The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow - 2 stars

[Joy D]

The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow - 2* - My Review

Protagonist Frank Machianno (aka Frankie Machine) is a sixty-something former mafia hitman now running a bait shop on Ocean Beach pier in San Diego. It starts out introducing Frankie, and his relationships with his ex-wife, daughter, and current girlfriend. He gets lured to a location where someone tries to kill him, obviously a mafia hit, and he tries to determine who was behind it by dredging up memories of every hit job he had committed over his mob “career.”

Due to the nature of these memories, the book becomes a laundry list of murders, and loses the narrative arc. It is a very “macho” book. Women are pretty much relegated to the “wife” or “mistress” categories. I am not sure what I was expecting from this book. It is a typical mob thriller. I found myself wondering why I added it – I think I was intrigued by the title. I may have even thought it was science fiction. That’s what I get for not reading the description closely.