Don Winslow has a best seller, slams Trump’s ‘War on Drugs’ – USA TODAY

'The Force' by Don Winslow(Photo: William Morrow)

Heres a look at whats new on USA TODAYs Best-Selling Books list

'The Force' is with him: Riding strong reviews and movie buzz, Don Winslow has his highest debut ever as his new cop novel, The Force (William Morrow), lands at No. 17. (The full list will be published on Thursday.)

Oh yeah, there was also that full-page ad (and tweet) in Sundays New York Times, in which Winslow blasted President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for wanting to drag us back into one of the most catastrophic social policies in this nations history: #TheWaronDrugs.

As Winslow points out in his lengthy open letter, he spent two decades researching and writing about the failed War on Drugs in his novels The Power of the Dog and The Cartel. (Winslow had his previous best showing on the list withThe Cartel, which peakedat No. 54 in 2015.)

Sessionshas directed federal prosecutors to charge defendants with the most serious "provable"crimes that carry the stiffest penalties, a reversal of President Obama's more lenient policy toward drug offenders.

So far, Trump has not tweeted a response or taken out his own full-page ad.

Winslow tells USA TODAY that he placed the ad at his own expense because "I feel so strongly that this (drug) policy is wrong. (It) seeks to expand a disastrous policy that has ripped our nation apart."

As for a response from the White House, he says: "After writing about the drug wars for two decades I have developed a number of high-ranking officials as sources. I have heard from so many people cops, congressmen, senators, governors that agree with my position but fear saying so publicly. I have not heard a formal response from the White House but I do know for a fact that Attorney General Sessions and Trump were shown the ad."

The Force is about a good NYPD cop who becomes corrupt. In a **** (out of four stars) reviewfor USA TODAY, Don Oldenburg called the novel intoxicating" and "riveting.

Ridley Scott has bought the film rights to The Force (with James Mangold set to direct) and Scott is directing an adaptation of The Cartel, based on the escapades of (now incarcerated) Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

In the ad, Winslow also criticized the Trump administrations gun-control policy and plugged his new book: My most recent novel, The Force, deals with the NYPD's struggle against drugs and guns. My research shows that most of the weapons used in gang violence originate in states that have weak gun laws and unrestricted gun shows.

Winslow is in the midst of a national book tour.

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Don Winslow has a best seller, slams Trump's 'War on Drugs' - USA TODAY

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