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Don Winslow's THE POWER OF THE DOG made a huge impression on me so that I was very anxious to read THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE when it arrived. I was certainly not disappointed. Frank Machianno is meticulous when it comes to detail. His morning is governed by a strict adherence to a schedule divided into seconds. Perhaps he feels that if he deviates from routine at all, his life might fall apart. It certainly does after his schedule is fractured following an approach made to him by two young Mob thugs. Frankie is concluding a day spent devoting time to his businesses, his ex-wife Patty, his girlfriend Donna, not to mention his customary excursion into the surf with his friend, FBI agent Dave Hansen, during Gentlemen's Hour. Dave is somewhat preoccupied with Operation G-Sting, a drive set to root out corruption and organised crime in San Diego. Frank is overjoyed when he meets his beloved daughter Jill for lunch and she hands him an envelope from UCLA containing her acceptance into medical school there. Frank undertakes to support her whilst she is studying, paying all her expenses. He decides he must somehow raise extra money in order to do this since his several businesses will simply not be sufficient. So, when Frankie comes across the two punks waiting for him at the end of the day, he is lured by the 50K they say will be his reward for helping them and the head of the LA family (the father of one of them and nominal former boss of Frankie Machine). Frank reluctantly accepts but, on being told the meeting he must attend is 'tonight' when it is already after midnight, reflects on his constant mantra: "It's a lot of work being me." Frankie acquired the nickname 'Frankie Machine' when he plied his profession of assassin when in the employ of 'this thing of ours', the mob. He never missed. Now he is called upon to reanimate his skills but discovers he has been set up, that someone wants him dead. To discover the identity of his ill-wisher, Frankie must immediately take steps to protect the people he loves and go to the safe house he established just in case he might one day need such a resource, then examine his past, from which he realises his enemy must come. The way Winslow integrates the past and present is skillfully done. The reader is treated to the maturing of the man from a gangly, awkward teenager to the cool-headed operative of the present. The author depicts in detail the slice of history and its characters, including the rise and downfall of Richard Nixon and the activities of the Mafia, that cannot fail to capture the interest of the reader. The solution to the mystery is intricate but convincing – even one unexpected twist to the tale. The characterisations of the piece are eminently believable. The revelation of corruption amongst politicians, in light of the constant exposés of the present, is scarcely surprising. My admiration for Winslow is unbounded since he manages to portray convincingly a criminal assassin, with the blood of many on his hands, as an eminently good man, well worthy of the sympathy of the reader. This is another outstanding tale by a powerful practitioner of crime fiction.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, November 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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