Frank Sinatra in a Blender Paperback – November 7, 2012

Wow, that was intense.If Guy Ritchie moved to St. Louis, pulled a reverse Madonna and lost the accent, this would be his newest movie. It would have to be produced by an indie company to keep all the violence and not cheesed up like a Wayne's Brothers movie. And the result would be a cult classic that got spread through word of mouth and posts like, "Holy *^&$ you have to watch this movie!" on Facebook.If this book were a cup of chili it'd be SUPER HOT chili. You'd take a bite then instantly start reverse blowing and reaching for a glass of water. If McBride were there I imagine he'd slap your hand and tell you to stop acting like a bish.For a first novel, the writing is fantastic. I like to update on GR when I'm reading and come across a great 2 - 4 sentence combo. With this book I had to stop myself, because they happened almost every other page when the main character was having his beautifully abrasive dialog.Here's a longer one. The main character wakes up after having the cr#p beat out of him:"I think he's awake." [..]"What? Nothing smart to say? No more wise arse?"I opened my eye. Tried to talk, but the words came hard."#*$^ the Beatles."Even through the small part of my eye that worked I could see the British c%cksucker do a double take as the wind was sucked from his lungs unexpectedly.This book is really %ing good. If you can handle copious amounts of violence, you'll love it. If not, you'll quickly puke upon cracking the book.

Nick Valentine is a private investigator who works outside of the law and Frank Sinatra is his dog. If you ever drank anything out of Nick's blender, you would need your stomach pumped. There is nothing ground breaking in this book. In fact the characters could all pretty much be comic book villains, even the good guys. Still, something about the book places it in a league of its own. The writing is good and the narrative shifts back and forth between 1st person and 3rd person seamlessly. There are parts of the book that are laugh out loud funny and other parts that will make you sick to your stomach. Still, Frank Sinatra in a Blender is definitely worth reading. If you pick it up, you can expect non-stop profanity, drug abuse and violence (which includes torture and dismemberment). If you are still interested and you also enjoy well written passages about a man and his dog, this might be the book you have been looking for your entire life. 4 stars.

I hope it's book one about PI Nick Valentine, and ok, folks, he is almost an anti hero hero. Valentine drinks, I mean really drinks, does drugs, runs with crooks, but who can help but love a guy that has a Yorkie named Frank Sinatra. FRANK SINATRA IN A BLENDER is a wild tale, more a tale than a mystery. But a wild ride to meet Nick Valentine, former cop who drank too much on the job. He is still tight with police as a good investigator and St Louis Police Chief Caraway calls on Valentine often. The book is full of great characters, albeit very bad guys but real characters. It is a little book and moves very quickly. An easy read. I was lucky to read McBride's book A SWOLLEN RED SUN, also a great read and that book took me here. Violent and gritty, maybe not for everyone but a fine book HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It was okay. I loved the premise of this book, but it somehow felt recycled. All the grit and pulp of this book get washed out by the writer's over exaggerations and clumsy, unlikeable characters. The degenerate protagonist is surprisingly likeable until the ending, where he becomes as ruthless as the book's villains.

There's a warning label that should be attached to this novel. That label should read in great big letters:Please secure every part of your anatomy, clothing, concepts of what makes a hero, morality, priggishness and any other item of faith your life that determine your concepts of decent behavior, common courtesy, the Boy Scout Oath or a firm belief in the legal system of the US by god of A. After securing these items with as strong a bundle of duct tape as you can make and with a great deal of care . . . throw the items out the nearest window into the closest burning building after soaking said items in the highest octane racing fuel you can find and Run! Like! Hell!*tip: It would probably be advisable to get stinking drunk on Mad Dog 20/20 and as many uppers/downers/spinners/flippers/and finger poppin' mind-rippers you can find before reading Frank Sinatra In A Blender. You'll need that support to keep up with the events in Matthew McBride's first novel."Sinatra" is a jet propelled, nitro fueled, rocket ride roller coaster of style and skill that'll leave you with your hair blown straight back and the widest grin you ever had plastered all over your silly face.One word: MORE!

Sadistic and unrelenting. The conspicuous over consumption of alcohol, beer, mixed drinks, oxy, Percocet, strippers and bad frozen air make it a hellova read.

In a blurb on the cover, Charlie Sheen said that he read it in a day. I still bought it and am glad that I did.Matthew McBride has created a cast of drunks, psychos, petty criminals and one or two people who might have been decent human beings under different circumstances. Nick Valentine stumbles through the murders, robberies and atrocities committed by this crew in alcohol and Oxycontin fueled umbrage until he finally is able to exact the payment due to the bastards who messed with his dog.This is neo-pulp at its best. The dialogue is spot-on and the plot moves from one deftly drawn scene of despair and depravity to the next instance of what people are sadly capable of. Through it all Valentine hangs on, manages to survive and ultimately wins out over the bad guys. Frank Sinatra shows us the side of Nick Valentine that he tries to hide and makes this over-the-top pulp PI into someone new and interesting.I wanted a glass of bourbon and a cigarette after I finished this book. Good thing I've given up smoking.

Not good, one dementional characters, contrived situations.

Action packed, fast paced, humorous in the style of a "B movie",I couldn't put it down! Drawn initially by the title, I was intrigued to see whether it would live up to my expectations, I wasn't disappointed!

You know the feeling when you browse through all your unread books on your Kindle and also the pile of unread books in the cupboard but you just can't seem to see anything that you want to read ? That's how I felt on Sunday and just by chance I was browsing on Twitter when I came across a tweet from Frank Bill wishing Matthew McBride a 'Happy Birthday' and urging people to purchase his debut novel 'Frank Sinatra in a Blender'. I knew as soon as I saw the title that I just had to buy and read this right away and I was not disappointed.Our hero, alcoholic, pill popping, ex-cop and now P.I. Nicky Valentine is investigating a Credit Union robbery, on his own behalf and also helping out the local P.D. as The Chief has a soft spot for Nicky. The plot is very Elmore Leonardesque with double crosses aplenty and where the good guys are just one step away from being bad guys. With characters such as Johnny No Nuts, English Sam, Flames and Bruiser I think you can get a good flavour of what the novel is all about.This is great stuff and just right up my street and just what I was looking for. It's very violent and gory but also very funny and you've just got to suspend belief for the time it takes to read the novel, which wasn't long in my case. Looking forward to reading McBride's next offering and possibly even the return of Nicky Valentine would be most welcome.P.S. - Frank Sinatra, of the title, is Nicky's dog !

Top shelf gritty crime writing. I read it with Kindle reader on old iPhone and it's formatted well. Gotta love the main character with his massive flaws and feisty dog. Hope there's more from this author.

I'll keep this short.If you're looking for an original, hilarious take on the PI novel get this. If you're not then get it anyway, suprise yourself at how much you like it & thank me later (or Mr McBride, more like). Absolute bloomin' genius