The Kings of Cool: A Prequel to Savages

Written by Don Winslow

Narrated by Holter Graham

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel, The Force, and The Border

In Savages, Don Winslow introduced Ben and Chon, twenty-something best friends who risk everything to save the girl they both love, O. Among the most celebrated literary thrillers, Savages was a Top 10 Book of the Year selection by Janet Maslin in The New York Times and Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly.

Now, in this high-octane prequel to Savages, Winslow reaches back in time to tell the story of how Ben, Chon, and O became the people they are. Spanning from 1960s Southern California to the recent past, The Kings of Cool is a breathtak­ingly original saga of family in all its forms—fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, friends and lovers. As the trio at the center of the book does battle with a cabal of drug dealers and crooked cops, they come to learn that their future is inextricably linked with their parents’ history. A series of breakneck twists and turns puts the two generations on a collision course, culminating in a stunning showdown that will force Ben, Chon, and O to choose between their real families and their loyalty to one another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781442349803

Don Winslow

Don Winslow is the author of twenty-five acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including seven New York Times bestsellers (Savages, The Kings of Cool, The Cartel, The Force, The Border, City on Fire and City of Dreams). Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar-winning writer-director Oliver Stone from a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. Winslow's epic Cartel trilogy has been adapted for TV and will appear as a weekly series on FX. Additional Winslow books are currently in development at Paramount (The Winter of Frankie Machine), Netflix (Boone Daniels), Warner Brothers (Satori), Sony (City on Fire, City of Dreams, City in Ruins) and Working Title (“Crime 101”) and he has recently written a series of acclaimed and award winning short stories for Audible narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris. A former investigator, anti-terrorist trainer and trial consultant, Winslow has announced that City in Ruins will be his final novel.

Reviews for The Kings of Cool

[biz2bizpro · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good prequel to Savages. Held my interest throughout. Worth a listen.

[xirxe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bisher hat mich das ?u?ere eines Buches nur selten verleitet, dar?ber etwas zu schreiben. Aber in diesem Fall ist die Aufmachung so ungew?hnlich, dass ich einfach einige Worte dazu verlieren muss. Eckig und v?llig schwarz kommt das Buch daher, inclusive aller Seitenschnitte; Titel, Autor usw. sind hingegen in wei?en, schn?rkellosen Buchstaben dargestellt. Wer die Hardcoverausgabe von 'Unendlicher Spa?' von David Foster Wallace kennt, hat hier nun die Negativform vor sich liegen.
Doch ein Buch nur wegen seiner ?u?eren Erscheinung zu kaufen, machen wohl nur Wenige :-) Aber der Inhalt steht der Aufmachung in nichts nach. Erz?hlt wird die Geschichte von drei jungen Menschen, die mehr verbindet als nur Freundschaft. Sie sind sich die Familie, die alle drei nicht oder nur wenig hatten. Chon ist der K?mpfer, Ben der Humanist und O die Sch?ne. Ben und Chon sind im Marihuanagesch?ft, mit dem sie ihren Lebensunterhalt finanzieren, ohne jedoch weitere Anspr?che zu erheben wie Machtzuwachs oder mehr Gewinn. Sie genie?en ihr Leben im sonnigen Kalifornien und so k?nnte es f?r sie weitergehen bis ans Ende ihrer Tage. Es ist eine Idylle, die jedoch nicht von Dauer ist. Denn es gibt Andere, die wollen ihren Anteil an dem gutgehenden Gesch?ft der Beiden. Ein Krieg bricht aus und alle Drei erkennen, dass nicht nur sie, sondern auch ihre Eltern darin verstrickt sind.
Wer wie mit wem zusammenh?ngt, wird in einem zweiten Erz?hlstrang ganz von hinten aufgerollt. Hippiezeit, peace, love - man experimentiert mit Drogen und noch basiert alles auf Vertrauen und Freundschaft. Doch die Zeiten ?ndern sich, es geht ums Geld, um Macht und alle versuchen, so viel wie m?glich vom Kuchen abzuhaben. Auch wenn von vornherein klar ist, dass die Wurzeln der drei Freunde hier ihren Ursprung haben, bleiben die Details vorborgen (zumindest f?r mich). Die Aufl?sung kommt recht ?berraschend, aber wirklich unerwartet und hart ist die N?chternheit und fast schon K?lte, mit der dies berichtet wird. Cool, einfach cool.
Winslow hat einen ungew?hnlichen Stil (zumindest in diesem Buch, ich kenne seine anderen nicht). Es wirkt, als ob die handelnden Personen einem direkt die Geschichte selbst erz?hlen: immer wieder kurze, auch unvollst?ndige S?tze, die zu Beginn eher holpernd anmuten. Doch schon nach kurzer Zeit zieht einen diese Schreibweise in ihren Bann und man steckt mittendrin in dem Geschehen. Auch der atypische Satzspiegel tr?gt vermutlich dazu bei, dass man das Gef?hl bekommt, das Tempo wird immer schneller. Es sind kurze, zum Teil sehr kurze Kapitel, die insbesondere gegen Ende immer wieder aus einer anderen Sicht berichtet werden. Dieser schnelle Perspektivenwechsel steigert die Geschwindigkeit noch zus?tzlich und man rennt dem Showdown buchst?blich entgegen.
Richtig klasse gemacht und ich bin mir sicher: Dies war nicht mein letzer Winslow, den ich gelesen habe!

