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Summary: New Addiction!
Review: This book began my recent and VERY REAL addiction for Janet Evanovich's series. They read so fast, and I find myself literally putting the books down so I can laugh out loud and catch my breath. Her writing is just wonderful, and the relationship between Stephanie and Joe is brilliantly written. In fact, I can't wait until tomorrow to get the next book to see if they hook up again. Go out and get all the books in the series--I guarantee you won't be a bit disappointed! However, just as I will be after reading number six, you'll be disappointed because you'll have to wait for number 7 to come out.
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Summary: A great new character
Review: I enjoyed this novel. Well written, very funny. One word of warning for the "thin skin" crowd. There is a bit of obsenity in the book. While it is all in character, I could see some folks taking offense. I think what I like best about Stephenie Plum is that is a klutz and knows it. A great read.
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Summary: Evanovich Shows Us The "Money"
Review: Out of curiousity and their bestseller status, I thought I would give Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series a try. Detective novels have never been my favorite genre, but the concept of an unemployed lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter seemed to hard to resist. As a transplanted New Jerseyan, it was also a treat to revisit some of the true characters that populate my former home state (stereotypes perhaps, but they get to be them for the reason). And Evanovich has created quite a cast of characters -- from our spunky heroine Stephanie to Joe Morelli (an troubled cop in a playful love-hate relationship w/ Stephanie) to Ranger (a mysterious fellow bounty hounter who often rides to Stephanie's rescue) and Stephanie's unintentionally hilarious family headed by scrappy Grandma Mazur. Needless to say Evanovich had me hooked and I quickly purchased "Two For The Dough."
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Summary: Funny and offbeat
Review: _One for the Money_ is the first book in the Stephanie Plum series. It is a light-hearted and hilarious mystery about Stephanie Plum, who becomes a rather inept bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie(no grand specimen of humanity). Her first job is to bring in Joe Morelli, cop and murder suspect with whom she happens to have a romantic(or unromantic, depending on how you think of it) history. All the supporting characters are funny, Stephanie herself is a hoot("hoot" is just the kind of word that comes to mind when you think of her), the mystery is satisfying, and there's a touch of rather antagonistic, comedic romance.
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Summary: Appalling violence, depressing sexism
Review: I want to add my voice to the minority here who were also shocked by the violence against women in this book, for which I was very unprepared. I started reading it after a couple of people told me how funny the series is. This book goes into my personal hall of fame as one of the few I have chosen not to finish.Any redeeming features of this book, including its so-called "humor", are entirely mitigated by the full-scale "battle of the sexes" that is so degrading for both the male and female characters. This sexism is present more blatantly in the plot action (encounters with a sexual sadist) and more subtly in the way it infuses the whole narrative. For example, it seems we are supposed to get laughs out of a woman being involuntarily handcuffed naked to a shower rail and being ogled at, and by what happens when young women are too inexperienced to negotiate what they want from their first sexual encounters, and by men and women settling their differences through violence (driving into someone and breaking their leg). It kinda adds to my disappointment that the author is a woman. Oh well...
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Summary: I laughed so hard, I almost fell out of bed!
Review: This is a great book, great plot, great characters. I couldn't help laughing out loud. I love Stephanie Plum! Who of us hasn't wanted to run over a former beau with a car. An absolute must read, if you have a sense of humor (unlike some reviewers). No it is not great literature, but who needs that ALL the time. I am only on the fourth in her series, but I wish Ms. Evanovich could crank out one a month. Get this book!
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Summary: Guilty pleasure: I enjoyed this book, knowing I shouldn't!
Review: This was the first time I'd read a book by Evanovich, who is known more for being a romance writer who has now turned to mysteries. It shows. The romance is wonderful, and the book is hilariously funny, but the plotting of the mystery is good but not excellent. But somehow or other, that really doesn't matter very much. I liked the book more because it is laugh out loud funny; because most of the characters (except, of course, the villains) are very likeable; because it has a strong woman lead character (you really couldn't call her a detective!) that I could identify with; and because I couldn't wait to get back to it when I had to stop and do something else. But great literature it isn't -- this is not Elizabeth George, for example. But it's a wonderful rainy-day book, and will cheer you up. The plot involves an out-of-work and desperate young woman in Trenton, New Jersey, who goes to her cousin, a bail bondsmen, for work -- she's heard he needs someone to do some filing. She ends up trying her hand at fugitive recovery (that is, being a bounty hunter), because she is desperate. She needs to get her hands on the $10,000 she can earn by apprehending a fugitive vice cop who has been accused of murder and jumped bail. She really isn't very good at being a bounty hunter (she's afraid to fire a gun), and that's where the comedy comes in, but she has courage and determination. Needless to say, the fugitive cop is attractive and single, and there's a good chance he's not a murderer. But unless the truth can be discovered, he could end up going to prison. You can imagine the rest... Anyone who likes mysteries with humor and/or romance will love this book. I intend to continue reading the series to see what happens to this fledgling bounty hunter.
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Summary: I laughed, I cried, I nearly died
Review: I started reading this fast-paced novel on the train going home from work and missed my stop because I was so engrossed. It was a long walk home. In this book we are introduced to one of life's losers: Trenton resident Stephanie Plum, queen of angst. Desperate for a job, she becomes a bounty hunter. Not just any bounty hunter. The worst in the business. Stephanie Plum is one of modern crime fiction's truely great characters. Janet Evanovich's deadpan humour is drop dead brilliant. There's six books in this series, but do start from the beginning. There are many wonderful characters to be introduced, with their own stories to tell, including sometime stud and cop Joe Morelli, efficient bounty hunter Ranger and Stephanie's grandmother, to name a few.
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Summary: If you have nothing better to do read this book
Review: I got this book as a birthday present. I like reading spy novels. So, the crime novel came as something I was willing to try. Well, if you like easy read, this is a book for you. I was clearly disappointed. The main character, who normally reads only "funnies" form the daily paper, uses unexpectedly word such as inconspicuous, while at the same time using word curiouser?! Also, what annoyed me is that her best friend, the cop and friend married to her cousin, has "eastern Slavic" features, like there are "western Slavic" features, only we did not know about them? Anyone who likes loud mouth New Jersey girls with no style, or manners would truly enjoy this piece of trash. I cannot even imagine donating this book to anyone. It would be too embarrasing to even admit that I had it in my possesion at one time or another.
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Summary: Wow!
Review: It's like, fabulous. Stephanie Plum is entirely believable. I can relate to a woman who creates chaos where ever she goes. *Mental eye roll.* This is a fresh character in a fresh situation with some true zanieness thrown in. I enjoyed nearly every word (and the especially fine men -- *oh boy*).
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