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Summary: Good old Stephanie Plum
Review: In the eighth book of the Stephanie Plum series, Stephanie must track down a missing mother and daughter. Her task isn't made easy with the woman's ex and violent landlord breathing down her neck. Stephanie also seems to be having bad luck with animals lately. She must fend off snakes, spiders, geese, and a lunatic in a bunny suit. Also, with Morelli out of the picture, Ranger steps up his pursuit of Stephanie.The thing that I love about this series is that it's dependable. You can always count on Stephanie blowing up a few cars and the Stephanie/Morelli/Ranger love triangle will probably never be resolved. It's also the only series that I can think of that is repetitive with out becoming boring or going down in quality. With Stephanie Plum you always know that you are going to get a zany, fun, mystery and that's a good thing.
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Summary: get with it, stephanie!
Review: the stories are always amusing and the characters fun, but ms. plum has got to grow up and refer to someting besides her stomach and vagina in her escapades.
if i have to read one more time how she can't remember where she hid her ONE bullet, or how her stun gun didnt work -- excpet when it wasnt supposed to -- i will personally drive all the way from memphis to "the burg" to slap the living snot out of her!!
the character is simply too stoopid to contiue to exist unless she grows up and takes some responsibility for herself.
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Summary: Great! I'm still laughing!!!
Review: I love Evanovich's books!! I have been a fan since she was writing those little romance series books. Great humor with quirky characters. And in the middle of all the action is this great male/female thing. Will she or wouldn't she? Stay tuned!!
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Summary: Hearing Evanovich is the Best
Review: I'm a great mystery lover and a tremendous fan of Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series. Many books are better when read because you pick up the intellectual nuances that sometimes get lost in recorded books. Not this one. Stephanie and all her comrades in craziness are far better when appreciated in audio performance mode. The lingo, the dialect, the overall hilarity shine through. Having both read and listened to the books in this series, I can say that the audio versions are far and away the best way to enjoy these characters and their antics. I can't wait for the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: I guess this novel deserves a 4.5 instead of 5, but I love the series too much. I think the thing is, with this series, if a person doesn't laugh enough for any of the later books (say, 7 or 8), they will give a lower rating. I know it's hard for Janet Evanovich to keep up with the hilarity level of each of her Stephanie Plum novels, so, even if I didn't laugh after every two pages of this novel, I gave this novel a five. I think I speak for a few people when I say that the tendency for repeating all the facts about Morelli and Steph's past, Vinnie/Lula/Connie and their own weird characteristics, and Grandma Mazur's reason for living with Steph's parents are getting annoying. I'm willing to ignore those little bits because I understand that readers may be reading the series for the first time, and they need the explanations to understand what's up. I can see how some may think this novel is a teensy bit darker than the others. I guess it got a little serious with Eddie Abruzzi and his stalker antics. However, the added seriousness of this particular novel doesn't diminish the fact that this novel is still great. 'Hard Eight' is fast-paced, and things move along a little faster than it usually does in the other Plum novels. How it ended was a little abrupt, but, while others may disagree, what Ranger did made me like him even more (Yeah--weird, I know). My only complaint is just that things are getting a little repetative. We know what'll eventually happen to Steph's cars; we know about Grandma's viewings at the funeral; we're not as surprised anymore with Lula's actions. I don't mind this as much as other readers might, because I still haven't gotten sick of any of the novels yet. Sure, I may like some books more than others, but it doesn't mean I'll stop reading the series. Anyways, I heard 'To the Nines' is a little different than what we're used to, so I'm looking forward to reading about another one of Stephanie's adventures.
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Summary: Great audiobook despite reader
Review: This book is a worthy addition to the Stephanie Plum series. The only reservation I have is the reader. It was a surprise to find Steph's "joisey" accent replaced by a middle America whitebread one although the reader portrayed the collateral characters very well.
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Summary: Doing Hard Time!
