Rating: Summary: Fun, but not the best of the series Review: Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series is one of my favorites series. Book Nine is fun and sassy, but I wouldn't rate it as the best of the series. Still, I wouldn't have missed it. A fun, fast read.
Rating: Summary: Disappointed Review: I am a very big fan of the Stephanie Plum novels. "To the Nines" was very disappointing. It was not funny and exciting as her books in the past have been. In fact, there were parts that were very boring, and I had the feeling that I was missing something. I kept reading and waiting for the real "Stephanie" to kick in. Everyone can hardly wait for the next Plum novel, and I think that this book was not given a whole lot of time and thought. I hope the next one is better. I have turned all of my friends and family onto reading these Janet Evanovich novels, and all of them have told me this same thing. I wanted to make sure it was just not me.
Rating: Summary: Not her best, but still addictive Review: Jersey Girl Stephanie Plum is back and she's looking for a missing Indian man named Samuel Singh. Stephanie works for her bailbondsman cousin Vinnie. "Vinnie sat on a rotting branch of my family tree." He's a pervert, a con man and a paranoid grouch. He's like Louie De Palma on TV's Taxi. Vinnie wrote the bond ensuring that Singh would leave the country when his work visa expired. Now that Singh's missing (along with Boo the Cockapoo), Vinnie's in a tailspin and assigns Stephanie to work with the sexy and mysterious Ranger to find Singh. Ranger, once Special Forces, is Vinnie's top gun. "He has a lot of muscle and a skill level somewhere between Batman and Rambo." Although Stephanie is in a somewhat comfortable relationship with Trenton's hunk-cop Joe Morelli, there's a history with Ranger that makes both Stephanie and Morelli a little edgy. "Ranger sometimes works a tad too far left of the law."Singh was working at TriBro Tech in quality control. A real computer geek. So, after someone breaks into Steph's apartment and leaves flowers and a threat, she shacks up with Morelli and Bob the dog. Some guy gets shot just inches from Steph, she gets shot with a tranquilizer dart and is getting threatening e-mails. Just part of the job. Following a lead on Singh, Steph, Lula and Connie head to Las Vegas where they encounter a convention of 1,400 Elvis impersonators and a show featuring a Tom Jones impersonator. Who knew the 2 groups didn't get along? There's also a Cher impersonator (with a beard and mustache). Needless to say, there was an incident. "Lula's a plus-size black woman in a size-seven white world." For readers who know Lula, picture her . . . now picture her on a diet. Connie, the office manager, is "a small, Italian version of Mae West." Imagine this trio in Vegas. Also, Steph's sister Valerie is 9 months pregnant and living with their parents, her 2 daughters and Grandma Mazur. It's getting pretty crowded. There's been 3 murders and don't forget Morelli's Grandma Belle and her scary visions and evil eye. I didn't laugh aloud as much as usual, but still enjoyed this 9th book in the Stephanie Plum series. After reading all the others, I'm just totally addicted to the characters.
Rating: Summary: More Lula Than Ever! Review: Only Stephanie Plum can cause me to laugh out loud-in public-while reading. And it happened again with "To the Nines," a typical Plum adventure that's heavy on Lula (yes, a pun) but a tad too light on Grandma Mazur. No problem, though...there's plenty here to satisfy all Plum fans, as Stephanie and crew try to track down a missing foreign student whose expired Visa had been underwritten by none other than Vinnie's bail bond outfit. Now Vinnie's in real trouble, and even romance with a duck won't cheer him up. Can Stephanie find the culprit in time? Will Lula's diet (yes, a diet!) of meat products cause the desired effect? Will Stephanie's hugely pregnant sister Valerie stop shoveling down the food in time to give birth? And what of her swain, the eager-to-please Albert Klough (pronounced "Clown," as we know from a previous book)? And then, of course, there's the ultra sexy gorgeous Morelli...whose grandmother with the evil eye is really scary in this book...and the equally sexy Ranger, leaving Stephanie as usual in a perpetual state of unrest. I won't reveal any more plot except to say that Stephanie's Jersey Girl hair undergoes a terrible transformation. I can say no more! Definitely a great addition to the series. Read it, or suffer the Morelli curse!
Rating: Summary: Surprised in this series Review: I was surprised to say the least in this 9th installment of the Plum series. I have read the 8 previous ones back to back and stayed spellbound. But this one did not capture my attention without much effort. I was sadly dissapointed that the reviews and description sets the scene in Las Vegas. I don't recall much action going on in the book about Vegas. They arrived and they left. No thrills. It was enjoyable reading about Stephanies sister and the delivery of her baby. Finally! Grandma didn't pull any hijinks at the funeral parlor which was dissapointing. Nothing really mentioned about her at all. It seems the writer may have been pushed by the publisher to crank out another book ASAP as so many veteran writers are forced to do and the readers end up dis-satisfyed with the outcome. However, I will not abandon this series and look forward to more to come.
Rating: Summary: Pure Junk Food Review: This is a "situation comedy cop show", but it's a good one. Bounty Hunter Stephanie Plum must deal with more crises than a soap opera, between the opening scene where she tries to catch a vaseline covered naked bounty jumper, only to be interrupted by a more pressing family crisis and the closing where it looks like the next book may turn into "Ten Little Plums", between Stephanie's sister's family claim jumping her apartment while she considers the fact that her lover says it might be nice if she was pregnant. The story in between those though, the main story of the book, was far too predictable. I had figured out who the bad guy was almost immediately upon "meeting him" and couldn't see why it wasn't obvious to Stephanie, even giving her excuses for the stress she was under with family, lover and bounty hunter pressures. I'm also getting tired of a ex-hooker, fat chick Lulu being the comic relief. Why not allow her to show some intelligence and stop the fat jokes? Overall, I read the book and enjoyed it, like I enjoy an occasional trip to McDonald's. But it's certainly not enough to live on.
Rating: Summary: To The Nines Review: This could well be called "Stephanie and Friends Do Vegas" the humor seems more forced in this book and most of it is focused on Lulu the reformed whore. Stephanie still...can not make up her mind with whom she is in love and her skills as a bounty hunter seem to be getting worse not better. The earlier books were more fun to read and not so "raunchy". Die hard fans will enjoy this, but the uniqueness of an imept bounty hunter is beginning to wear thin.
Rating: Summary: Very disappointed Review: I can't believe I waited a year for this book with such great anticipation. I hope the author is not getting in the mode of "mass marketing", publishing anything just to get it out there knowing the character will "sell itself". Sure, it was funny in parts, Lula carried this book. No substance, a huge disappointment.
Rating: Summary: Laugh out loud funny... Review: This series is one of my favorites ever! I was laughing within five minutes of starting this book. Reading a new Stephanie Plum book is like visiting with old friends, I didn't want it to end. I thought this was a great addition to the series. I highly recommend it.
Rating: Summary: Really 2+ Review: I have read and loved all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I was eagerly looking forward to reading her latest. I made sure I alloted the time so I could read it in one day. For some reason, the book could not hold my interest. I had to force myself to get thru each page. There wasn't enough of Grandma, Ranger and Morelli seemed like popup characters, now Joe is here, now he's gone, now it's Ranger, now it's not. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I didn't experience the "can't put it down" feeling. And didn't find myself laughing as much if at all like I have with the earlier books. I'm still going to read her books, but I don't think I will be spending the money on hardbacks. I'll just wait for the paperback version or get it from the library.
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