Rating: 
Summary: Typical Plum Adventure
Review: Stephanie Plum usually encounters danger during her job as a bounty hunter, but this time it happens while she's off-duty. While buying nachos at a local deli, she witnesses a robbery and gets a good look at the robber's face. He wants Stephanie dead, but she refuses to stay inside Joe Morelli's (her on and off again boyfriend) house all day long, angering Morelli. She hides at Ranger's apartment (one of his apartments, that is), while trying to catch the gang leader before he has her killed.
Janet Evanovich's books always have plenty of humor and this is no exception. Especially funny is the hiring of "Sally", a transvestite, as the wedding planner for Stephanie's sister's weeding. But nothing new really happens in this book although we get a glimpse of Ranger's apartment, and how he lives, at least part of the time. Connie is in the book a little bit more and the scene where she, Stephanie, and Lula "kidnap" someone is hilarious. But this book mostly reads like every other book in the series. Stephanie's car gets blown up, she eats too much and then worries about her weight, she and Morelli fight, she lusts after Ranger, etc. etc.
Fans of Stephanie Plum will like this book, but it isn't the best in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Will the real Janet please return?
Review: Ten Big Ones is a very disappointing read, even for the most ardent admirers of the Stephanie Plum series, as I am. I ran out to buy number 10 the first day it was available. But unfortunately, I won't be recommending it to anyone. The criticisms levied by other reviewers are completely on-target. The writing is unimaginative. The humor is forced, and declines to the level of pre-adolescent bathroom jokes. The dog scene was stupid. Even Grandma didn't amuse me. The plot was almost non-existent. There was no mystery, no suspense, no thrills. The characters just went through the motions. How can Morelli and Ranger be boring? Well, they are in this book. You never get to know the villain, and honestly, you don't care. And yes....way too much discussion about doughnuts and shower gel! Where were the editors? I agree it appears that someone else wrote the book, or at least parts of it. Maybe Ms. Evanovich's daughter is writing this series, while Janet focuses on the next Jamie Swift / Max Holt book. The writing style is very dull. It lacks the sparkle of the early Stephanie Plum books. There is no motivation given for any of the characters' actions. Sub-plots within the book are never resolved, and some simply disappear. The book even lacks continuity - one action scene I re-read three times trying to figure out how the characters went from riding in an SUV to a Porsche and back to an SUV....where did the skip, who was riding in the back seat, go when the text switched to the Porsche!? I would never recommend this book to someone new to a Stephanie Plum novel. I am hoping the author does better by her characters, and her fans, in the next offering. She must move the characters along in life both physically and emotionally. She must evolve some of the relatiohship sub-plots, and yes, she needs to introduce some new characters. Introducing us to one of the "Bat Caves" isn't enough. At the very least she needs to make us laugh again and care about the story. I will gladly wait LONGER than a year for her next book, if it returns to the standard of quality of her earlier works.
Rating: 
Summary: Plum and Co are back in "Ten Big Ones"
Review: The latest is this long running series finds Stephanie Plum having one outrageous misadventure after another. She, somehow despite previous disasters and near misses along with some success, is still a Bond Enforcement Agent working for her cousin Vincent Plum. And she still manages to get herself into major trouble with or without Lulu's help. In this case, Lulu helped.
While standing in a parking lot debating lunch choices with Stephanie, Lulu decides to show Stephanie her gun. In so doing, she manages to shoot the rear tire of a bicycle leaned against the window of the local deli-mart. Seconds later, they witness the robbery of the deli-mart by a man in mask, known as the Red Devil robber. A number of things go wrong, including the fact that his escape vehicle, the bike, has a flat tire. In the ensuing chaos, not only does Stephanie lose her car to yet another fiery explosion, she can identify the robber. He is a member of the local gang known as the "Slayers." Of course, gangs thrive on violence and intimidation and they can't have Stephanie messing up their plans. So, while she is out chasing various people who failed to appear, the Slayers put out a contract on her life as well as three others.
All the usual characters are back in this adventure, which includes separate storylines on Grandma Mazur as well as Valerie and her love life. The sexual tension between Stephanie and Ranger continues while at the same time she might be finally ready to admit she loves Morelli. The humor is back as well, a hallmark of this series, with several downright hysterical scenes.
But, a word of warning as well. The risqué parts are back as well and more over the top with graphic descriptions than ever before. This is a trend that started several novels ago and shows no sign of stopping. As such, some of this may offend some readers. This is a good series but this novel certainly pushes the boundaries, as there is considerable sexual innuendo as well as graphic descriptions of suspects who have lost their pants, for one reason or another.
