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Broken  By  cover art

Broken

By: Don Winslow
Narrated by: Ray Porter,Kaleo Griffith
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Publisher's summary

“One of America’s greatest storytellers.” (Stephen King)

“Winslow, whose work includes a dozen of the finest crime novels written in the last 20 years, displays all of his strengths, including propulsive narration, compelling characters and a tight, staccato writing style, in Broken, a collection of six remarkable novellas.” (Bruce De Silva, Associated Press)

No matter how you come into this world, you come out broken....

In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt, and redemption, Broken is number-one international best seller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best.

In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters, and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.

With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action, and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.

©2020 Don Winslow (P)2020 HarperAudio

What listeners say about Broken

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Amazing Stories from a Master Storyteller

Broken is another fantastic book from a master storyteller! Readers and listeners will be treated to a collection of 6 Amazing Stories that perfectly capture the author's talent, brilliance and wit. At the same time, each of these stories will be dramatic, dark, hopeful, funny, gritty and familiar to some fans.

We will meet completely new characters, with their own flaws, fears and complicated lives, we will root for them until they reach the breaking point and will continue to do so until their story ends. Without me giving anything away, I want to tell you that I was delighted to see returning and beloved characters from other works by Don Winslow.


I am blown away everytime I listen to an audiobook by his brilliant writing style, by the lifelike characters in his stories and by the way he vividly describes every location, action and series of events.

Don Winslow, with the help of his narrator, literally makes you see in your mind's eye everything he has put down on the page and with Broken we have two topnotch actors - Ray Porter and Kaleo Griffith - to entertain us for the over 12 hours of playtime.

Bestselling and award winning author Don Winslow is without a doubt one of the best thriller writers out there. I listened to many of his books, including The Cartel, The Force, The Border, The Power of the Dog, California Fire and Life, Savages and The Dawn Patrol and I cannot recomend all these book enough to all of you.

I listened to Broken until 4 a.m and actually dreamed about being in one of the stories, so you can imagine what impact this collection had on my mind. Get it, you'll love it! Unputdownable, dramatic, completely immersive and extremely entertaining, Broken is a clear contender for the best short stories collection of the year 2020.

If you liked this review please vote Helpful below and find more of them here and on theAudiobookBlog.
I also post honest reviews at the author, narrator or publisher's request, you can get in touch with me for more details.

Thank you & stay safe,
Victor

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72 people found this helpful

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  • B
  • 04-26-20

There’s no question Winslow can write, but ....

The problem that usually occurs when you put together 6 novellas, is that there will always be certain stories you enjoy more than others. Unfortunately not only did that occur with the stories, but it also occurred with the narrators.
I can sum up my review with 3 quick points:
1. As mentioned, uneven stories. Loved the first 4 stories but the remaining 2 just fell flat for me. I didn’t find myself invested in the characters and honestly didn’t care what happened to them.
2. While Kaleo Griffith may be a good narrator, I believe Ray Porter is one of the best in the business (RC Bray not withstanding) so switching narrators midway through, felt like a letdown. In all honesty, that probably contributed to my dislike of the other stories. I don’t understand the reasoning behind switching narrators when Porter is more than capable of performing all of them.
3. Politics! I know other reviewers mentioned this but I didn’t think it would be as pronounced as they implied. Note: I actually happened to agree with many of the sentiments in the book (not turning this into a political debate), but even I felt like he should have kept his political views to himself. People usually buy books to be entertained, and the last thing you want in a thriller, is a constant barrage of political jabs.
No question Winslow can write, but I don’t think this was one of his best.

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33 people found this helpful

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Great listen but......

Author couldn’t help himself giving President Trump a dig regarding immigration policies(even though policies were put in place by Obama).

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31 people found this helpful

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More virtue signaling from Winslow

This book was just ok. Started off with some greatness and slowly reverted back into more Trump hating. Don’t waste your time.

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21 people found this helpful

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Maybe It's Winslow's Best?

Politics first... Okay, Winslow and I aren't on the same ideological page. BUT... he never monsterizes me. He's honest and feels like a friend with whom I disagree, but can talk to, can access honestly held differences.


That finished, Broken is a collection of stories. While seemingly different, like a fine quilt, their mosaic becomes a pattern as the last chapters happen. Winslow is a master writer of crime fiction which delves into the human condition. This is his best work (although I've written that before... hmmm). Regardless of where you teeter upon the fine line of today's political high wire... Winslow's voice won't blow you off, and maybe it'll balance a bit. BTW... not to worry, this isn't a 'politics' book. Wish I could have a beer and an evening with this guy.. Hey Don... I'll buy!

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I've read comic books that were more believable.

I have never been so aware that what I'm reading is complete fiction. It's too bad, I was really looking forward to this book.

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great Idea! One of The Fun Listens!

Don Winslow hit a real home run with this format. A string of short stories that have lots of appearances by familiar characters, several out of nowhere. All of his books are entertaining and engaging. But this one is also great fun to listen to, narration excellent. Treat yourself to a wild ride during this time of quarantine and social distancing!

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7 people found this helpful

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I got a lot of yardwork done while listening!

I loved Broken. I laughed loudly, cried loudly and lived in different worlds while listening. Both narrators were wonderful, and I got to catch up a little with old characters. Thanks for a wonderful listen!

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Not Don's best work

The good part - it is like a series of short stories usually featuring friends from previous books, Ben, Chawn, O, Boone, Bobby Z (almost), Red Eddie, and even Frankie the machine. There's no continuity in the stories; and the last one, with the border patrol, takes the overall of the book from a 3 to almost a one, it's a throwaway story. So if you're looking for something interesting to read, this might be the book, but you MUST read the Dawn Patrol. California Fire and Life, Life and Times of Bobby Z, the WInter of Frankie Machine and Savages FIRST... Yes read this after those or this book doesn't make sense. Oh yea, skip the last section.

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Winslow’s scraps from other books

I usually really like Don Winslow’s books and Ray Porter is one of the best narrator’s. This is a collection of stories from different books that don’t make any sense. They were probably ideas that didn’t make the final edit for Winslow’s other books. Some of the narrator’s are terrible.

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