winslow takes the reader into the savage world of drug trafficking. He spares no detail and creates a storyline that is filled with violence and aggression.. The few sex scenes are also quite graphic, at times; it felt as though I was being introduced to a soft-pornographic sub-plot. Regardless, you’ll surely be flipping through the pages to find out what’s next and to see how the story unravels.

Look for this book to be transformed as a major motion picture next year. I think it will translate perfectly on the big screen.