The Final Score

“The best crime fiction I've read in twenty years.” — Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A masterpiece. . . . Don Winslow remains one of my all-time favorite writers." —James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“[Winslow’s] books sing with the small details that transport you to real places." —Washington Post

The trademark literary style, trenchant wit, and incisive characterization that have made #1 internationally bestselling author Don Winslow a repeat New York Times bestseller and “America’s greatest living crime writer” (Providence Journal) are on brilliant display in this new book, a “near peerless crime fiction” (Rolling Stone).

The multi-million-dollar casino heist is impossible—it can’t be done. That’s what makes it irresistible to a legendary robber facing the rest of his life in prison for his “Final Score.” An ambitious, hard-working college-bound teenager has a side job delivering illegal booze to “The Sunday List” until a crooked cop, a seductive customer, and a fake guru threaten to end his dreams. Two wise guys tell each other a “True Story” over breakfast at a diner. It’s all bullshit and laughs until someone else has to pick up the check. An otherwise honest patrolman has to make an excruciating choice between his loyalty to the job and his love for a ne’er-do-well cousin in “The North Wing.” The entitled, substance-addicted movie star that surfer/PI Boone Daniels and his crew are hired to babysit in “The Lunch Break” is a problem. She also has a problem—someone wants her dead. Finally, the one terrible, momentary mistake that a devoted family man makes sends him to prison and on a “Collision” course between the man he wants to be and the killer he’s forced to become to survive.

The Final Score is a propulsive, perceptive, and deeply immersive book of crime writing — the ultimate testament to Don Winslow's prowess as a living legend of the genre. “The book has something for every Winslow fan—suspense, danger, humor and some of the funniest dialogue to appear in the pages of a mystery.” –Denver Pos

© 2026 William Morrow (Audiobook): 9780063450400

Release date

Audiobook: 27 January 2026