Rating: 
Summary: Stephanie Plum is my hero.....
Review: This book is a FAST READ. It would have been faster, except for the protracted fits of uncontrollable laughter at the situations our girl Stephanie gets herself into.This time out, poor Mable Markowitz, next-door neighbor of Stephanie's parents, has a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who are missing. She turns to Stephanie for help in locating them. Stephanie is up to her ears in bond jumpers, who are more successful in escaping from Stephanie than they are at crime. But when Mable begins to cry, that's when Stephanie breaks down and agrees to try and locate them. In the process, she encounters a psychotic businessman, a bomber bunny and a carload of tarantulas. And that's not the half of it. Stephanie's gloriously loony family are all on hand to add their two cents worth. Ranger is turning up the heat, while helping to keep Stephanie supplied with cars, cellular phones and advice. And Joe Morelli pops up at the scenes of most of Stephanie's personal disasters to lend moral support and sardonic remarks in equal measure. This book kept me chuckling, giggling and groaning deep into the night. Evanovich just keeps getting better at telling Stephanie's story. I hope she never stops.
Rating: 
Summary: really bad
Review: This is the first of the Stephanie Plum series which I've read, and I have to say it didn't inspire me to go back and read the previous seven books. Set in the Jersey 'burbs, the book (and series) features Stephanie, an apparently thirtiesh bounty hunter of incredible ineptness and poor luck, working for her cousin Vinny's bail bond service. In this stale story, she has two main tasks, to bring in a wife-beater who didn't show up in court, and to help her parent's neighbor find her daughter and granddaughter. Nothing in the book has any originality to it. Stephanie's neighborhood, the "'Burg" is standard issue, people all know each others business, strangers in the neighborhood are immediately known, and everyone talks tough, etc... Stephanie's two romantic possibilities are cardboard cutouts, the first is a dog-owning hunky nice guy next door type who clearly loves her and is good for her but for some inexplicable reason (maybe delved into in previous books?) she doesn't want to be with. And then there's the laughable Ranger, a tempting slice of mysterious Latino love, with apparently unlimited funds and resources. Considering Stephanie is a clumsy fool the whole book, it's not clear to me why either would be all that interested in her. Evanovich seems to be overrelying on the "spunkiness" of her main character to hold our attention. Certainly, no real-life bounty hunter could make as many basic mistakes and destroy so much property without getting serious hurt and losing their license. It's not just that she's inept, she doesn't ever seem to learn from previous mistakes, which just makes her annoying. The supporting cast of characters lends a small sliver of humor to the proceedings, mainly via Stephanie's tagalong partners, "robust black ex-hooker Lulu and puppy-dog correspondence lawyer Albert. Still, most of the attempts at humor are driven by Stephanie's incredible poor luck, repetition (how many cars and handcuffs will she lose?), and so forth. As for the main story about the missing woman and daughter, it's poorly handled from the get go, and only becomes more eye-rolling when her nemesis during her search turns out to be a mad Mafioso type whose dialogue seems cribbed from that of Fat Tony on "The Simpsons" (only not as funny). Evanovich isn't a good enough writer to bring interesting characters to the table, nor is she a good enough comic writer to make that work, nor is she adept at creating any romantic tension, and forget her crime writing abilities. In sum, the whole thing is too trite for words and a total waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Bunny Girl
Review: Janet Evanovich has created a very loveable, bumbling, character in Stephanie Plum. Hard Eight, is the eighth book in her number entitled series about this amateur bounty hunter and her exploits. Stephanie works for her slimy cousin Vinnie as a bond enforcement officer. The idea being she is supposed to earn a living in capturing your run of the mill criminals who haven't fronted up for their court dates. Only Stephanie always has trouble with that part and as a result, usually gets more than a scrape on the knee and has to call for back up. Enter the two male interests that are more than professional, Joe Morelli the Cop and Ranger the Cuban heart throb and renegade bounty hunter. In Hard Eight, Stephanie actually shows some backbone and a little bit of improvement in her law enforcement job skills and it's about time too. It's good to see the action is plentiful, the laughs and one liners are original. Janet Evanovich has finally let Stephanie grow up with her skills and have some luck in life. Considering it has taken eight books for her to improve, from a screaming pair of legs with 'Jersey hair' who lives off junk food. This time round, Stephanie's paycheck depends on whether she can catch Eddie Abruzzi. Without getting killed by the ex mobster boss and all around psychopath. Besides trying to make dinner time at her parents house, dodge death callings from Abruzzi, cars exploding, Stephanie has to deal with a few other matters at hand. Her confusion over Ranger her sometimes partner in crime and bounty hunter back up and Joe Morelli's role in her life, and hers in his. Plus there is the added bonus of the disappearance of a child involved in a custody case of a family friend. All the good parts that Evanovich had in her first Plum novel are still here. Rex the hamster and survivor extraordinaire, the grandma from hell - Grandma Murzer, Steph's car issues, the ex-prostitute and Cagney and Lacey wannabe - Lula. Janet Evanovoich has gone all out with Hard Eight, making it a full on novel of action and laughs which is good to see. I felt she got a little mundane in a few of the other Stephanie Plum novels. However, she retains me as an avid fan with this one. I can't wait to see what Ms Evanovich and Ms Plum have install for us in the next two books in this series!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I have loved reading all of the Stephanie Plum books. These are the only books that I've read that I actually laugh out loud because they are so funny. I thought this was an excellent book and was disappointed when I finished because I have to wait another whole year for a new book.
