Category: Stephanie Plum

Explostive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

I swear this isn’t turning into all Evanovich all the time (if for no other reason, than I haven’t read any more). Just needed to clear out a backlog yesterday.

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Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum, #18)Explosive Eighteen

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #18


Mass Market Paperback, 320 pg.
Bantam, 2012

Stephanie Plum novels are starting to remind me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? — a couple of real, flesh and blood people, surrounded on every side by cartoons. Which can be amusing enough, I guess, but I’m afraid it’s going to go too far one day soon.

The best part of this book — both in terms of Stephanie the crime fighter and Stephanie the one angle in a triangle — takes place entirely prior to this novel — but its impact shapes a lot of this one. That’ll make sense if you read the book, otherwise, sorry.

Still, there’s a lot to like in this one — there’s an ambition to the story that’s not common to the Plum books. Between the FBI and the various criminal enterprises represented, this could be a compelling gritty story in another series. Evanovich is at her best when balancing the serious with the silly — and in the main story, she achieves that this go ’round.

Of course, the amount of Joyce Barnhardt in this one is enough to put me off, and Lula’s plot is dumber than normal. Vinnie skews more towards the criminally stupid than the disgusting, so I think that’s a plus. But on the whole, the parts of this that have nothing to do with the aftermath of Hawaii and her flight home, drag this one down.

I spent a good deal of time while reading this trying to figure out what Joe or Ranger see in Stephanie — or vice versa. I got no closer to an answer than I have before. But really? There’s so little between these people.

Still, fun enough to justify the time.

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3 Stars

Dusted Off: Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, #13)Lean Mean Thirteen

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #13


Mass Market Paperback, 330 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2008

In the 14th book, many series are showing their age, getting annoyingly repetitive/derivative…and just dull. Not Stephanie Plum (‘tho you could make the case that some of the earlier books did). Really, really good read–fun, complicated case. Not too slapstick-y (there is still slapstick–it is a Plum book)–no time at a mortuary (yay!), even Joyce adds something to the storyline (which she hasn’t done in ages).

Action, laughs, a wee bit o’ character development–all in all, a solid Plum adventure. One of Evanovich’s best.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum, #12)Twelve Sharp

by Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #12


Mass Market Paperback, 322 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2007

Best Plum in a long while (not that Eleven on Top was all that bad), and I’m so relieved. I’d really started to get tired of the series’ schtick. But this time out, we got some good character development; one of the best bad guys in a long, long time; less of the annoying aspects of the books; and enough laughs to remind me why I started reading these books in the first place.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: To the Nines by Janet Evanovich

To the Nines (Stephanie Plum, #9)To the Nines

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #9


Mass Market Paperback, 320 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2004

There’s no such thing as a bad Stephanie Plum book (at least this far in the series, with the possible exception of Visions of Sugar Plums), but there have been a few that were less-good. This is not one of them, possibly the best since One for the Money.

There’s real tension here, and plenty of genuine laughs (including the grossest visual I’ve read in months). Some of the long-term story lines get some actual advancement as well (finally!). There should be more to say, but I can’t think of it. This is Evanovich at her best–which is a heckuva lot of fun.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: High Five by Janet Evanovich

High Five (Stephanie Plum, #5)High Five

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #5


Mass Market Paperback, 317 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2000

One part Spenser, one part Lucy Ricardo, that’s the recipe for success that got Evanovich & Stephanie Plum to book #5 and it served them well here, too.

I found the mystery this time around more satisfying than most of this series’ cases have been–and the antics (while plenty amusing) are slightly less madcap than usual (which is a good thing).

Hive Five delivers a great mix of twists and turns, a little romance, plenty of laughs. Great read.

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4 Stars

Saturday Miscellany — 11/23

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    Just one New Releases this week on any of my lists:

  • Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich — I’m still 2 behind, plan on catching up on the paperbacks by the end of this year, will probably wait ’til this is out in paperback to read it, but it’s notable the series made it this far.

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Smokin' Seventeen
Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #17


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the best Stephanie Plum novel in quite a while. Yes, absolutely, the mystery was a piece of cake to figure out — the herring wasn’t red, it was crimson. But you know what? It worked for me. People looking for clever, twisty mysteries that leave the reader stumped shouldn’t be reading Plum novels. You read these because when Evanovich is on her game, there’s a lot of fun to be had.

Vincent’s office being run out of Mooney’s RV is good, great comedy fodder. As is having Connie moving around between temporary work spaces. Most importantly to the success of a Plum novel: Grandma Mazur and Lula weren’t too crazy.

I’m not crazy about the state of the Joe-Stephanie-Ranger triangle, but what else is new? Time for something interesting to happen to at least one of the guys, if not a permanent resolution to this.

The bad guy this time was creepy as all get out, yet he fit very well into this sit-com world.

Not a lot to say about it, I guess, but it entertained me.

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Sizzling Sixteen
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #16


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When it comes to books in a series — particularly one that I’ve read more than 3 of (so the Plum books qualify several times over) — I don’t bother to read the back cover, I just want to read whatever’s next. So I had no idea how tough a sell this book would be for me until I got a few pages into it.

Vinnie Plum is probably my least favorite character in the Plum books (well, other than Joyce Barnhardt, now that I think of it). His character isn’t that interesting, almost never contributes anything to the story that couldn’t be handled by someone less-skeevy, say, Connie. So when the big story of the novel is going to be about rescuing Vinnie, I’m not going to be that invested. Actually, I’m going to root against Stephanie and her crew saving the day. A happy ending to this book would be Vinnie getting capped and Connie taking over. Or, fine, if he has to live — he’s so shaken by the experience that he sells his business to Ranger.

Of course, I knew that this is a Stephanie Plum novel, so the odds of that happening are pretty low, if not non-existent. Typically, everything resets at the end of the novel, and that status is quo going forth.

So, I had to seek fulfillment elsewhere — how many cars will Steph blow up? (her car’s in the shop for mechanical difficulty, of all things, when the book starts) Will Lula’s diet and the breaking of it annoy me? (not too bad, really) Will Stephanie’s efforts to bring in a pretty easy FTA or two be stupid flops, or actually funny? (eh, not bad…not as funny as they could’ve been, but not annoyingly stupid) Will Grandma Mazur’s antics seem like they’d be a better fit for The Nanny‘s grandmother than a crime novel? That kind of thing.

And overall, Evanovich pulled it off. This isn’t her at her best, but it’s her doing her thing. It’ll satisfy long-time readers, but probably wouldn’t win a first-timer. Pleasant enough way to spend 300 pages.

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