'Savages' Author Don Winslow Awarded Raymond Chandler Award

Savages author Don Winslow has won the Raymond Chandler Award. The honor, awarded at the Courmayeur Noir Festival 2012, has been won in the past by the likes of John le Carré, John Grisham, and Michael Connelly. The private detective-turned crime novelist will be on hand to accept the award in December. His books have always sold well overseas, but Winslow is finally getting some Hollywood action on novels that include The Winter Of Frankie Machine, Satori and Power of The Dog.

'I have always been convinced that there is a strong interplay between noir and cinema, and personally I think that my writing has been heavily influenced by the big screen unconsciously because I grew up with the films, because they have been consciously contaminated by the work of directors like Truffaut, Fellini and Woo,' Winslow said. 'Films like Eight and a Half and La Strada encouraged me to take risks with the creative structure of my novels, especially Savages. '

Savages was published in Italy by Einaudi under the title The Beasts, and the same house publishes the prequel The Kings Of Cool next month.