Frank and Red is definitely a feel-good-read and it came at the right time for me. This is the sort of story that will have you smiling, laughing out loud and (in my case) crying.

Just to clarify though, crying because I’ve had an emotional couple of months after loosing my mum, who by the way loved the humour of this guy too!

I’m not completely new to the author Matt Coyne, having met him at a blogging conference a couple of years ago I took to his sense of humour and I loved reading his books and especially enjoyed the mum who lost her sh** . I spent a week of reading this particular book to the people I was surrounded by including friends, family and my hairdresser because I found it so funny.

Meeting Matt Coyne at BlogOn 2022

Sypnosis

Sometimes, the friend you need is the one you never saw coming.

Frank and Red are a mess.

Frank is a grumpy old curmudgeon. A recluse whose only company is the ‘ghost’ of his dead wife, Marcie. He is estranged from his friends, his son and the ever-changing world beyond his front gate. 

And then Red moves in next door.

Red is six. A boy struggling to adjust to the separation of his mum and dad, a new school, and the demonic school bully. Red is curious, smart, he never stops talking, and he’s got a trampoline. 

From the moment Red’s blonde mop appears over the top of the fence that divides their two gardens, the unlikeliest of friendships is born. 

. . . And it is a friendship that will change both of their lives forever.

Frank

Funnily enough my dads name is Frank, so when I read this straight away I felt like I knew him and the character was undeniably very much like dad. He was strong, stubborn, had a soft side with a wicked sense of humour. He too had lost his wife, so in some ways I felt like I had entered a bit of his world from the outside.

I loved listing to his conversations with the ghost of his late wife Marcie who was still there, hanging around as part of his subconscious. Either winding him up or egging him on with some encouragement. Which when you read into it, he moaned about, but of coarse he was enjoying having her there and I imagined him smirking in each of their conversations.

Frank in his own little grumpy world who ultimately would just like a quiet life, but then he gets new neighbours. Not just any neighbours, but a single mum with a hyperactive, talkative, bull in a china shop, cat amongst the pigeons six year old. 

Red

Red is like a little pocket rocket coming into Frank’s life that not only irritates him with his noise, but his persistence of not giving up (just like Frank!) and the need to please and make friends. As well as the need to share his monster munch crisps, yum!

They bond without Frank even realising, which actually in the end shocks him.

Between them with their conversations and antidotes I was giggling and smirking throughout this book. It really made me chuckle and make feel warm and fuzzy so to me this is a book definitely worth a read. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, especially if you need a pick me up with some great humour and a bit of bad language thrown in for extra.

Side note: I would recommend the kindle version if you have one as the book is huge and didn’t fit in my handbag 🤣