Rating: 
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: I have enjoyed this series of books enormously until Hard Eight. The new characters were not interesting or well developed. The romance was minimal. The story wrapped up way too quickly. This was a very unsatisfying book that would not have stood up on its own if I had not read the previous seven.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Believe....
Review: ..... that this kind of strained nonsense gets published. This is my first and last Evanovich novel and I gave it a 2 only because some of it is funny. But who reads mystery stories for comedy? Hard Eight has something to annoy everyone. The most tepid feminist will hate the incompetent female protagonist who is constantly being rescued by males drawn by her looks. Those looking for even a hint of gritty realism beneath the comedy will look in vain. The characters are cartoons. Men will grind their teeth in frustration at being set up for an ending that doesn't happen. This woman is in need of a editor. But hey, if it sells, plot and character are just incidentals.
Rating: 
Summary: Snakes, geese and exploding cars........
Review: In Hard Eight, Stephanie Plum returns as a fugitive apprehension agent, aka a bounty hunter. This time she is dragged into a child custody bond case by her parents' neighbor. A child and her mother are missing and if they don't return the neighbor (grandmother of the missing child) will lose her home! Things go crazy from the start, whacky Jersey mobsters, bags of snakes, attacking fowl, exploding cars and a love life that brings with it it's own questions! Introduce an eager puppy of a lawyer and Stephanie's "perfect" sister still looking for herself and Janet Evanovich has written another winning novel. The humor, the disasters and the unique investigating technique of Stephanie Plum all add up to "HARD EIGHT".
Rating:
Summary: A must read for Plum fans
Review: If you are hooked on the Stephanie Plum novels, you've probably already read Hard Eight. If you are considering buying it as a foray into the world of Evanovich's brassy Jersey girl bounty hunter, do yourself a favor and start earlier in the series. While Stephanie's mad cap exploits made me laugh, I found some of the situations to be over-the-top ridiculous. I agree with the reviewer who wonders how, and why, Stephanie has not only not improved her bounty hunting skills, but has gotten worse! I love Stephanie, but she does seem to be getting dumber (maybe it's the Jersey water or too many hairspray fumes!). Not that she should ever become too apt at apprehending FTA's, but a little improvement would be nice. She has often said that she doesn't make the same mistake twice, but that no longer seems to be the case. The sudden coldness between Stephanie and Morelli was also off-putting, as well as the near obsession with Ranger.
Of course, I will read number 9 when it comes out, but I might not be so quick to buy it on the day it is released.
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: I was extremely disappointed in this book, but I have been a bit disappointed in the last 2 or 3 of the Stephanie Plum books.
Maybe it's because after this many books, everything I thought was funny has now become routine; I thought Grandma Mazur had a very tiny role, and what there was seemed inane. I usually anticipate the yearly release, but now will have to rethink future purchases. One disappointment was the hasty ending. Multiple pages of buildup and a quick, abrupt end that was quite a disappointment in itself.
Rating:
Summary: Best in the series
Review: I have enjoyed all of the Stephanie Plum series but this was by far the best! I was so rivetted that I had to finish it just so I would know what happened to her.
| 