Review: Stephanie Plum is a bond enforcement agent. In this recent installment of the long running series, her life is the same mess it always is. Her love live is still complicated and confusing as she is torn between Ranger and Morelli. But Morelli wants marriage and for her to settle down and quit the business and she isn't about to do that so that relationship is on the backburner. Ranger has yet to collect on his debt from the last book (Seven Up) and while she does want him to collect she is afraid of what the experience has in store for her when he does. Professionally, she is still working for her cousin Vinnie and apprehending failure to appears so that he does not have to pay off on the bonds. But, the bond business has added a new wrinkle-child custody bonds. She hasn't heard of them before and as the book opens, finds out about their existence from Mabel, the grandmother that owns the other half of the duplex where Stephanie's parents live. Mabel put up her house to guarantee the bond of her daughter, Evelyn. Evelyn and her ex husband, Steven Soder, have a daughter named Annie. Now Annie and Evelyn have disappeared and the shady Steven wants the money guaranteed by the bond so that he can ostensibly look for his daughter. True Blue Bonds Bail Agency is going after the house and Mabel is beside herself with grief and worry about her family as well as the prospects of losing her house. While Stephanie wants to stay out of it, Grandma Mazur is insisting that she help. Stephanie agrees and with the deadline fast approaching to find her or lose the house, she begins the search. She begins looking and while she does not find them, she soon discovers that somehow the psychotic Eddie Abruzzi is involved. While the connection isn't clear, the wreckage left in his wake is and he has declared her part of the enemy as he wages war to find Evelyn and her daughter Anne. At the same time she is working this case for free, she is supposed to deal with the problem of the violent drunk Andy Bender again as well as several other cases. But those pale in comparison as the psychotic Eddie Abruzzi steps up the pressure on her as she experiences his personal obsession. Number eight in the series sheds no new light on Stephanie or her character. She is still fumbling around, making the same mistakes that she made in book one with outrageous consequences. On one hand it is comfortable reading because there are no new surprises and the characters for the most part all act the same. There is nothing new here and certainly nothing to rattle the comfort level of the reader by suddenly killing off a favorite character or something as so many authors are want to do. On the other hand, much of this has been done before and one expects most folks to learn something from their past. For example, when one knows a psycho is stalking, it is best to have bullets in the gun beforehand no matter how much one does not like guns. Does she? Of course not. With psychos and henchmen constantly after her as well as blowing up her latest car (she has always had a hard time with cars) she walks around without her gun. If this was a person in real life, it would drive one nuts. Chronically stupid is not an endearing quality and it would be nice if Stephanie would be a little less neurotic and a little smarter after all this time.
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Summary: Not bad, not great
Review: I like this series. I even like this book, but the author is starting to strain a bit. I've read most of the jokes in earlier books, and I found myself skipping ahead, just to get to something new. So ok, her relationship with Ranger is finally getting somewhere, but as Ranger himself says, there's not much future in a relationship with Ranger. I suspect we're just marking time here. And what's with Stephanie and Morelli? Stephanie says that she just can't be what Morelli wants...oh, really? At one point Grandma Mazur says that Stephanie (and her young niece who thinks she's a horse) are "like her," meaning they have imagination, they don't fit in with mundane humanity. Now let's see...Stephanie is a bounty hunter, but she makes no effort to become a really good bounty hunter. She was in the bottom 2% of her college class and has no academic ambitions. She's not trying to become a businesswoman or learn a trade or open a restaurant. I have a pretty good idea of what Stephanie isn't, but no idea at all of what she wants out of her life. I suspect that in the end, when the series has been milked for all it has left, that she'll want Morelli, and that seems just fine to me.
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Summary: Evanovich has done it again!!
Review: Book eight in the Stephanie Plum series is a bit darker than the previous sevem books. Its still a very enjoyable book, with lots of humor and laughter. Fans will enjoy the book and the return of our favorite characters with a few new ones to chuckle over. Mystery readers will enjoy the story told with Evanovich's special twist of humor, sarcasim and Jersey girl style. As with the previous seven books Evanovich has lived up to the style, humor and quality of writing that we have come to expect from her. Definately worth the reading time!
Rating:
Summary: Still Fun and Entertaining
Review: Although some of the characters feel like "repeats" from other novels and some incidents that have occurred in prior novels occur in this book, Evanovich still gives her reader a fast-paced, funny read. Plum is the quintessential bungler and all the more hilarious for it. Wish there was more developmen t re; a relationship between Stephanie and either Ranger or Morelli. Things seem to be in limbo with this book. But if you're looking for a book that's highly entertaining and is a quick read, you can't miss with "Hard Eight".
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