Rating: 
Summary: Four is fun!
Review: Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is at it again. Needing money for her rent, Stephanie picks up what she thinks will be an easy apprehension. Maxine Nowicki, a waitress at a local diner, has gone missing. She has jumped bail after being arrested for stealing her boyfriend's car. But not only has Maxine disappeared off the face of the earth (or at least Trenton, NJ), everyone who might have knowledge of her whereabouts has either shown up maimed, missing or even dead. Of course, things are much more complicated than they first appear and Stephanie ends up having to solve a mystery or two before she can find Maxine.
What makes Janet Evanovich's books so much fun are the regular, recurring characters. Grandma Mazur is always armed and ready to assist. Lula is now working for Vinnie in the bond business, and owns her own stun gun (don't get her mad). Cop and friend Joe Morelli is very much in the picture. However, the dangerous and mysterious Ranger (fellow bounty hunter and mentor) is becoming more tempting as a romantic interest. And Joyce Bernhardt (another bounty hunter and Stephanie's archenemy) always has her nose where it doesn't belong. Stephanie also seeks help from a new character, cross-dresser Salvatore (Sally) Sweet. Sally alone makes the book worth reading. Evanovich also has Stephanie branch out a little bit, and the scene where Stephanie and her entourage go to the Atlantic City casinos is really a hoot!
Each Evanovich book gets better than the last, and I think that the Stephanie Plum series is the funniest and most entertaining mystery series out there. I first read this book, and then listened to it on tape during a trip. It was just as funny the second time around, and the audio version should come with a warning: "This tape may cause the driver to become distracted due to laughing"
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Series So Far
Review: Wow!! Just as I had written off the series as nothing more than rehash and repetition (Book III) here comes Janet with the best so far. I wanted to shout a loud "hurrah" when Stephanie got together with Joe - this has been one long foreplay and now they get down to business. Then there is the addition of arch-rival Joyce (we also get to meet ex-hubby/lawyer) as a bounty hunter. Almost as good was the treatment Lula dished out to poor Joyce. Finally new character Sally, a transvestite, makes the novel a rollicking, frollicking picnic from beginning to end. Poor Stephanie has more problems with cars than the rest of Trenton put together but she still has the old Buick and her family is still around, harping and carping. "Four" is a classic!!
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.
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