By Terry Ambrose | July 15, 2010

Don Winslow is on a roll. The author's 13th novel, Savages, just received rave reviews from Janet Maslin of the New York Times. It was a review in which Maslin said that this is ". . . the one that will jolt Mr. Winslow into a different league. 'Savages' is his 13th and most boisterously stylish crime book, his gutsiest and most startling bid for attention."

Winslow, who says he doesn't normally read reviews, was in Europe when he heard of the review. He said, "My heart went to my throat." As Winslow said, "A great review is great. A bad review is the worst." In this case, it looks Winslow is off to a wicked good start. MORE

By Janet Maslin | July 7, 2010

“Don Winslow is an author currently living in the United States, most recognized for his crime and mystery novels.” That’s the one-sentence entirety of the biographical notice Mr. Winslow has attracted on Wikipedia, though he has a dozen novels, a couple of movie deals, a slew of ardent reviews, a whip-cracking way with words and a whole lot of Southern California surfer baditude to his credit.

Those earlier books (11 published here, one available in England with no set American publication date) have much sparkle to recommend them. But they aren’t “Savages,” the one that will jolt Mr. Winslow into a different league. “Savages” is his 13th and most boisterously stylish crime book, his gutsiest and most startling bid for attention. MORE

By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday March 4, 2010 @ 10:11am EST

EXCLUSIVE: After tackling corruption in high finance with Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone is turning his attention to a three-way romance and the Mexican drug cartels. I’ve learned that Stone has just closed a deal to direct and produce Savages, a Don Winslow novel that Simon & Schuster will publish in July. Winslow and Stone will collaborate on the script, with the author writing the first draft while Stone completes the Wall Street sequel for April 23 release.

In Savages, two pals from Laguna Beach pals share the same girlfriend and a thriving business growing and distributing the best-quality pot on the planet. When they resist being muscled by a Mexican drug cartel , the girl is kidnapped and the ransom is every cent they've made for the last five years. They agree to pay but hatch an alternate plan to get her back, get revenge, and then get lost. MORE