Rating: 
Summary: Okay, so it's not the best one...........
Review: but Hard Eight is still an amusing, enthralling, laugh out loud adventure. Anyone who is familiar with the Stephanie Plum series knows exactly what they are going to get. Once I started I found it hard to leave it alone (dam!! hubby wanted a meal every now and then!!) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I am biding my time waiting for number nine because surely SOMETHING will be resolved in the Stephanie/Morelli/Ranger triangle any minute now! And in these uncertain times in the world it is a nice mental diversion and great fun to anticipate what the outcome will be. Come on, Janet, we're waiting for more, more, more!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Been there, read that
Review: I have to say, this series is getting stale. Unless Janet Evanovich can invent some new twists to throw in her next books, we might as well just reread the first four books over and over. Nothing new has happened since then, except in each book I wait the entire time for Stephanie to get together with one or the other of her two hot hunks, and keep getting mad when she doesn't manage.I am wondering if Janet doesn't have a formula on her wall somewhere telling her exactly how to write her books: A car must blow up on page ninety, a bail jumper must foil Stephanie on page one twenty, and so on. On the plus side, Stephanie Plum is fun, unflappable, good hearted, and every once in a while she even has a serious moment, when she actually can connect with the reader on a deaper level and make you think about things.
Rating: 
Summary: This was an OUTSTANDING BOOK
Review: I was a little dissapointed in Seven Up, but Hard Eight made up for it. I laughed so hard at this book. The story was great, the mystery very good and the humor fantastic. I advise you to run to the nearest store to buy it. This book is most definiteely a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Evanovich Delivers Again!
Review: I can't get over how much I enjoy the Stephanie Plum series. I must have been one of the last people on the planet to discover them, but I have now devoured them all and hungrily await the next. They are fabulous. Smart, funny (laugh out loud funny!), and real! Can't get enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Evanovich following Robert Parker's footsteps
Review: I was disappointed to see that Evanovich is following Parker's footsteps. Relying on dialogue instead of description to move the story along. Repeating the same senarios over again is just plain lazy. You would think that in number eight in a series her characters would have developed more and her action sequences would show more imagination. By now Stephanie Plum as a character should be more interesting and experienced. Unfortunatly she's just irritating and immature. A good series would keep the reader wondering where the main character will go next. In Evanovich's case her character goes nowhere and learns nothing.
Rating: 
Summary: No go!
Review: A big disappointment. I own all Stephany Plum books. I loved the first three. It was downhill since. I am returning this one to the store. It simply is not worth the money. It feels like the author ran out of ideas and in a rush to complete yet one more book. Ms. Evanovich, your readers deserve better.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read! Suspenseful and Fun!
Review: "Hard Eight" by Janet Evanovich is the latest instalment in the fantastic Stephanie Plum series, and it is well worth the hardcover price! Evanovich leads Stephanie, our favourite bumbling bounty hunter, on a dark and dangerous adventure that had me utterly captivated the whole way through. "Hard Eight" is certainly one of the darkest books in this series, but not to worry, the laugh-out-loud humour that we have come to expect from a Stephanie Plum novel is there too! In this eighth instalment of the series, Stephanie gets a request that is really not in her field of work. It seems that Evelyn Soder and her young daughter Annie have gone on the run, leaving behind a hostile and very angry ex-husband who's about to invoke the child-custody bond on Annie and cause Evelyn's grandmother (Stephanie's parents' next-door-neighbour) Mabel Markowitz, to lose her home. So as a favour to Mabel, Stephanie agrees to look into things and try to find Evelyn and Annie. But it soon becomes evident that this is a really nasty situation, nastier than anything that Stephanie has been up against before. Eddie Abruzzi, a very shady and scary local businessman and Evelyn's landlord, threatens Stephanie to give up her search for Evelyn immediately when she has a run-in with him while checking out Evelyn's home. But why would Abruzzi care if Stephanie finds Evelyn? Abruzzi's reaction has Stephanie very suspicious, and when she refuses to drop this case, Abruzzi declares war on her. Hunh?? It seems to Stephanie that Abruzzi is more than a little nutty, but when someone leaves a bag of snakes on her doorknob, tarantulas in her car, and a dead body is left on her couch she realizes she is in serious trouble. So, it is time to get some help, and the best person for the job is her mentor Ranger, who Stephanie already owes too many favours. At the end of "Seven Up" readers were left wondering what would happen between Stephanie and Ranger, and in "Hard Eight" things between these two really heat up. But Joe Morelli, Stephanie's ex-fiancé, isn't entirely out of the picture, and he ends up getting involved in this case too. But Ranger and Morelli aren't the only ones trying to help Steph. Evelyn's correspondence school lawyer, the annoying yet lovable Albert Kloughn, has latched himself onto Stephanie and just won't go away. We get to know Stephanie's sister Valerie much better in this book, and Grandma Mazur is hilarious as usual with her utterly inappropriate comments and her unique attitude towards life in general. Lula, the 200+lb ex-hooker is along for the ride too, and she always manages to make me laugh. It is always a pleasure to read a Stephanie Plum novel, and spend time with Evanovich's hysterically funny, eccentric, and perhaps most important, likable characters. No one wants to read about people they don't like, and Evanovich has created a wonderful cast of characters who readers can root for and relate to as they follow them through their adventures. "Hard Eight" is a great read, and I loved every minute of it. As Stephanie gets more and more caught up in the terrifying games Abruzzi is playing with her, while still following the trail that leads to Evelyn and Annie, the suspense builds very effectively. The climax of this book had me quite literally on the edge of my seat, and I was so absorbed in it I wouldn't have put the book down for love nor money! But Evanovich expertly balances the darkness in this book with plenty of light moments, and the result is one highly compelling and all-around fabulous read. "Hard Eight" is a book that you really don't want to miss, and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Great! More Please!!