If you have read the series then you know what to expect. If you haven't, I would strongly suggest you start at the beginning, which was "One For The Money." Not only because this is an ongoing series with continuous character development and exploits, but also because of the risqué factor.
Book Facts:
Ten Big Ones
By Janet Evanovich
www.evanovich.com
Random House Large Print
www.randomlargeprint.com
2004
ISBN # 0-375-43203-5
Hardback-Large Print
421 Pages
$27.95 US
$39.95 Canada
This entire review previously appeared online at the Blue Iris Journal Blog.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2004
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but the same 'ole, same 'ole
Review: This formula is getting a bit tiresome. I love all these books but I really didn't care if I finished this one or not. Ranger is barely in this book even though he is the best to read about. Stephanie's family is hilarious as ever but something new needs to happen or she should end this series gracefully.
Rating:
Summary: Stephanie Plum Finds Herself on a Gang Hit List
Review: This tenth Stephanie Plum adventure starts off with a bang (literally) as a trip to the convenience store for Stephanie Plum and her sidekick Lulu turns into an explosion. It turns out that Stephanie and Lulu with their bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time have interrupted a hold-up of the store, and the Molotov cocktail intended for the store ends up destroying yet another of Stephanie's cars. However, Stephanie gets a glimpse of the gang member who torched her car, and then she learns that his Gang, the Red Devils, is out to silence her, permanently.
After she finds out that she's on the gang's hit list, Stephanie goes into hiding, ultimately spending most of the book hiding in fellow bounty hunter Ranger's apartment. I felt that there wasn't nearly as much action in this story as in the previous Stephanie Plum books. Plus, I did get tired of Stephanie moaning about her weight gain one minute, then eating a dozen doughnuts the next minute.
I honestly couldn't recommend this book to a reader unfamiliar with the Stephanie Plum series. "Ten Big Ones" just doesn't pack the laughs and zany action of the other books. However, the last few pages are great, vintage Stephanie Plum. I just wish the rest of the book was of the same caliber.
Rating:
Summary: Laughs Yes, Great story NO
Review: This was the most disappointing Stephanie Plum novel to date! There were laughs don't get me wrong there.
But the whole premise behind this book was all hype and the only things you really learn about Ranger only leave more questions and a feeling of loss at what we were given. Morelli has become a whiney character who berates Stephanie's job and who at every opportunity tries to get her to quit. YES WE KNOW THE JOB IS DANGEROUS, but please this has gotten very old very quickly! How many times does Steph have to move in and out with Morelli and how many times does he have to suggest marriage in order to change the subject of an argument? Lula, Grandma Mazur, Sally Sweet, Kloughn and the rest all made this book worth going through all the mess with Ranger/Morelli. They were funny and fresh. The bad guys this time are a gang and one main guy the Red Devil along with a hitman they hire to kill Stephanie, but it falls flat in the end and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The usually cliff hanging ending wasn't even here in this book. It was over and I was looking back to see if I'd read correctly. My finally complaint is the description cover of the book says the only place Steph has to turn to is Ranger. Well, he is barely even in the book he goes out of town and returns towards the end of the book. His scenes were brief and lacked the heat of previous books. This is the worst book of the series in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Evanovich at her best. -- and Ranger fans, look out!
Review: What most of us wouldn't be to be Stephanie Plum! Two gorgeous hunks--one a cop, Morelli, and the other a man of mystery, Ranger, who skirts the edge of the law. For years, many of us have been pantingly eager to get a deeper glimpse into the oh-so-interesting Ranger. This book gives you that, and leaves to dying to hear more. And for those who may think sexy scenes require two characters, look out. There's a shower scene with Stephanie to die for, which makes it clear just how much seduction is in the mind for women (and it's only Ranger's shower gel. If it had been him in person, one expects the pages might have spontaneously caught fire). For those of you who read the first chapters on Janet's website, be aware that the book is a great deal better than that may have led you to think. From the moment Lula pulls out her gun, misses, takes out a bicycle tire that belongs to a gang member busy robbing a convenience store, to Stephanie joining the gang's hit list and deciding the only safe place to stay in town is Ranger's -- as long as she do it without his knowledge (he's on a trip) -- to Lola's new bootie bomb method of capture, to Sally Sweet's conscription as a wedding planner for Stephanie's sister Valerie, to the kidnapping and failed torture (the girls are too squeamish) of a gang member, and the surprise finale (with an end I defy anyone to predict) this is a nonstop Plum adventure. Do not wait for this one at the public library. Patrons are going to want to reread it over and over again. Buy this book now! It's a keeper! And have fun reading. My only complaint is that these books don't come out fast enough -- I'm dying for more.
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