Usually when I see a good movie I check to see if it was a novel before. If I’m lucky, then it was. Because let’s face it—if a movie is good and was based on a book, then chances are the novel-form is better. There are exceptions of course, but it’s just too difficult to boil a great book into a 2-hour movie and still capture all the nuance that made the novel so good.
Savages, by Don Winslow
And the novel Savages is no exception. I had previously read Don Winslow’s novels, like Cartel and Power of the Dog, but when I saw the movie trailer to Savages, I had no idea it was based on the book Savages.
But the movie looked awesome. Guns, drugs, explosions and Blake lively is pretty easy to look at. So I went and watched it in the theater. And as the opening credits rolled, I saw Don Winslow briefly, but wasn’t sure if he wrote the script or if it was based on one of his novels. Had to wait to find out.
And the movie was good. Good acting, good plot, action, guns, babes, and all that. Then I found out it was based on a book by Don Winslow. So I ordered a copy of Savages that night.
It came a few days later and I literally read it in two sittings. It was about 3oo pages in paperback form, but this novel was written differently than Cartel or Power of the Dogs—it had short sentences. Choppy. Not like Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club choppy, but the sentences didn’t cover much of the page.
And I always liked this kind of style.
But it was different. Entertaining and fun to read. And I breezed right through it.
If you enjoyed the movie, then then you will enjoy the book. It is just better. More entertaining all-around.
If you haven’t seen the movie, but like good action/thriller plots with modern writing style, then you’ll likely enjoy this book.
The plot is straight-forward:
Two buddies start dealing marijuana in California and they grow the best weed around. They expand their customer base and start getting the attention of the local drug cartel. They approach the weed entrepreneurs and want to partner up. They decline and piss the cartel off.
So the cartel kidnaps their mutual friend, with whom both are oddly sleeping with, in order to compel their compliance.
But one of the friends is an ex Seal and he starts going down the warpath with the cartel and starts a plot to get their girl back.
Simple plot. Not that original, but greatly executed in a fresh prose that is hard to put down. Definitely recommend this to anyone that liked movies like Sicario, Savages, or any of Winslow’s previous books.