Review: City of Dreams by Don Winslow, narrated by Ari Fliakos
Don Winslow is without a doubt one of the best thriller writers out there. I listened to many of his books, including The Cartel, The Force, The Border, The Power of the Dog, California Fire and Life, Savages, or The Dawn Patrol, and I cannot recommend all of these books enough.
Today, bestselling and award-winning author Don Winslow returns to his City on Fire trilogy with City of Dreams, the second fantastic installment in this saga portraying the brutal and bloody war between the Irish and Italian mafia in the 80s and 90s.
City of Dreams is as well-written, captivating, gripping, entertaining, and visceral as any of those mentioned above. Another unforgettable story that explodes into 1 million colors in the listener’s mind thanks to the brilliant writing style, the lifelike characters, and, by the way, Mr. Winslow vividly describes every location, action, and series of events.
City of Dreams can be experienced as a standalone novel if needed, as it includes some short but insightful recaps of the events in the first book, but I highly recommend that you give a chance to City on Fire because that way you will create a better relationship with the characters and will benefit from their development.
If you like The Sopranos, The Godfather, and Narcos, you’ll love City of Dreams, the second audiobook in the City on Fire series of fantastic thrillers. The action opens in the early 90s and finds our Danny boy in somewhat of a predicament. Immediately after that, we are going back in time into the late 80s in order to find out what happened.
I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll only say that it’s business as usual. Beautiful women, powerful men, dangerous gangs, and a lot of action, everything set against the noire backdrop of the City of Angels.
Renowned actor, award-winning voiceover artist, and talented narrator Ari Fliakos expertly and exquisitely brings to life the story and the characters of City of Dreams in another top-notch performance. He is just perfect, he reads, he acts, he uses different voices for different characters, he delights and entertains the listener from beginning to end.
City of Dreams is unputdownable, atmospheric, dramatic, visceral, completely immersive, and extremely entertaining!
I started listening immediately after my pre-order for the audiobook arrived and didn’t stop until the end. Spent all day with my AirPods in my ears, completely absorbed by these characters, their stories, and the world in which they live. I can’t wait for the last audiobook in this excellent trilogy.
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Victor Dima
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