Rating: 
Summary: I really wanted to like it more...
Review: I went with a friend to a book signing for Hard Eight. Janet Evanovich was very gracious to everyone. Some readers brought multiple copies of Hard Eight plus copies of earlier paper backs for her to sign. She signed them all and posed for numerous pictures taken by fans. I really wanted to like this book. Janet herself was very interesting and I hoped that this new book would be interesting also. Unfortunately, I did not find it to be any better than the previous books. The quirky relatives, neighbors and coworkers are getting a little old. Stephanie's ineptness is also growing tiring. This is the eighth book - I wish Stephanie would learn some tricks of the bounty hunter trade and become more competent. Losing cars, the inability to catch her prey - same old stuff. Obviously, these books are meant to be light reading - they are not hard crime stories. I enjoy humor in stories, but there was just too much in this book that I would classify as "silly". Humor is good - silly is not. Books written in series are very good for allowing the reader to be familiar with the cast of characters and circumstances. But, there needs to be enough newness and excitement to keep the readers' interest. My interest in any new Stephanie Plum books has really dropped - in spite of Janet Evanovich herself being a very lovely, nice person. I hope these books keep selling well for Janet's sake, but future purchasers of her books will not include me.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have read and enjoyed all of Janet Evanovich's novels but
as she proceeds through the series they seem to be getting
much thinner. By this I mean little plot and very little
action development. Sometimes its like reading a person's
day planner. I read them and will continue to do so as I
really like her characters and there are still many laughs.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, But Not Her Best
Review: While I always enjoy the explots of Stephanie Plum. The ending cost her a point, weak is being very polite. Without spoiling it for anyone. She could have had the same ending on page 50 just as well as page 300. But, of course we wouldn't have destroyed at least 2 cars would we? Oh well, it was still FUN. Just work a little harder on the ending. Ok.
Rating: 
Summary: Great laughs, great romance, great suspense
Review: How can you not love Janet Evanovich? Whether you like romance, suspense, or comedy, it is all there. I personally liked this book as well or better than the others. I laughed until I cried. After book 7, I couldn't wait to find out what happened between Stephanie and Ranger, but would have loved to have had more DETAILS from the bedroom scene. Many more details!... All the characters were there and at their funniest. As always I anxiously await the next.
Rating: 
Summary: Do Not Buy Hard Eight
Review: I have read the first seven novels of Janet Evanovich and looked forward to Hard Eight. I was very disappointed. Her characters lack any substance. Grandma and Lula should be a comic book instead of a mystery. It's as though Evanovich has suddenly become aware of her humor and the "joke" of her writing and now it is all just pretend. I have stopped caring and believing. Bad day in Blackrock and a loss of my [$$$].
Rating:
Summary: Another Great - Hard Eight
Review: This book continued in the best tradition of Stephanie Plum antics, getting not only a new person involved in her adventures, but letting Mom and Sis in on this one too. A good book, with a good ending that leaves you wanting more of the same. I've never been disappointed in an Evanovich novel. . .
Rating:
Summary: Number Eight...Not So Great.....
Review: There's trouble in "the burg" and it's living right next door to the elder Plums. It seems neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, is about to lose her side of the duplex. Her grandaughter, Evelyn, needed to take out a child custody bond, per the terms of her divorce, and Mabel used her house as collateral. Now Evelyn has disappeared with daughter, Annie, her ex, a Trenton low-life beholden to the mob, is making a lot of unpleasant noise, and the bondsman has given Mabel three weeks to produce Annie or forfeit her home. Mabel needs help and figures that Stephanie, inept bounty hunter from hell, is just the person for the job. She finds people. She brings them in. She can handle this missing person case. Poor Steph's plate is already full, chasing down Trenton's not-so-finest who've missed their court dates and are on their way to jail. In no time, she finds she's in way over her head when dangerous gangsters, who want her off this case and out of the way, start sending threatening messages in the form of bombs, snakes, and spiders. But never fear, once tenacious Stephanie Plum takes on a job, she's like a dog with a bone, and she's not letting common sense, anyone or anything get in her way, until she brings in her woman..... Janet Evanovich is back with another manic romp through Trenton, and as hilarious and entertaining as this series is, Hard Eight doesn't hit the mark. This is a weak addition, with a flat story line that goes nowhere. The whole gang is back, along with a couple of newcomers, and they're as quirky and wacky as ever. The laughs are back too, but for the most part have all been done before, and the same old jokes are beginning to become tiresome. How many cars can Stephanie lose, blow up, or wreck? Why bother even locking her apartment door when any and everybody seems to be able to break in? Can't she ever just simply put the cuffs on a "client" and bring him in without wrestling and rolling around on the ground, usually in mud, garbage, or dinner? And how many funeral parlor incidents can Grandma Mazur have before she's banned from Stiva's? But the saddest development in Hard Eight is the lack of sexual tension in the eternal Ranger-Morelli-Plum triangle. The sparks aren't flying this time out, and there seems to be no fire left in that furnace. This is a book that really doesn't stand alone, and if you're new to the series, you'll be lost if you begin here with number eight. So go back to the start of it all, with One For The Money, and read them all. For old and loyal fans, Hard Eight still has some flashes of fun that you don't want to miss, and let's face it, even a weak Stephanie Plum novel is better than no Stephanie Plum at all.
