(NOTE: Don’t forget that as TRBS transitions to Substack, we’re running a Founding Member promotion and offering giveaways to all paid subscribers, including an advance reader copy of Brad Thor’s Cold Zero. Still haven’t subscribed to our Substack? Read this quick article to see why you should change that today!)
*Like this review? See more, including every book coming out in 2026, here!
That’s right, the great Don Winslow—the prominent New York Times bestselling author best known for his blockbuster novel The Force and his beloved Cartel series, among other titles—has returned to the publishing world to once again dazzle readers like only he can do.
Dusting off retirement (even temporarily) means that book lovers are once again treated to another Don Winslow masterpiece, and his latest offering, The Final Score, a collection of six “short novels,” is the author’s leanest and most lethal work yet—an electrifying blast of crime fiction that hits hard, moves fast, and leaves one heckuva mark.
Inside, buckle up for: Final Score, The Sunday List, True Story, The North Wing, The Lunch Break, and Collision—each a unique story with familiar notes and flavors that echo back to the author’s other full-length novels, while still serving up a fresh, new take on different characters and their troubles.
As his readers have come to expect, every page turns with urgency as Winslow distills violence, loyalty, and consequence into stories that feel both brutally intimate and unmistakably cinematic. Guided by a steady hand and his unmistakably sharp dialogue, Winslow’s emotional punches land with more force and greater precision than ever before. His command of tension is absolute here, as Winslow knows precisely when to accelerate and when to let the silence do the damage. There’s a raw inevitability to each story that pulls you forward (Collision, my favorite story within the collection, reminds you what a genius Winslow is), daring you to look away—while making it impossible to do so.
Bottom line: One of the greatest to ever do it, Don Winslow’s The Final Score proves that Winslow still knows how to bring the house down . . . and that he has a lot of gas left in the creative tank, if he wants to come back for another book in the future.
Pre-order your copy now, or run to bookstores the second they open on January 27th.