The Force

Author: Don Winslow
Genre: Crime Fiction
496 pages
Publisher: William Morrow, 2017

Synopsis
Our ends know our beginnings, but the reverse isn’t true . . .

All Denny Malone wants is to be a good cop.

He is “the King of Manhattan North,” a highly decorated NYPD detective sergeant and the real leader of “Da Force.” Malone and his crew are the smartest, the toughest, the quickest, the bravest, and the baddest, an elite special unit given carte blanche to fight gangs, drugs, and guns. Every day and every night for the eighteen years he’s spent on the Job, Malone has served on the front lines, witnessing the hurt, the dead, the victims, the perps. He’s done whatever it takes to serve and protect in a city built by ambition and corruption, where no one is clean—including Malone himself.

What only a few know is that Denny Malone is dirty: he and his partners have stolen millions of dollars in drugs and cash in the wake of the biggest heroin bust in the city’s history. Now Malone is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the Feds, and he must walk the thin line between betraying his brothers and partners, the Job, his family, and the woman he loves, trying to survive, body and soul, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all.

This is the great cop novel of our time and a book only Don Winslow could write: a haunting story of greed and violence, inequality and race, crime and injustice, retribution and redemption that reveals the seemingly insurmountable tensions between the police and the diverse citizens they serve. A searing portrait of a city on the edge and of a courageous, heroic, and deeply flawed man who stands at the edge of its abyss, The Force is a masterpiece of urban realism full of shocking and surprising twists, leavened by flashes of dark humor, a morally complex and utterly riveting dissection of modern American society and the controversial issues confronting us today.

My review
The Force by Don Winslow is crime fiction at its best! Winslow is a brilliant storyteller and his writing is absolutely addictive. The Force is a gritty, dark, complex story of a New York City police detective’s descent into corruption, exploring moral decay within the police department, judicial system, and city politicians. It is a gripping, compulsive, and completely believable novel and one I wish I could go back and read for the first time. The Force is truly masterful and mesmerizing!

The Force delivers stark realism and I often forgot it’s fiction. Malone is one of the most compelling figures in crime fiction to come along in years, and Winslow’s indictment of the police force, the prosecutors, the lawyers and the politicians who run New York City is searing. This is one of the most depressing yet beautifully written stories I’ve read. The plot races at breakneck speed and once I picked up this book I couldn’t put it down.  

This novel offers a profound exploration of the human condition, exploring vulnerability and the complexities of street life through themes of love, loss, greed, betrayal, and power. Much of the story is told in third person through the thoughts and stories of Denny, the main protagonist, and in a way, the hero of the story. Denny does make a difference, and I kept wanting him to come out on top, but I had to remind myself that he’s a really bad guy. This is definitely a book that stirs empathy for a protagonist who is deeply flawed, unethical, dirty – yet manages to do significant good for those unable to help themselves. The Force creates a compelling narrative of how easy it is to cross the line a little at a time until you find yourself in a situation you never imagined.

The Force is one of the best crime fiction novels I’ve read and likely one of the best novels overall. Winslow has done a brilliant job creating a story that’s left me deep in thought and consumed by the story. This is without a doubt the best book I’ve read this year and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

My recommendation: read it!