Where to Start with Don Winslow
- Best entry point → The Power of the Dog
- Best standalone → The Winter of Frankie Machine
- Start the Audible Original Stories series → The Heron
- What fans keep coming back to → The Cartel
- Best narrator for Don Winslow → The Border
- Highest rated by listeners → The Dawn Patrol
- 1
The Cartel
Power of the Dog • Book 2
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 4.61 ABR Score (49.8K ratings)★ 4.36 Goodreads (39.5K) ★ 4.63 Audible (10.3K)More about this pick
DEA agent Art Keller wages a thirty-year blood feud against cartel leader Adán Barrera across the Mexican-American drug wars.
- 2
The Power of the Dog
Power of the Dog • Book 1
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 4.58 ABR Score (59.5K ratings)★ 4.37 Goodreads (49.4K) ★ 4.57 Audible (10.1K)More about this pick
Winslow chronicles thirty years of DEA agent Art Keller's obsessive war against Mexican cartels, following multiple characters through corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge across the drug trade.
- 3
The Heron
Audible Original Stories
by Don Winslow, Ed Harris
Narrated by Ed Harris
★ 4.23 ABR Score (6.9K ratings)★ 3.7 Goodreads (1.3K) ★ 4.61 Audible (5.5K)More about this pick
A big-city accountant hiding near San Diego under an assumed name may have stolen millions from the wrong people. Ed Harris himself narrates this twisty, darkly comic tale of identity and desperation.
- 4
The Winter of Frankie Machine
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris
★ 4.33 ABR Score (18.5K ratings)★ 4.18 Goodreads (15.4K) ★ 4.44 Audible (3.1K)More about this pick
Winslow's Mafia thriller follows an ex-hitman turned surf bum whose peaceful San Diego life explodes when old enemies surface. Dennis Boutsikaris perfectly captures Frankie's weathered wisdom and dark humor.
- 5
The Dawn Patrol
Boone Daniels • Book 1
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 4.09 ABR Score (12.1K ratings)★ 4.02 Goodreads (8.7K) ★ 4.38 Audible (3.4K)More about this pick
California surfer-turned-private investigator Boone Daniels catches waves every morning and cases in between, but his latest job threatens both passions. Ray Porter's laid-back delivery perfectly matches Winslow's sun-soaked noir atmosphere and dark humor.
- 6
Savages
Savages • Book 2
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Michael Kramer
★ 3.97 ABR Score (24.7K ratings)★ 3.89 Goodreads (23.1K) ★ 4.09 Audible (1.6K)More about this pick
Two Laguna Beach marijuana entrepreneurs face off against the brutal Baja Cartel in Winslow's sun-soaked crime thriller. Michael Kramer's narration captures both the laid-back California vibe and mounting dread perfectly.
- 7
The Border
Power of the Dog • Book 3
by Don Winslow
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 4.34 ABR Score (19.7K ratings)★ 4.47 Goodreads (19.4K) ★ 4.47 Audible (273)More about this pick
Art Keller's four-decade drug war reaches its explosive conclusion as the battle lines dissolve and the conflict comes home to American soil.
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How We Rank Audiobooks
Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.
Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.
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