The Winter of Frankie Machine

This book is the one I recommend the most to friends and others. All of Winslow’ books are great but this is special. This and Bull Mountain are my favorite reads of the decade.

This was my first experience with Winslow and it definitely will not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and found it has something to offer everyone. Winslow is great at creating believable characters that sometimes seem to leap off the page. His protagonist here, Frankie Machine, a retired hit man for the mob, is still portrayed so sympathetically that the reader pulls for him much as we did for Tony Soprano. The plot is winding and never boring; indeed, do not let your mind wander or you find yourself rereading to regain context. The pacing is often break neck and seldom misses a beat. The dialogue is terse, crisp, and totally credible. All in all, this was an outstanding novel. Frank Machianno, a former hit man for the mafia and a Vietnam vet, has settled into his retirement running several small businesses in the San Diego area--most notably, his beloved bait shop. He has a daughter entering med school, a divorced wife who still commands a portion of his time and attention, and a girlfriend, Donna, with whom he can still dream. A call asking a favor from a minor mob contact ends up being a setup to execute Frankie. This aborted attempt on his life sets in motion the suspense and mystery of who wants him dead and why. Winslow cuts back and forth between the past and present to develop the storyline and the characters that transcend the past to the present. Frankie is indeed a machine...a man with the cunning, training, instincts, and street savvy to handle whatever is thrown his way. An intriguing element to the story is Frankie's "old school" moral code colliding with the modern mobster with no moral code; equally, the irony of mobsters following a certain code of morality and behavior that crooked politicians refuse to follow. "The Winter of Frankie Machine" contains shoot outs galore, personal sacrifices, double and triple crosses, a few surprises, and enduring friendships that are tested in unusual ways. The ending, with its final confrontation, is both inevitable but surprisingly satisfying.

How can you not like Frankie Machine? As he says, "It's a lot of work being me," and that's quite true. However, that's what makes him so attractive - he's a persnickety cook who drives to five different stores to get the exact brand of ingredients he wants for a single dish. Only the best for him. He's a man who believes that "Quality of life is about the little things - doing them well, doing them right." He's 63-years-old, owns a California bait shop, the O.B. Bait and Tackle. Everyone who knows him loves him. Life is good,. He has time for surfing with a pal, even if some refer to them as geezers, and he hopes to put his daughter, Jill, through medical school. But that is now. Then is something quite different. When Frankie is ambushed he gets away in one piece, but the big question is why? In a series of flashbacks we learn that Frankie was once a hitman for the West Coast Mafia. He was an A-1 assassin, true to the mob code, and true to his word. He never was a squealer, so why aren't they leaving him alone? His memory is darn good and Frankie knows there are quite a few who have reason to want to be sure he is permanently silenced. It's not long before some killings occur and for a while Frankie finds himself running from everyone - the mob and the cops. Don Winslow has created a killer with a very human face, a plot that surprises, and a narrative often filled with humor. Frankie is a true gent and we can't help pulling for him. The Winter of Frankie Machine will be a movie next year starring Robert De Niro, and this reader will be first in line at the box office. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke

THE POWER OF THE DOG and THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE have secured Don Winslow's place among the world's great crime writers. The former is epic in its influences and urgings; the latter is less ambitious but no less effective. The novel is the most pliable of forms; in his new novel Winslow's model is autobiography rather than epic, but this personal story carries larger cultural freight because Frankie is a retired Mafia hit man. His story is more than a personal account; it is also the story of the west coast mob and its relation to its older, more powerful midwestern and eastern antecedents. The writing is pitch perfect; I wouldn't change a word. The key to the story is the central character and he is delightful in both his canny complexity and his dependable, standup simplicity. The role will be a delicious one. If DeNiro somehow changes his mind, one can imagine Gene Hackman or some other contemporary master relishing the chance to bring Frankie to life on the big screen. The constituent parts are all there: a great story, a great character, and a great theme--the old mob vs. the new and the attendant reflections it invites on larger issues of time, history, loss, and the shrinking possibilities of survival and redemption. The Elmore Leonard influences--which others have noted--are clear, but Winslow's work is in no way derivative. He's simply working the same turf in his own sweet way. If Winslow isn't on your list of must-read, must-buy-in-hardcover writers, he should be.

If "The Power of the Dog" and "California Fire and Life" were not enough to prove the talent and versatility of Don Winslow, then this hard-hitting and intelligently plotted tale of life in the Southern California mob should put any doubts to rest. This is a no-nonsense epic of crime, of loyalties honored and trusts broken. Frankie Machine, like his creator, has serious chops. And if this isn't one of the best books of 2006, well, I guess then I'm reading from the wrong lists. Frank Machianno is a 60-something small businessman in San Diego, a simple working guy balancing his bait shop business with three other part time jobs. A doting father to his pre-Med daughter. A loving boyfriend to a gorgeous former Vegas showgirl. A former US Marine sniper extraordinaire. A steadfast handyman for his ex, and still surfing after all these years. Everybody loves "Frank the bait guy." And "Frankie Machine" is a retired hit man - a mafia button man of legend - a stone cold killer with principals: "I'd never kill a civilian - only other players." But when the local mob boss and Detroit's Vince Vena lure Frankie into a trap, he begins a stroll down a bloody memory lane that crosses four decades and stretches between San Diego and Las Vegas while trying to figure which of several eligible candidates has waited till now to want him dead. And a colorful stroll it is, traveled by an eclectic mix of characters on both sides of the law, the shrewd and the stupid, friends true and traitorous, of relationships forged and broken. But most of all, it is a lane clogged with violence meted out by Frankie's steady hand, sometimes for vengeance, others "simply as business." But while Frankie may have been out of the life for several years, he's definitely not out of practice as he leaves a new trail of bodies behind while getting to the bottom of the mystery that wants his life. Winslow is a terrific storyteller, keeping the action moving while alternating between black humor, raw brutality, and ultimately, an unexpectedly poignant climax. Winslow's cast is painstakingly rendered and infinitely believable - so much so that you'll be easily swept up with Frankie's charm, forgetting that he is, after all, a serial killer with few regrets. In the end, "everybody loves Frankie Machine." And trust me on this - you'll love Don Winslow's latest.

Frank Machianno is a retired Mafia hit man. He surfs and sells bait in San Diego. Divorced, he's got a girlfriend and a daughter he is trying to send through medical school. He wants to lead a quiet and peaceful life. There's just one problem. You don't retire from the Mob. Frankie Machine has killed lots of people and he has seen too many things. He gets set up by some gangsters from Detroit. Bullets are flying.He goes underground and tries to remember what past crime has led to this present problem. Don Winslow writes some slick and violent stuff. It cries out for the big screen. Don't worry, next year we 'll have the movie. Robert DeNiro will make the perfect Frankie Machine.