Four To Score

Rating:
Summary: Another fun novel from Janet Evanovich
Review: FOUR TO SCORE by Janet Evanovich

Here's the fourth book in the popular Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, FOUR TO SCORE. In this installment, Stephanie teams up with Lula the ex-hooker (who now works for her uncle Vinnie) and a transvestite musician named Sally Sweet to find her latest criminal-on-the-run. This time it's Maxine Nowicki they are looking for, who was charged for stealing her boyfriend's car. However, there is more to this crime than meet's the eye.

In the meantime, Stephanie and Joe Morelli get closer (she moves in with him temporarily) and her ex-husband's indiscretion -- Joyce Barnhardt -- decides to become a bounty hunter too, to Stephanie's irritation. Grandma Mazur also makes an appearance, but is not as big a participant in this one as she was in some of the previous novels.

I found this fourth book in the series just as funny as the others. The character of Sally Sweet I found irresistible. I find that as I read each new book in this series, her stories are becoming more and more "solid". Practice makes perfect, they say. Anyway, this book I give 4 stars, and am looking forward to reading the next one, HIGH FIVE.

Rating:
Summary: Make sure you've got your depends on:)
Review: This was one of the first Janet Evanovich books I got my hands on. I soon bought them all in book and unabrided (recorded books.com) audio form. I began Four to Score at work on audio unabridged from (Recordedbooks.com) narrated by C. J. Critt. Let me start by a review of her performance it was fabulous. She does fantastic variations in each voice to distinguish each character clearly. She has excellent timing so people thought I was absolutely insane because I was laughing so hard I was crying with this book. The book has those spit take moments where you better not be drinking or eating anything while you are reading or listening to it because it will be all over you or your computer/dash/etc.
I am a member of the Janet message board where fans talk about the books. I mention it because this one I have read so many complaints about, it drives me nuts. This book does have a lot of cussing in it, so if you are sensitive to that beware, but so what it is hilarious. This book will require you to wear DEPENDS to get through it. From the horrible Eddie and the various scavenger hunts Stephanie has to go through with him in order to earn her finders fee for searching for his ex-girlfriend/the skip (she is looking for anyway), to her meeting up with Cross-dressing Sally Sweet(the genius puzzle decoder). I absolutely love this book. Janet manages to have every funny experience Stephanie could possibly go through with her gang of Lula, Grandma Mazur, Sally and still add in Joe and Ranger. There are moments of emotion that you can feel Stephanie go through without being too much to take away from the humor or story. You add in Eddie (the pervert/jerk), Sugar (the pyro), Joyce Barnhardt(Stephanie's enemy that Vinnie has just hired to do skip tracing) and you begin feeling sorry for the skip Maxine. Then you add in Eddie's weird relatives, Joyce Barnhardt finding a naked man (as if anyone else would find him) and a the best wet your pants scenes I have read in quite a while. The dancing napkin, tattooed man, and big bag of doodie are just a few. If you haven't tried Janet's books and aren't prepared to do the whole series try this one. It gives you some of the back story as well as a stand alone hilarious tale of a woman trying to make a living in a job that everyone says she's wrong for, but she just happens to fall into bit of luck and every pitfall possible with great humor. I love the Stephanie Plum series and it's the first book series I recommend to my friends and family for a good fun read. Fans of the series all have their favorite books, so I tried to give you my favorite that can easily stand alone if you are new to the series. Also, check out CJ Critt's version for the best audio version of the series they are available from Recorded books there is no comparison to her reading of the series.

Rating:
Summary: Four is a Winner
Review: Four to Score is a winner in the Stephanie Plum series. It's fast-paced, funny and believable in a strange way. In this book, Stephanie is trying to collar a waitress who jumped bail after she was arrested for stealing her boyfriend's car. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well, not in Stephanie's world! She finds herself in all kinds of trouble, and without a car and a home because of fallout from this case. But in true Stephanie fashion she seems to come out on top. She meets a new friend - a six foot four inch drag queen called Sally Sweet (boy I hope we see more of him in the future), and she actually takes her so-called relationship with Morelli to another level. This is my favourite Plum so far.

