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To the Nines: A Stephanie Plum Novel

To the Nines: A Stephanie Plum Novel

List Price: $25.95
Your Price: $10.38
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Close, but no cigar
Review: This is a great series and this is a good book but, it's just not up to the standard I've come to expect from Evanovich. It was too short and under developed. Also, the ending was not very climactic. This felt like Visions of Sugar Plums part II. I would recommend it mainly because the characters are so funny they can carry a less than stellar story.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you are new to this series, start with ONE FOR THE MONEY
Review: Heroine: Average

"Bawdy, raucous, and outrageously sexy" don't even begin to do justice to this thriller series which reads like an episode of "Moonlighting" meets "Married to the Mob". Heroine Stephanie Plum is from the Burg, a close-knit neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey where the gals wear their skirts tighter and shorter than their spandex biker shorts, their make-up is louder than their booming car stereos, and their ultra-tall back-teased hair barely fits under the doorways at the mall.

Formerly a discount lingerie buyer, Italian-Hungarian Stephanie falls on hard times and, in a fit of desperation, approaches her sleazy cousin Vinnie about a job as a bond recovery agent at his bail bonding business. Murder, mayhem, and mishaps abound as Stephanie tries to get her "collars" and discovers the job is far more difficult when you're the only unarmed person in Jersey. (Stephanie actually owns a piece but prefers to leave it in the cookie jar in her kitchen.)

What worked for me:

As much as I enjoy the zany plots and wacky secondary characters, I think what keeps me coming back to the series the most is Steph's tangled love life. (It must be nice to have not one but two delicious hunks chasing after you!) Janet Evanovich honed her word craft skills while writing romantic fiction, so she certainly knows how to spin out the sexual tension between the superbly-drawn characters of Stephanie, Morelli, and Ranger. In fact, it takes several books of the series before there is any culmination of lust and love whatsoever. Talk about extended foreplay!

Some folks might not find the mysteries convoluted enough, but not being a Perry Mason myself I like the fact that I catch on to the clues before Steph. Makes me feel quite the sharp cookie. :^)

As far as size goes, Stephanie lays a few numbers on you weight-wise, but you get a sense that she's fudging them a bit. There are some characters who have a decidedly fat-phobic view on life but fortunately Lula is there to straighten them out. (Note she goes on a diet in book nine, but it all works out ok in the end.)

What didn't work for me:

Serial writing is a great gimmick. It's all about leaving the reader hanging by a thread waiting desperately for the next installation in the series. I was lucky, having jumped on the band wagon late I was able to zip through all of the books back-to-back. Now that I am all caught up, though, I too shall have to endure the agony of waiting to find out what will happen in the next book.

Overall:

Excellent writing, interesting plots, wildly colorful recurring characters* (see cast list below), and an infusion of humor make this series a great joy to read, with each book even better than the one before! Since the novels build on each other it's best to read them in order.

Warning: there is coarse language used in these books, and they must be read while eating pizza and/or doughnuts.

If you liked the "Stephanie Plum" mystery/thriller series, you might also like "Ain't Nobody's Bizness", "Plum Girl", "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "Fast Women", "Welcome to Temptation", "Faking It", "Switcheroo", "Lola Carlyle Reveals All", the Sam Jones series, the Odelia Grey mystery series, "Walking After Midnight" and "Looking for Laura".

*Joe Morelli: dedicated cop; known for having the best buns in the Burg. As the neighborhood wolf, he's had dozens of mothers saying rosaries for their daughters over the years, including Mrs. Plum when she learned that 8 year old Joe had lured 6 year old Stephanie into his father's garage to play "Choo-Choo".

Ranger: Ultra-fit, dark, mysterious former military man, now mercenary bounty hunter with questionable side-businesses. So gorgeous that women walk into walls when he flashes a smile. Once had to release Stephanie from a pair of handcuffs which held her chained in the all-together to her own shower stall.

Grandma Mazur: Stephanie's 70-odd year old grandmother, who doesn't look a day over 90. Likes to wear the same wild clothes as her granddaughter, especially to viewings at the local funeral parlors, which is the main social activity in the neighborhood. Recently learned the joys of sharp shooting when she shot a roasted chicken "in the gumpy".

Lula: full-figured former hooker with a heart of gold and knuckles of brass. Loves to ride shotgun with Steph to pick up skips, but pouts when she is told not to actually shoot anyone.

Mom and Dad Plum: Stephanie's parents. Dad is retired but drives a cab just to get away from Grandma Mazur and his wife. Mom is the ultimate hausfrau who lures food-loving Stephanie to the house with wonderful home-cooked meals then subjects her to hours of nagging, which gives Steph an unfortunate twitch in her left eye.