Review: Hard Eight is the eighth in the series of novels staring Stephanie Plum, a gun-toting semi-inept bounty hunter, from New Jersey. In this installation, Stephanie is asked by an old family friend to locate her daughter and missing grandchild, who have skipped town and are now involved in violation of their bond agreement. To make matters worse she has an encounter with a psychotic mob boss and a bumbling attorney who has latched onto her like glue. Toss in her angelic sister Valerie, her best friend Lula and a crazed killer in a bunny suit, and you got another week in the life of Stephanie Plum. I really enjoyed this latest installation of Stephanie Plum. Especially the 'hitman' in the bunny suit. The addition of the character of "Klowne" was really great, although, the character was very under-utilized in the second half of this book. On the negative side, I DO think that the Steph-Ranger-Morelli romantic triangle is getting old. Especially since Steph herself prefers Morelli. I think a new love interest would recharge Steph's character and put more tension in Steph's life. I would also LOVE to see a return of Sally Sweet, the transvestite singer from a previous books. Overall, another great addition to the Stephanie Plum legacy! Pass the coffee cake!
Rating:
Summary: Big let down
Review: Okay now... this is such a sad moment.
I own all 8 Stephanie Plum books and have to say this may be the last one I have purchased.The only thing that may change my mind is that I am a romantic and would like to know what happens between Joe and Stephanie.
But other then that.. BORING.
I don't buy a hardcover book to read in the first 30 pages about the lead character only. Stephanie's unabilities to live life, over and over and over and over again.
A big let down also was how she handled the Stephanie and Ranger part. Come on, she constantly tells us what a hunk he is and so on and then she turns him into this cardboard man? His line is " I have feelings for you".. ja, no kidding.The man kills someone for Steph and always watches out for her, there is more then chemistry and feelings and that is what he gets? Even if it is not her intention for them to be together. This was lame.
I understand she doesn't want to write those cliche scenes anymore, but she doesn't have to. Ranger deserves better. That wasn't handled well at all. Joe was the only one in this book that came across better and stronger. I am wearing tired of characters like the atterney Klowne and even Lulu up to a degree, who just seem to waltz all over the story and Stephanie.
Can you believe I was actually tempted to skip pages? It has come to the point that you can be blindfolded and predict what is written on the pages.
She should have stopped at #5 or maybe #6, when she was ahead of the game. She is not advancing the characters at all and it is starting to become boring. I have great respect for her work and know how hard it is to write in the first persons point of view.
It will sell and satisfy her, but I do think she would also appreciate an honest opinion that tells her it is time.The story was okay. Didn't grib me, but again, I do give her credit for trying something new. That Steph was doing something ,not for the money, but because people that she knew may be in danger. And come on.. the whole thing for a medal that could have belonged to Napoleon at one point? She couldn't come up with something better then that?
Of course I love when Steph and Morrelli are together. That was the good part of the whole book.
I hope she will really take her time and think what she will do for and with the next one. This is not working for me anymore.
Anyone that wants to read this story, should start with One for the money. That is a good book and example of what she is capable off and we can expect of her... Time to make a decision. Either come to an end or let them advance a bit.
Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 star unabridged audio
Review: See storyline above. Very entertaining and laugh out loud funny. The unabridged novel seems to never have a dull moment. It is read by Lorelei King, and she does a fantastic job with the voices. A fun story featuring Stephanie Plum, again having her adventures in bond enforcement. Watch out for the killer rabbit. Highly recommended
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