Rating:
Summary: Not Her Best . . .
Review: I'm a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum books and wait eagerly for each new one. I have to say that this one was disappointing. Still a page-turner, but disappointing. Hard Eight is not as laugh out loud funny as previous outings. Evanovich moved away from some of the old reliable elements in this book -- the massive destruction of cars, visits to the funeral home, Grandma Mazur -- but what she gives us instead is simply not as funny. The plot -- never a really strong point in these books -- seems particularly thrown together here. And, it seems that Evanovich loses interest in it just as we have and the book just stops. Tantalizing possibilities are not pursued. The characters feel sketched in this book, as if Evanovich is counting on what we know from previous books and is counting on us to fill in the outlines. The whole thing just seems flat. This is a great series. Start at the beginning and enjoy the ride. I'm looking forward to the 9th book.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than Ever
Review: It takes a lot to escape a formula that has worked well for seven previous books, but Janet Evanovich has done it by deepening her plot and giving us a real story for a change. Never fear, though: Stephanieholics are still offered their fair share of the gun in the cookie jar, Grandma Mazur, the Plum Parents (better than ever), Rex the Hamster, Bob the Dog (complete with the barfing we have come to know and love with Bob), the irrepresible Lula the ex-ho, and of course the sexy combatants for Stephanie's hand (or whatever else they can touch): Ranger and Morelli. Stephanie's sister Valerie, complete with her daughter-who-thinks-she's-a-horse, has come into her own in this book, revealing a Burg-worthy personality that is on its way to being as funny as Steph's. And we have a wonderful new character, Albert Kloughn (pronounced "Clown," but don't tell Albert I said so), a lawyer without any cases, and the body of the Pillsbury Doughboy. With all this, however, there is a story here. And it displays more reality than Stephanie has had to face in many a book. She is asked to find a missing woman and child, known to all in the tight-knit Burg, who are on the run from an abusive husband/father and a sadomasochistic, extremely dangerous, and not at all funny head of a gangster "family." Evelyn, the missing woman, and her 7-year-old daughter Annie, are in real danger, and as hilarious as Stephanie can be, this part is not played for laughs. The result is a perfect blend of laugh-aloud (and I did, many times) vintage Stephanie, and a new, welcome turn in the series that has probably saved its life. As a loyal reader, I'm thrilled with this serendipitous turn of events, especially since I can still count on at least one blown-up car no matter how serious the plot. Oh...one other thing before I head off with Steph to grab some donuts...things with Ranger AND Morelli...heheheheh. I can say no more. Read the book!!!
Rating:
Summary: Ms Plum needs a new bag of tricks
Review: Hard Eight is edgier, darker, more complex than the previous 7 Plum books. The writing is better and tighter. She's doing a better job of character development. That said, Stephanie Plum needs a new bag, literally and figuratively. After all this time, Steph still loses her quarry because she can't find her handcuffs, pepper spray, stun gun, etc. in her bottomless handbag. Her car keeps getting destroyed, frequently because she forgot to lock it. She gets hurt because she forgot to charge her stun gun or because she forgot to buy bullets. Ms Evanovich, could you wise Steph up a little? Write her so she can put her hands on her cuffs? Give her some smarts? Teach her to lock her car door? At first, this incompetence was funny, but now -- it's annoying!
Perhaps Evanovich has run out of funny ideas, and must resort to bumbling for humor. If so, she's writing herself out of a job. Steph's disasters aren't funny anymore, and before I buy the ninth book, I'm checking it out of the library to see if it's worth it.
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