Rating:  Summary: It's a tough job, but someone has to do it . . . Review: As always, _Three To Get Deadly_ finds rookie bounty hunter Stephanie Plum in too deep and sinking fast. Once again, this books starts only a few months after the previous in the series, and Stepanie's still learning the ropes.
This time around it's Stephanie's job to bring in Moses Bedemier, the closest thing to God-on-Earth in the 'burg. "Uncle Mo", as everyone calls him, has been running the local candy shop for years and he's managed to make nearly everyone in town love him to bits. No one's able to believe that Mo would do anything even remotely against the law. But, as much as everyone loves him, no one knows a thing about him. There's not a single person who knows anything about his personal life. And, as is usually the case, appearances are deceiving, and Stephanie finds herself in the middle of a string of unexplained murders.
As with all the books in the series, the characters are what really make the story fantastic. Ms. Evanovich has a knack for making each and every character come to life in vivid detail. By the time you read this book you'll feel like you're visiting old friends.
Be prepared to laugh throughout the entire book as Stephanie finds herself in over her head more than once.
Rating:  Summary: Keeps getting better and better . . . Review: Evanovich is getting better and better at this series. Stephanie Plum, semi-reluctant bounty hunter for five months now for her bail bondsmen cousin, Vinnie, is still trying hard, still learning her trade, still relying on others as necessary. If she didn't live in Trenton's blue-collar "burg," surrounded by supportive family, old school friends, and her ever-reliable gossip network, she probably would never make it. But she can always call on Ranger, a truly bad-ass bounty hunter and her sometime mentor. And she can always go home for meals when the checks are slow in coming. And especially, she can always depend on vice cop Morelli to show up with pizza, park outside her apartment building watching for the bad guys, and keep her lust stoked. This time, the quarry is the burg's beloved "Uncle Mo" Bedemier, proprietor of the candy store, who has always opposed drugs and bad influences generally and whose store has long been a safe haven for kids. Uncle Mo got tapped by a rookie for carrying concealed and not only has he blown off his court date (which makes him scum as far as Vinnie is concerned, regardless of how the rest of the community feels about him), he's completely disappeared. More than that, drug dealers begin disappearing, too, including several that Stephanie and her wannabe sidekick, Lula, literally stumble over themselves. As with the first two books, there are plenty of very funny, very cinematic scenes here -- especially the great chicken takedown.
Rating:  Summary: LACKING BELIEVABILITY Review: I am currently reading Hot Six, and while I am enjoying that, as well as the other four, I have to say that Three to Get Deadly just didn't do it for me. The plot was completely unrealistic, predictable, and just not up to the calibar Janet Evanovich usually writes at. It had some laugh out loud portions, but overall not her best work.
Rating:  Summary: This series keeps getting better! Review: I love this series! Evanovich continues to develop Stephanie Plum's character. I can't wait to read the others!
Rating:  Summary: Formulaic Review: I took "Three" and "Four" on a cruise expecting two treats. Instead what I got from this one was pure boredom. Perhaps it is inevitable that a series becomes a matter of filling in the blanks. In this case, what started out with a bang has become a predictable succession of events. Sure, many of these are humorous but we all know by now that Stephanie will endure her parents, Grandma will act strange, Joe will flirt and Lula will holler. The series needs a little "oomph" to keep going. The story was also not one of the best.
Rating:  Summary: Formulaic Review: I took "Three" and "Four" on a cruise expecting two treats. Instead what I got from this one was pure boredom. Perhaps it is inevitable that a series becomes a matter of filling in the blanks. In this case, what started out with a bang has become a predictable succession of events. Sure, many of these are humorous but we all know by now that Stephanie will endure her parents, Grandma will act strange, Joe will flirt and Lula will holler. The series needs a little "oomph" to keep going. The story was also not one of the best.