[juhudo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ein gro?artiges Buch. Mit seinem manchmal an Lyrik anmutenenden Schreibstil erzeugt Don Winslow Tempo und Spannung. Der Schauplatz Kalifornien und Drogendealer als Protagonisten sind an sich schon interessant, aber es gibt keine Schwarz-Wei?-Zeichnung, Moral ist kein Thema - oder doch. Aber eben her sowas wie pers?nlich Ehre, Liebe, Zusammengeh?rigkeit, die in diesem Buch nicht in der Familie, sondern in der Freundschaft gefunden wird. Eine harte Story und mein erstes Buch von Wislow. Sicher nicht mein letztes!

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great opening line, just like "Savages"! And another great book too! It's the prequel to "Savages" and we get to find out much more about Ben, Chon, and O and also their parents and how all of their lives are intertwined! More sex, more drugs, and more violence as this book unfolds, and all of the connections are made quite clear! I love these characters, this kind of narrative, and this book!

[poprockz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked the story, the writing and twists and turns but I.m still scratching my head over the ending.

[antao-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

And now for something completely different...

I've read almost anything Don Winslow has written and this time he breaks new ground with this book in terms of narrative structure (I haven't read "Savages yet). High kinetic energy throughout the entire book!

The narrative jumps all over the place, back and forth in time, person and viewpoint.
He also occasionally switches to a movie script format during longer portions of dialogue, just to make sure that the reader is paying attention.

It doesn't make any difference. You'll love every word of it, from the cheerfully obscene opening to its final pages. Full blast all the way...

For fans of Winslow's other books, there are a couple of delightful, surprise cameos (Frankie Machine, for instance), which also make me hopeful that even if there isn't another prequel/sequel with Ben, Chon and O(phelia) at the center, perhaps this isn't the last time we'll be seeing them.

My only quibble is the fact that sometimes it's difficult to keep track of who's related to whom for large portions of the book.

In my own rating system I only gave this book 5 stars instead of 6 (my nirvana book collection...). In the goodreads grade system I rated it a solid 4 stars.

PS. You'll love the one-liners, if your into that sort of thing.

[hagelstein_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this prequel to his novel, Savages, Don Winslow provides the backstory for Chon, Ben and O, and it?s a pretty good story by itself. Winslow?s writing style is sharp, sardonic and totally engaging here. He sets the scene of the southern California surf and drug culture from the early days in the 1960s to the mid-2000s. His characters are amazingly well drawn ? you?ve got to love that O?s (Ophelia) mother is known throughout the book (and Savages) as the acronym Paqu ? passive-aggressive queen of the universe. And she gets married and divorced so often that her latest husband is only known as Four. Ben runs into Paqu unexpectedly and doesn?t even know how to safely address her.This is a stylish, witty (down to the title), addictive, perfectly-paced, and highly readable novel.

[randall6hansen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy Don Winslow's style of writing -- a mix of short and choppy sentences and great characters. In this prequel to his hit book (and horrible movie), Savages, Winslow tracks the early lives of the trio of Ben, Chon, and O -- and their parentage. While a good read, I did not quite enjoy it as much as I did Savages. If you like California, beach culture, and the hippie life (as well as the drug culture), you;ll enjoy this book.

[norinrad10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I actually I enjoyed this more then its predecessor, Savages. While Chon, Ben, and O are still the main protagonists, Kings delves into their family history and by turn the history of the drug trade in Southern California. Very fascinating and a excellent read. I especially like the one scene were characters from three other of Winslow's books show up

[she_climber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mind blown! Winslow is a master storyteller. This was my 4th book of his and I can't get enough. Kings of Cool is the prequel to Savages, which is a standalone (and apparently a major motion picture which I have no recollection). I chose to go with the prequel first to keep things in chronological order storytelling although I'm not sure that was the best choice. I had no basis for these people and with all the multiple time periods, large collection of characters, and one word/sentence/paragraph chapters in audiobook format things were more than a little confusing for a while. But then...THEN storylines started to intertwine and weave together and characters became so much brighter, motivations so much clearer, the story so much, well, cooler. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I would recommend reading over audio, as I think that would clear up some of the confusion. And I can't say yet if I'd recommend prequel before standalone yet, it could go either way.

[ozzie65-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My Don Winslow obsession continues with Kings of Cool. This is a prequel to Savages which I previewed at an earlier date. I wish I had read this one first because I think my opinion would have been more favorable towards Savages.This time, the story goes back in time to the early 1970?s and follows the exploits of Chon?s father, Ben?s mother and father and O?s mother, all who were the first Association to set up the importation and dealing of drugs in Orange County.I loved the time period, the story made a lot more sense to me and it certainly explained how Ben, Chon and O came to be and the influences they had on them growing up. It made me more empathetic to all three of the younger characters.The early days cover the time from about 1970 up into the 80?s and currently. Ben, Chon and O are just getting their enterprises and their reputations established and unbeknownst to them, are in direct competition with their parents Association.The parents have no idea who the new players in the game are but want them taken out. As the story goes back and forth, Ben, Chon, O and their parents make and break alliances, get involved with corrupt cops and unfold the secrets of the past that inform the younger players about how and why it was done.I actually enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. As I said, had I read this first, I would have had a much better outlook on Savages. Damn you Don Winslow!