by Don, Winslow is a complex thriller, the first in a planned trilogy that sets the basic outlines of The Iliad against the backdrop of warring crime families in Rhode Island. For years, there has been an uneasy peace between the rival Irish and Italian mob families in Providence, Rhode Island, a détente cemented every year by a beach party that includes a wide range of Irish and Italian families. At one of these parties, however, the arrival of Pam Davies, a gorgeous incarnation of Helen of Troy from Greenwich, Connecticut, shifts the balance of power. The fact that Pam is the girlfriend of Paulie Moretti, an Italian mobster, doesn’t stop Liam Murphy from grabbing her inappropriately, an act that will have lasting and violent repercussions. Caught in the middle unwillingly is Liam’s brother-in-law, Danny Ryan, a dockworker, and family man who longs to escape the internecine wars of his hometown but feels trapped. This is an explosive start to what promises to be a fascinating series.