Rating:
Summary: Just keeps getting better
Review: Man oh man do I love Stephanie Plum, the protagonist of Evanovich's numbered series. I like my female PI's tough but it seems lately that they are so hardened I can't relate to them. I gave up on Kay Scarpetta, Anita Blake is frequently annoying and I never really took a shine to VI Warshawski (but I do love Kinsey Millhone.) So now we have Stephanie Plum, Jersey girl and (would-be) bounty hunter extraordinaire who is long on attitude and a little short on skill.

As with all series, starting at the beginning is best but Evanovich does a fab job of catching you up on the action without rehashing the last three books. This time Stephanie is on the trail of a bail jumping gal who has never been in trouble. And instead of fleeing town she is mysteriously hanging around, seemingly to torment her ex-boyfriend. He hires Steph, ostensibly to recover some love letters his ex took but he seems a little shady himself. Her prey also gets the jump on our poor Steph, who at one point finds herself bound with her own handcuffs after unwittingly letting the bond jumper into her apartment. Plum has her usual cast of helpers-Lula the ex-hooker, her heat-packing grandmother who has seen one too many episodes of Police Woman, and Ranger, her mysterious bounty hunter mentor. Oh and Morelli is back of course. Speaking of Steph's favorite Trenton detective, these two finally act on the long-standing chemistry between them. That alone is worth the price of the book my friends. She also picks up a new co-conspirator-a really bad transvestite with a knack for cryptography (long story.)

No point in rehashing the tale but if you are a fan of the series this will not disappoint. And if you are not I really recommend it. It's fluff sure but not the kind that will leave you burning your library card in the morning. This series is a really fun read with enough mystery to keep you turning the pages and something to make you laugh out loud at least once per book. Slapstick mystery at its finest with a heroine you'd actually wanna get a beer with.

Rating:
Summary: A Definite Score
Review: Four to Score once again takes us on a bounty hunting adventure with Stephanie Plum and company. This time Stephanie's FTA (failure to appear) is Maxine Nowicki. Maxine is charged with stealing her ex-boyfriend's car. The ex-boyfriend, Eddie Kuntz, also hires Stephanie to find some love letters he wrote Maxine that he wants back. Let the treasure hunt begin as Stephanie and her crew of wacky bounty hunter wannabes try to track down Maxine and the love letters!

This book was excellent. By far the best of the Stephanie Plum novels I've read so far. This book is non-stop action from beginning to end. There are the old, lovable characters Lula, Grandma Mazur, and Joe Morelli. Also in this book we meet Sally Sweet-a cross dressing drag queen who decodes the clues Maxine leaves for Eddie. Sally is a riot and adds color to the pages. Also trying to track down Maxine is Joyce Barnhardt, the woman who Stephanie found on her dining room table with her then husband Dickie Orr. The competition between Stephanie and Joyce was a great addition to the story.

The plot of this book was excellent. It was written well and kept up a fast pace. There were no boring parts in this book. The author did an excellent job keeping the reader turning the pages. There's plenty of action and fun scenes mixed together. This made the book fun to read and also effortless to read.

I just could not put this book down. I had to find out what was going to happen next. Just when you think everything that could possibly happen to Stephanie has happened you are surprised by the next event. This keeps the book entertaining to read. This is a must-read Stephanie Plum book!

Rating:
Summary: Four for "Four"
Review: If you are up to "Four to Score" you pretty much know what to expect from both Janet Evanovich and her leading lady, Stephanie Plum. As with the previous installments, you are in for a lot of laughs as Trenton's clumsiest bounty hunter is once again tracking down unseemly folks who have skipped their court dates. All your favorite characters are back (Morelli, Grandma Mazur, and Lula), but the scene-stealer this time around is the code-cracking drag queen/transvestite/transsexual (Evanovich never quite makes it clear) Sally Sweet. Sweet is definitely a (much needed) breath of fresh air in this installment.

