by Don Winslow. (Get the Book)Money may make the world go - round, but drugs make it spin out of control. That's one of the many deadly lessons in best-seller Winslow's breathless prequel to 2010's Savages. Here readers learn the blistering backstories of twentysomething buds Ben and Chon as well as O, the rebellious babe they both love. Beginning his tale in the 1960s, Winslow paints an unsettling portrait of the underbelly of Southern California, from pot- and coke-dealing hippie parents to Mexican gang leaders who compose messages with human entrails. Surf bums, beatniks, and Botox-pumped beauties play pivotal roles in the three characters' lives. (Especially memorable here is O's bubble-headed mother, dubbed PAQU Passive Aggressive Queen of the Universe.) Winslow serves up nonstop action, tempering the tension with his trademark razor-sharp wit. Military man Chon believes in microwave karma . . . what goes around comes around, in a freaking hurry and usually with ill intent. Published to coincide with the release of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone's adaptation of Savages, this cool, clever entry is sure to be a royally popular summer read. --Booklist
