The plot is essentially simple: how the US government and some of its quasi-autonomous agencies (CIA, FBI, DEA) all for their own reasons encouraged, sponsored and actively financed and helped the development of the drug cartels and their trade in Mexico. And Don Winslow's masterpiece is not only a page-turning thriller but also a rich and compelling novel about a very mixed group of characters, each in his or her own way seeking some sort of salvation or redemption. Annie Proulx, who writes the afterword, places it amongst other great American novels from the early 20th Century.The title, 'The Power of the Dog' comes from the Psalms: Save my soul from the sword, my love from the power of the dog. And a compulsory companion to the Jane Campion adaptation released in 2021. Set mostly on the Burbank ranch in rural Montana in 1925, the narrative is a delight to read.

Brother George is enamoured with his new wife. And always would.” Into this undisturbed and familiar landscape of the Burbank brothers comes the unlikely and transformative figure of a woman. It was watching a man seeing to it that things went on the way that they had. It was more than watching a man wind a full clock. And that was that! But wonderful to watch. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage “Having closed the little door and hidden away the little key, George would again look straight into the face of the clock and then at his accurate pocket watch. The events in the story are dramatic, while all the drama is withheld and suppressed, the reading is exactly that. It felt like the author’s voice telling this story. This is a story about masculinity, and the voice with it’s rich masculine rasp is like a confession of hubris. His vaguely western intonation and its authoritative depth brought to mind the time and place of a western landscape to my mind compelling me to listen late into the night.

Chad Michael Collins has the correct voice to narrate this book, or maybe more importantly he has the voice that extends the meaning of the book. Often they could not compete with the voice in my head, or they clashed horribly with what I wanted to hear. I listen to books often these days, and it used to be that some books were ruined by what I now do absolutely view as performances, but audio books have gotten constantly better.

I’m not familiar with Chad Michael Collins, as an actor but his reading extended my imagination and evocation of the book.

Winslow the power of the dog