Overall, this is a quick and enjoyable read. It will not win any literary awards, but heck this is not why we are reading these books anyway. With the Steph-Morelli relationship taking a turn in "Four," I imagine most readers will already be making plans to read the next book well before turning the last page on this one.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars and a barrel of laughs!!
Review: Ms Evanovich has done it again!! Stephanie Plum is on the trail of Maxine Nowicki who just happened to steal her ex-boyfriends car. Now the boy friend a real jerk is getting "love" letters from Maxine.The boyfriend one Eddie Kuntz by name offers Stephanie cash if she can retrieve the supposed love letters from Maxine.

This page-turning mystery is one of Ms Evanovich's better efforts and is a absolute hoot! A crazy collection of characters are here to help Stephanie. Not the least of these is Grandma Mazur who is once again at her very best and making the reader laugh! Sally Sweet a six foot+ cross dressing band member and Joe Morelli are also members of this crazy collection of characters. Lula the retired "ho" is Vinnie's new filing clerk with a smart mouth will keep you in stitches. And lets not forget Joyce Barnhardt, the witch who had a fling with Stephanie's husband a few years back on their dinning room table, is the newest pain in Stephanie's backside.

This book is definately worth the reading time!!

Rating:
Summary: more excitement than her others
Review: This book while sometimes predictable definitely had more edge and appeal than her previous releases. Stephanie PLum is always an interesting character who can really shine in this one based on the interaction with pseudo boyfriend morelli and a transvestite sidekick.. Although I am still more of a Kinsey fan from the Sue Grafton series. Ms. Plum is definitely growing on me after this book.

Rating:
Summary: Steamy, Dangerous, Hysterical
Review: It's July in Trenton, NJ where Stephanie Plum, bond enforcement officer for her bail bondsman cousin Vinnie, is looking for Maxine Norwicki. Maxine's been charged with stealing her former boyfriend Eddie Kuntz's car and is now FTA (Failed To Appear in court). "She wasn't a career criminal and the charges weren't serious. She really had no reason to skip out." Eddie Kuntz got a message from Maxine, who's arranged a little treasure hunt for him. Follow the puzzling clues to get back your mushy love letters. Eddie recruits Stephanie to help him. "Maxine's apartment had been ransacked, and two people connected with her had been mutilated. I was thinking maybe someone wanted to find her for something other than love letters. And maybe that someone was Eddie Kuntz."

Stephanie's archenemy, Joyce Barnhardt, has been hired by Vinnie as a rival bounty hunter. Stephanie once caught Joyce having an affair with her now ex-husband, and now she's tailing Stephanie, trying to bring in Maxine first.

Stephanie teams up with Lula, "a 200-lb. Black woman with blond baloney curls all dressed up like Cher on a bad day"; and Sally Sweet, a 7-ft. drag queen rock singer. She also calls on Ranger "a man of few words. He's Cuban-American, former Special Forces, makes a better friend than an enemy, and he's Vinnie's numero uno bounty hunter."

But when someone blows up Stephanie's car AND apartment, all in one day, she's forced to move in with Joe Morelli, the arrogant cop who sweet-talked Stephanie out of her virginity years ago. "The thing is, while I was in love with Morelli for all these years, I'd always known it was best if nothing came of it. Loving Morelli was like loving cheesecake. Hours of misery on the Stairmaster, working off ugly fat, in return for a moment of blissful consumption."

This 4th in the Stephanie Plum series is a great stand-alone book. It details many of the repeat characters and explains some history that I already know, having been reading the series in sequence. If someone wanted to just read a single book from the series, this would be perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Four to Score
Review: Four to Score is a very unique book. Stephanie Plum is a Bounty hunter in her fourth book. This time she is hunting down a waitress who has skipped bail. With cars blowing-up, old ladies getting in the way, and a man named Sally, this book is sure to bring great excitment. I enjoyed this book more than any of the previous books. Every night I would stay up at late and read. I enjoyed this book very much.