Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunately, I Got It!!
Review: Most of the Stephanie Plum novels I have enjoyed, and I guess I did enjoy this one. Very repetitive from the other 8. But the worst factor for me was......... I had the stalker figured out 1/2 way through the book! I want to be surprised....amazed....
I want to gasp at the outcome..... Not so here, Janet I hope you haven't lost your touch.
Rating: 
Summary: I LAUGHED TIL I CRIED!
Review: Ok, War and Peace, its not. What it is IS a Good Grab-you-and-not-let-go Fun Read with the same whacky cast of characters. If you've enjoyed previous Stephanie Plum novels, you'll enjoy this one, despite what some 'take it all much too seriously' reviewers have said! Ms. Evanovich has her finger on the pulse of her readership; she keeps giving her readers what they like to read. I can't wait for #10.
Rating:
Summary: Still a good belly laugh but too much repitition
Review: I enjoy the good laughs I received from this novel but it simply rehashes too much of the info from the other novels. There was great potential for delving more into Joe's family or Stephanie & Joe's relationship however it never happens.I admit that I see a good deal of potential for the next novel and I hope that book 10 will develop Stephanie's love life more and give us more meat regarding the residents of the Burg.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephanie never changes
Review: If you've read the first few Stephanie Plum novels you need read none of the rest. Janet Evanovich needs to let her character learn from her mistakes and grow! I was excited when I found the "Plum" novels and read through them very quickly. They were great. Both funny and fun to read. By number six I was getting worried. Enough wrecked cars. Enough fear of guns. I waited quite a while before picking up To the Nines and doubt that I will bother to read #10. Sorry, Janet. Grow up Stephanie.
Rating:
Summary: Audio version - BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: The latest installment of the Stephanie Plum mysteries is a bit repetitive of past material, and the villian predictable. I am tiring a bit of Stephanie's routine, low-risk FTAs turning into serial killers. Does she always have to be stalked by crazies? Books 8 and 9 required Steph to be rescued by her men. I would like to see HER rescue them in book 10. HOWEVER, the action is fast-paced, the chuckles are considerable, the romance continues, and those of us who are hooked on this series, and who live for the next installment, will NOT be disappointed. I would rate the book 4 stars. BUT, the audio version is terribly disappointing. In fact, it is just plain awful. The casting of Lorelei King as the narrator is completely inappropriate. I have the first three books on audio, and routinely listen to them when driving on business trips. They are great. They are narrated by Lauri Petty. She has the perfect Jersey girl accent to give the reading the right tone, inflection and flavor. She not only brings Stephanie alive, but puts the perfect spin on Lula, Granma Mazur, Vinnie and even Joe. Lorelei King, the narrator of book 9 is obviously a classically trained actor. She has been on Masterpiece Theater. Almost enough said! Her crisp, educated, upper-class, perfect diction is laughable in the context of speaking about hairy New Jersey butts. Her rendition of Grandma Mazur and Ranger are just plain awful. She slipped in and out of the Indian accent she attempted for the Apusenjas - sometimes sounding Indian, Russian and - I swear - even Scottish. I listened to the first tape and couldn't take anymore, no matter how much I enjoyed the book. It was like chalk on a blackboard. The tapes are going into the Salvation Army box. To listen to them further would ruin the book for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Still funny, but getting tiring
Review: I enjoy her writing because I find her novels to be very funny. However, I'm really getting tired of the same old thing. Same characters with the same issues. How long does a running joke have to last? How many ways can you crack on Vinnie's sexual 'preferences'? How many ways can you blow up a car? How many times do you have to be in danger before you take the gun out of the cookie jar? The formula is good, but it's getting old.
Rating: 
Summary: The Laughter is Back
Review: I read the Stephanie Plum novels because I like to laugh out loud. After the dissapointment of Hard Eight and Visions of Sugar Plums (Did I laugh out loud during either? I can't remember.) I was relieved to find the laughter back in To The Nines. These books are such fast reads, one good belly laugh is worth the price of admission, so this book is worth the read if only for the scene in which Lula gets to see Tom Jones perform in Vegas. (I'm not going to give it away.) Also some chuckles from the fact that Stephanie has switched from putting one car after another in the shop (or the junkyard) to putting one bodyguard after another in the hospital. Evanovich still hasn't worked up a villian who inspires the sense of suspense and terror I got from One for The Money, but she is getting closer. Might have been more suspenseful had it not been quite so obvious very early in the book who the "secret" villain really was. Oh yeah- and she gets laid. Am I the only one who gets irritated when she goes two and three books at a time with Morelli and Ranger around, and somehow never gets any save a proximity buzz?
Rating:
Summary: I love it!
Review: I like to read reviews on any novels that I consider purchasing before I buy them, and I saw that 'To the Nines' had definite mixed reviews. Some people thought it was funny, some didn't. Some people thought it lacked a little of Stephanie's character, some thought this novel was the best one yet. One part of me wanted to buy the novel, the other didn't want me to spend so much money on a hardcover. But, in the end, the huge admiration for the series in me told me to buy the book, expensive or not. I turned to the first page, and two hours later, I finished reading the novel with a smile on my face and a pain in my stomach from laughing so hard. This novel, in my opinion, is full of hilarity, as were the previous eight...or seven (depending on what you thought of them). We see more of Lula but less of Grandma Mazur. Sure, Grandma Mazur was one of the many reasons why I love this series, but even without her in the majority of the book, Janet Evanovich managed to make me laugh. The scene with Valerie at the hospital is hilarious, as is the airplane scene with Lula. Agh, I can't believe I have to wait another year until the next novel comes out! I really hope the next one is as good as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ranger?s Help needs Help!!
Review: Samuel Singh is in the USA on a work bond that Vinnie put the money up for. Signh is now missing and its up to Stephan Plum our favorite bounty hunter to find him. There are a ton of suspicious people. Singh's fiance, his bosses, the folks he works with the list goes on. Stephan has also moved in the Joe Morrelli again. Not only is someone stalking her, but the winner of a killing game gets permission to hunt her. Stephanies day can't get any better, or should is say worse. Ranger details several of his hired hands to back up Stephanie when he and Morrelli aren't around. But it's Ranger's hired hands who need a trip to the hospital after hanging with Stephanie! Lula and Albert Kloughn are hostages. This isn't the funniest of the nine books. But its certainly not the worse. I found this to be a great read, a bucket of chuckles and definitely worth the reading time!
Rating:
Summary: I laughed a lot, but one thing was missing for me
Review: Even though neither of my sisters is perfect, either, I could enjoy the mess former "perfect daughter" Valerie's life has become. I feel sorry for Stephanie's parents (must admit her mother bakes a mean bribe). I like Morelli and his family, so I didn't have a problem with having plenty of him in this book. Joe & Stephanie's dog, Bob, saw more action than Rex the hamster, but I doubt that Rex minded. The trip to Vegas with Lula and Connie was the highlight of the book. I can hardly wait to see how Ranger is going to pay Stephanie back for a trick she pulls on him. Ranger's Merry Men probably wish that she'd gotten cars blown up as usual. For me the only flaws in this entry are that the killer was much too easy to figure out and the lack of car destruction meant no Big Blue. Bob and Boo, the other dog, while fun, were not adequate substitutes.
|
