Don Winslow

Don Winslow is an American retired author best known for his award-winning and internationally bestselling crime novels, including Savages, The Force, and the Cartel Trilogy. Winslow was born on October 31, 1953, in New York City. He grew up in Perryville, a beach town near the village of Matunuck, Rhode Island. He credits his parents for preparing him to become a writer: his mother was a librarian, and his father was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy who told stories and invited Navy friends around who told more.

While traveling between Asia, Africa, Europe, and America, Winslow wrote his first novel, A Cool Breeze On The Underground, which was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Shamus Award for Best First Novel. Then, Winslow returned to investigative work with a wife and young son, mainly in California. He and his family lived in hotels for almost three years as he worked cases and became a trial consultant.

Winslow's second book, The Trail to Buddha's Mirror, continued the Neal Carey saga. He followed that up with three more Neal Carey novels, Way Down on the High Lonely, for which he was a Dilys Award finalist, A Long Walk Up the Water Slide, and While Drowning in the Desert.

For his next novel, Winslow broke from the Neal Carey character to write the standalone Isle of Joy, about an ex-CIA agent who is pulled back into the world of espionage, this time as the target of his former agency and the FBI.

A film and publishing deal for his novel The Death and Life of Bobby Z, also a Barry Award finalist for Best Novel, allowed Winslow to become a full-time writer and settle in his beloved California, the setting for many of his books.

Branching into television, Winslow, with his friend and agent Shane Salerno, co-created the NBC television series UC/Undercover. The series ran one season and aired 13 episodes. Winslow then published the Shamus Award finalist California Fire and Life and Looking for a Hero.

During the 2020 presidential election, Winslow became politically active online, using his money to champion liberal causes and criticize Donald Trump and his agenda. In addition, Winslow and Shane Salerno began creating political videos critical of the Trump administration for social media.

On October 13, 2020, Don Winslow Films released a video critical of Trump before his campaign event in Pennsylvania. The video features Bruce Springsteen's song "Streets of Philadelphia" and has been viewed almost 10 million times. As of January 4, 2021, Winslow's videos had garnered over 135 million views. As of April 2022, the total view count was over 250 million.

A libel lawsuit was filed against Winslow based on comments Winslow made in 2020 about an Irwin County Detention Center contractor, who Winslow had claimed performed illegal hysterectomies purportedly done at the direction of Donald Trump. In 2022 a district court ruled that the libel claims could go forward.