Collection features five new tales and some old characters.
“Not every story is suited to that.
Also, I wanted a variety.
Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
The storyBrokenis obviously very serious, the final storyThe Last Rideis quite serious and very topical, unfortunately.
Below, Winslow teases his quintet of novellas.
“I wanted to look at revenge in a slightly different way,” says Winslow.
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And sometimes you do and sometimes you dont.”
Crime 101
A cop and a jewel thief play cat-and-mouse on and around the Pacific Coast Highway.
“I thought, can there be a meeting point there?
Raymond Chandler wrote all his great L.A. books at a house off the Pacific Coast Highway in San Diego.
I’ve been to the house.
What a thrill that was, to walk into the room whereThe Long Goodbyewas written.
It was like going into a church.
So, that was really the inspiration for the story.
But, like a lot of stories, then you have to do the, so what?
Youve got Highway 101 and youve got rules for crime, well, whats thecrime?
And then you just kind of go from there.
I dont know where this stuff comes from,” says Winslow.
‘It struck me funny.
And so I did the same thing.
Its like, Okay, so what happens?
Howdidthe chimp get the revolver?
I mean, I didnt know the answer either when I started writing the story.
I just went along on the ride with that young cop and eventually we both found out."
Sunset
Vintage Winslow character Boone Daniels makes a return in this tale of a bail-jumping junkie-surfer.
“Its a very familiar scene to me.
I also wanted to return to some old characters that readers have liked over the years.
I thought, Well, yeah, lets see if this works out.”
“Sometimes you think youre done with characters,” says the writer.
“You think, this storys done, these characters have nothing more to do.
And you realize youre wrong.
I always like writing about places that I love.
So I did the math which is not my metier I literally sat down doing the sums.
So, I thought if I put those characters in the same spot, what might happen?
And thats what happened.”
“I think angry is the right word,” says Winslow.
“Im not going to run away from that.
Its almost impossible to summon up enough indignation and outrage.
Ripping children from their parents and chucking them in cages is unconscionable.
Ive written columns abut it, a lot of Twitter, and all that kind of thing.
But my real strength I think, Ihope is as a fiction writer.
I think thats where I can maybe have a greater impact than in some other places.
Headlines always become stereotypes by repetition.
But what happens if you look at one kid?
Ive spent a lot of time with them.
And then saw the reality.”
