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gsatori's review against another edition
5.0
What a great read. This was like discovering a new Westlake or Leonard. Bad men behaving badly. The protagonist is like the Hunter S. Thompson of crime.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
When you dial up the alcoholic ex-cop PI routine up to a 10, add a heavy dose of slapstick comedy and stupid criminals, this is what you get. Parts of this book are so much fun and very relatable, particularly the references to White Castle (my stomach churned just reading them). But this book desperately need a better editor. The first person perspectives from our protagonist were well-written but the 3rd person narratives from the bad guys felt too similar. There’s a really good crime novel in here, a funny one. McBride could have used someone to help him find it. I’ll read more of his stuff.
Also, definitely DO NOT read this if you love dogs. I’m not kidding.
Also, definitely DO NOT read this if you love dogs. I’m not kidding.
clanhay's review against another edition
3.0
*spoiler is just that the dog survives. I loved Frank as a secondary character in this book and wanted to reassure the dog lovers (like me) that while there is some trauma, it’s not too bad in the end.
This was stupidly funny and enjoyable for me.
This was stupidly funny and enjoyable for me.
eleellis's review
4.0
Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew McBride has been on my TBR pile for quite some time and it is one of those TBR books where after being read the reader asks him or herself what took so long.
Nick Valentine is a former St. Louis police officer with direct ties to the current police chief and a lover of too much booze and too much dope. While with these flaws, Valentine still has a moral center when it comes to most things, but with other things, like dealing with nasty people, he prefers to deal with them in ways that most people are not willing to do so.
Valentine is asked to examine the scene of a reported suicide and quickly determines there is much more to the "suicide" than meets the eye. Soon, he is also roped into finding out the people responsible for a violent and lucrative armed robbery of a credit union resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The novel then follows Valentine's pursuit of the unanswered questions and reads like a hard-core detective noir from the fifties brought forward and dropped right down into modern times.
Frank Sinatra in a Blender is full of the type of violence expected in such a pulpy novel along with witty, smart-assed comments and replies by those involved. The novel is highly recommended to those that enjoy urban noir fiction and film noir movies from the 40s and 50s.
Nick Valentine is a former St. Louis police officer with direct ties to the current police chief and a lover of too much booze and too much dope. While with these flaws, Valentine still has a moral center when it comes to most things, but with other things, like dealing with nasty people, he prefers to deal with them in ways that most people are not willing to do so.
Valentine is asked to examine the scene of a reported suicide and quickly determines there is much more to the "suicide" than meets the eye. Soon, he is also roped into finding out the people responsible for a violent and lucrative armed robbery of a credit union resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The novel then follows Valentine's pursuit of the unanswered questions and reads like a hard-core detective noir from the fifties brought forward and dropped right down into modern times.
Frank Sinatra in a Blender is full of the type of violence expected in such a pulpy novel along with witty, smart-assed comments and replies by those involved. The novel is highly recommended to those that enjoy urban noir fiction and film noir movies from the 40s and 50s.
jakewritesbooks's review
3.0
When you dial up the alcoholic ex-cop PI routine up to a 10, add a heavy dose of slapstick comedy and stupid criminals, this is what you get. Parts of this book are so much fun and very relatable, particularly the references to White Castle (my stomach churned just reading them). But this book desperately need a better editor. The first person perspectives from our protagonist were well-written but the 3rd person narratives from the bad guys felt too similar. There’s a really good crime novel in here, a funny one. McBride could have used someone to help him find it. I’ll read more of his stuff.
Also, definitely DO NOT read this if you love dogs. I’m not kidding.
Also, definitely DO NOT read this if you love dogs. I’m not kidding.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
4.0
Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew McBride is a non-stop ride full of violence, alcohol, violence, and strippers, but it's funny and just a great, original book.
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