Joyce Barnhardt: our heroine's nemesis who was once caught using Steph's now ex-hubby's backside to polish to the dining room table. Joyce "persuades" Vinnie in a similar manner to hire her on as a skip tracer, much to Steph's everlasting exasperation.

Big Blue: An ancient powder blue Buick with windows like portholes. Steph hates this car because it's old, ugly, and turns on a buck-and-a-half. It sticks out like a sore thumb on stake-outs and is likewise useless for tailing people, but on the plus-side it's the only car to-date that Steph's managed not to blow up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thank you Janet.
Review: Janet Evanovich is right on track with To The Nines. Received the book yesterday and finished it already. I was laughing out loud through the whole book. I like that the book focused more on Stephanie's personal life than her job, it was a nice change. Joe and Ranger are as hot as ever, thank you Janet. Looking foward to the next one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stephanie does it again!
Review: I've been waiting for this book for forever, and it wasn't disappointing! At the start of the book, an Indian immigrant, Samuel Singh, disappears right before his visa bond expires, and Vinnie sends Stephanie and Ranger to capture him. Stephanie, along with Lula, who is on an all-meat diet, begins to suspect something is wrong when everyone she wants to question about Singh dies or disappears. She begins to investigate TriBro, a company that makes parts for slot machines, and is where Singh worked. She gets a tip that Singh is in Vegas, so she heads out to Sin City with Connie and Lula, all the while trying to avoid a stalker who sends her a red rose and a white carnation, and is trying to kill her. When she gets back to Trenton, Singh's laptop is analyzed, and the police discover someone is playing a "killing game." The Webmaster, the person behind the game, sets up situations that plot people against each other, the winner being the last person left alive. He is stalking Stephanie, and when he captures her, she is going to be the prize for the winner. Ranger assigns her multiple bodyguards to make sure no one hurts her, but when you've got a life like Stephanie's, anything can happen!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great!!
Review: I thought this was a great book it had all the things you want and look for in a Stephanie Plum book. It was a little slow in some parts which is why it got a 4 but other than that it was great if u loved 1-8 you'll love this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Evanovich does it again
Review: In this book, Stephanie Plum takes on Trenton, again. As usual, killers are after her and Joe and Ranger are guarding her body. People getting killed in front of her, Ranger hitting on her, darts shooting her in the butt, Elvis impersonators, Lula on a diet, Valerie pregnant, and Joe sneaking around with Terry Gillman are all part of this nonstop book. It is fun, funny, and nonstop adventure. Evanovich is one of the few authors who can make me laugh out loud, and in this book she did it again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: To the Nines Does Not Disappoint
Review: Usually authors of series books tend to get tired sounding after around the 5th book, but Evanovich has pulled off a great 9th book in this Plum series!

The Plum series continues with Stephanie pulled between Morelli and Ranger, both of whom are crazy about her, not to mention continually worried about her! Lula is back and on a diet - an all you can eat diet! All the regular gang is back and as fun and funny as ever.

Truly the Plum series is the hands-down BEST series I've read in the comedy department. If you want to laugh and enjoy page after page, these books are a must-read! You will not be disappointed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They just keep getting better and funnier!!
Review: Stephanie Plum is back with a story line that could only be done by Janet Evanovich. With a combination of Elivs impersonators figthing a Tom Jones impersonator (who gets smacked in the face by Lula's thong) in Las Vegas, Lula trying to go on a diet,and of course the constant flipping between Ranger and Morelli (I am stopping there...don't want to give you too much info) you just can't help but laugh out loud. Janet has created a series that is so unique that you just can't find it in any other book around and you just can't help but jump up and down once a new Stephanie Plum book comes out. To The Nines is a showing of a author that is at the top of the list and is an excellent edition to an already wonderful series. This book is at the top of my all time favorites and I highly recommend to everyone!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Janet Evanovich is back in form!!!!
Review: Stephanie Plum is back and better then ever in this ninth installment of the Series. I have to say I was very pleasently surprised with how great this book was considering how Miss Janet had started to go downhill after book six. But she still has some tricks up her sleeve. Read this book. It goes from sexy to laugh out loud funny to terror in three pages. Welcome back Stephanie Plum your better than ever.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Better than Sugarplums but still felt rushed
Review: I have read and, for the most part, enjoyed all 9 books of the Plum series. I tend to leave out the horror that was Sugarplums simply because I'd like to forget I ever read it. While To the Nines is a vast improvement over that, it still seems to have left me let down. Yes the characters are as wonderful as ever and the dialogue as interesting as ever, but the plot felt rushed. It may be just me but I don't feel that anything was thoroughly explored. The mystery is simple, the plot somewhat contrived, and I don't know, it just felt forced to me. I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy it because of course I did; but if you read this book and then pick up any of the other first 8 books you'll see what I see, something's missing.


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