Rating:  Summary: Another HIT Review: I'm now three books into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I've yet to be bored - even a little bit - and that's worth a five-star rating by itself. I get bored easily.By now, klutzy Stephanie is settled into her career as a bounty hunter employed by her sleaze-ball cousin Vinnie, a bail bondsman in beautiful Trenton, NJ, a job she took in desperation after being fired from her previous gig as a lingerie buyer. Her latest quarry is the affectionately-named Uncle Mo, the elderly, unmarried owner of the neighborhood ice cream and candy emporium, who skipped bail after being charged for carrying a concealed weapon - everyone in Trenton carries, it seems - by an overzealous cop on a traffic stop. In trying to track Mo down, Plum discovers that little is known about him by neighbors and relatives. But, Stephanie is considered Pond Scum by all for hounding a man akin to the Pope and Santa Claus all rolled into one. Then, local drug dealers start disappearing. And what's that putrid smell coming from the basement of Mo's store? As Stephanie delicately puts it, "Is it dookey?" For me, the series hasn't become stale because Evanovich either brings to the forefront a tangential character from a previous novel, or inserts a brand new one into the plot. In THREE TO GET DEADLY, Lula, a reformed ho beaten and left for dead on Stephanie's fire escape month's before, now does filing for Vinnie and insists on "assisting" Plum on her takedowns. And we're initially introduced to Stephanie's former first husband, the shyster lawyer Dickie Orr. In the meantime, the sexual tension remains high between Stephanie and Joe Morelli, the exasperating Trenton plain-clothes cop whom the teenaged former once ran down with the family Buick after the teenaged latter despoiled Stephanie's maidenhood on the floor behind the eclair case of the local donut shop where she was working at the time. The images conjured by Janet's prose are hilarious, as when Stephanie and her pet hamster Rex are beset by two thugs in her apartment and shots are fired. Her elderly neighbors pour forth to lend help with enough armament to have rescued Custer. Or when Stephanie struggles to apprehend a fugitive costumed as a chicken in a fast food joint. I normally like to vary my reading, but I'm immediately jumping to Plum's next escapade, FOUR TO SCORE. Albeit frivolous, this is good stuff.
Rating:  Summary: The Candy Man Review: Stephanie Plum is back. Working for her cousin Vinnie as a bounty hunter, she goes out on what should be a routine case and discovers it is anything but routine. As bodies pile up, her life is threatened, her hamster is threatened, and her ex-husband is threatened (which is not a bad thing in Stephanie's opinion). She has help along the way from Ranger and Lula, as the case winds to a conclusion.
Uncle Mo seems to be a harmless older man who has been selling ice cream and candy in a small store. Stephanie grew up buying ice cream from Mo, and feels bad about needing to bring him in.
People in the neighborhood think she's a pariah for going after Uncle Mo. But everything is not as it seems. Mo has disappeared, and the search turns up a secret life, not to mention his connection with the murders of drug dealers.
There are a few sidelights, like Ranger trying to get Stephanie into better physical shape; Stephanie's continued problem with vehicles; an occasional appearance of family members; and Stephanie's relationship with Morelli.
Rating:  Summary: I'd rate it lower if I could Review: Stephanie's newest job is to find the elusive Mo, patron Saint of the Burg (at least that's what everyone she asks about him tells her). She becomes the hated by family and friends because Vinnie gives her the Uncle Mo hunt! Steph's usual lineup is in for the ride with her including ex-hooker turned file clerk Lula and Lula's friend/hooker Jackie. The scene in the parking lot with the three of them is enough to have you laughing out loud. Add in Ranger and Joe and you're in for a wild ride. She's got people threatening her for looking for Uncle Mo and is fed up with hearing how great he is and add in a Fast food skip that keeps giving her the slip and you just get started. You'll never see those Fast food characters the same way again. Add in a horrifying day at the beauty shop and Stephanie is ready to go on a rampage of her own. This volume is funnier and you can't wait for what happens around each corner. As always Janet Evanovich brings us a Stephanie Plum book that keeps you glued in for the duration of the book and waiting to find out what happens in the next volume and the next. She's got the gift of keeping us captivated by Stephanie and the gang. Now, it's just a matter of waiting for each new book for our next Stephanie Plum adventure and well worth it!
Rating:  Summary: Nineteen Bad Hair Days...And Counting Review: The hilarious family-tied bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum is back is the third book in Janet Evanovich's series. In this one, Stephanie finally makes some progress. Stephanie Plum, the lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter, is after "Uncle Mo," the local candy store operator, known by everybody in the neighborhood as the man with the biggest heart. Uncle Mo skips his court appearance for carrying a concealed weapon, and Stephanie, against her better wishes, goes after him to get him to "reschedule." Mo is nowhere to be found, and the body count of the local drug dealers around his store continues to rise. Stephanie gets no help from the locals, seeing as how they all think he deserves a medal. Throw in her off-and-on flirtations with Joe Morelli, her seemingly wacky impulse shopping sprees and mounting car woes, and you have one entertaining mystery novel. Stephanie is at her finest in this book, despite her hair troubles, and lack of a sex life. But that's what makes her New Jersey's most unconventional bounty hunter. Lula, the prostitute turned file clerk, has a much greater voice in this novel, and she truly adds color to the story with her witty dialogue. Police officer Joe Morelli and fellow skip trcaer Ranger are back again to add some professionalism to Stephanie's life, and of course, what would this book truly be without her clan of family in the background. Dinner time just wouldn't be the same. The book flows at a blistering pace, and Evanovich's cogent writing style is peppered with just the right amount of humor. The plot has its fair share of twists and turns, and the storyline maintains its interest throughout. The suspense is outstanding. It is hard not to enjoy this book.
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