Rating: 
Summary: Stephanie Plum - You've Got to Love Her!
Review: "Three to get Deadly" continues Janet Evanovich's superb Stephanie Plum series and it does not disappoint. Our favourite inept bounty hunter, Ms. Plum herself, is back in action, surrounded by all of the eccentric and quirky characters from Trenton, New Jersey that we have grown to know and love. Fast-paced and full of laughs, "Three to get Deadly" is a book you don't want to miss.Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter extraordinaire, is on a new case that she really doesn't want to have. Usually her FTAs (failure to appears) are not the finest society has to offer and nobody minds Stephanie hunting them down. Unfortunately, this time Stephanie is looking for Moses "Uncle Mo" Bedemier, Trenton's favourite citizen and their beloved neighbourhood candy store owner. It seems strange to Stephanie that Uncle Mo jumped bail on the minor charge of carrying concealed, which would more than likely only have gotten him a slap on the wrist. Despite the hostility she's generating searching for Uncle Mo, Stephanie sticks with it, though it isn't easy to get even a single lead with all of Trenton banding together to protect Mo. But Stephanie has an uncanny knack for walking right into the middle of things, and while taking a unauthorized tour of Uncle Mo's candy store, Stephanie gets knocked out and wakes up next to a dead man. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's something more going on here than a concealed weapon charge, and as local drug dealers start turning up dead all over the place, it leads Stephanie to believe that good old Uncle Mo has become an anti-drug vigilante. The mystery in this book is top-notch, and it is blended perfectly with the laugh out loud humour that is so prevalent in this instalment. With Lula, the 230lb ex-hooker as Stephanie's sidekick, gun-toting Grandma Mazur always wanting to help out, and dangerously sexy vice cop Joe Morelli never far away, this book is downright hilarious, not to mention filled with sexual tension. But when terrifying men dressed in ski masks and coveralls start threatening Stephanie and her hamster, Stephanie realizes her life is once again in serious danger. And so, with a little help from mysterious and sexy fellow bounty hunter Ranger, it's up to Stephanie and her motley crew of bounty hunters in training to catch Uncle Mo and these masked men before Stephanie catches a bullet in the head. "Three to get Deadly" is another great read in a truly wonderful series. Evanovich has a fabulous dry wit and impeccable comedic timing, which combine to make one really funny book. Stephanie Plum is so likable and so much fun to spend time with that I have read the first four books in this series in less than a week. Evanovich has created a marvellous character in Stephanie Plum; she's the kind of person you'd like for a friend and she makes this series what it is. "Three to get Deadly" is a fun-filled and suspenseful read and it comes highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Slapstick & Irreverent
Review: Slapstick and irreverent, the adventures of Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter, continue to keep her fans howling. Stephanie has an attitude, car woes, some weird eating habits, a number of really, really, really bad hair days, and actually wrestles with a chicken. But she really draws the line when Rex, the hamster, is threatened. Ranger and Joe Morelli take turns leaving Stephanie breathless and/or ticked off, Mama keeps on cooking, Uncle Mo stays missing as the body count increases and the scenarios get wilder and wilder. The cast of characters crosses all lines, and are absolutely extraordinary. This book was so action packed that I have to give a lot of credit to the author, for keeping the story coherent and (somewhat) believable. The scene with Lula and the extra passenger still leaves me shaking my head and snorting. Let me recommend this one, as light and silly and fun. The unabridged audio is sensational and will have you laughing through the traffic. The reader didn't quite have enough Stephanie attitude, but was still quite good.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic
Review: I took "Three" and "Four" on a cruise expecting two treats. Instead what I got from this one was pure boredom. Perhaps it is inevitable that a series becomes a matter of filling in the blanks. In this case, what started out with a bang has become a predictable succession of events. Sure, many of these are humorous but we all know by now that Stephanie will endure her parents, Grandma will act strange, Joe will flirt and Lula will holler. The series needs a little "oomph" to keep going. The story was also not one of the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Times A Lady
Review: While the first two installments of this series were surely entertaining romps of New Jersey's unlikeliest bounty hunter, in "Three To Get Deadly," Janet Evanovich really seems to be hitting her stride. As usual, this is a fast read as Stephanie Plum tries to track down beloved "burg" candy storeowner Uncle Mo who has mysteriously disappeared and left behind a trail of bodies. The danger is as high as ever (even Steph's beloved pet hamster Rex finds himself in peril), but so it is the comedy. The entire supporting cast is back - Morelli, Ranger, and Steph's loveably loony family. "Three's" scene-stealer is Lula, the hooker that Steph befriended in the first installment and who now works at the bail bond agency. The often overly enthusiastic Lula, who can even give Grandma Mazur a run for her money, rides shotgun on many adventures with our bumbling heroine. Perhaps reviewing "Three" is a bit silly. If you are at this point in the series, there is little doubt that you have already fallen for Steph and her friends, family, and co-workers. "Three" will not disappoint Evanovich fans. Personally, I think it is the best one yet. And as a bonus, the publisher whets your appetite for the next case with the opening chapter of "Four to Score."
Rating:
Summary: Formulaic
Review: I took "Three" and "Four" on a cruise expecting two treats. Instead what I got from this one was pure boredom. Perhaps it is inevitable that a series becomes a matter of filling in the blanks. In this case, what started out with a bang has become a predictable succession of events. Sure, many of these are humorous but we all know by now that Stephanie will endure her parents, Grandma will act strange, Joe will flirt and Lula will holler. The series needs a little "oomph" to keep going. The story was also not one of the best.
Rating:
Summary: Another HIT
Review: Wow, I loved this book!! They get funnier and funnier, I strongly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Where's Mo?
Review: I'm now three books into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I've yet to be bored - even a little bit - and that's worth a five-star rating by itself. I get bored easily. By now, klutzy Stephanie is settled into her career as a bounty hunter employed by her sleaze-ball cousin Vinnie, a bail bondsman in beautiful Trenton, NJ, a job she took in desperation after being fired from her previous gig as a lingerie buyer. Her latest quarry is the affectionately-named Uncle Mo, the elderly, unmarried owner of the neighborhood ice cream and candy emporium, who skipped bail after being charged for carrying a concealed weapon - everyone in Trenton carries, it seems - by an overzealous cop on a traffic stop. In trying to track Mo down, Plum discovers that little is known about him by neighbors and relatives. But, Stephanie is considered Pond Scum by all for hounding a man akin to the Pope and Santa Claus all rolled into one. Then, local drug dealers start disappearing. And what's that putrid smell coming from the basement of Mo's store? As Stephanie delicately puts it, "Is it dookey?" For me, the series hasn't become stale because Evanovich either brings to the forefront a tangential character from a previous novel, or inserts a brand new one into the plot. In THREE TO GET DEADLY, Lula, a reformed ho beaten and left for dead on Stephanie's fire escape month's before, now does filing for Vinnie and insists on "assisting" Plum on her takedowns. And we're initially introduced to Stephanie's former first husband, the shyster lawyer Dickie Orr. In the meantime, the sexual tension remains high between Stephanie and Joe Morelli, the exasperating Trenton plain-clothes cop whom the teenaged former once ran down with the family Buick after the teenaged latter despoiled Stephanie's maidenhood on the floor behind the eclair case of the local donut shop where she was working at the time. The images conjured by Janet's prose are hilarious, as when Stephanie and her pet hamster Rex are beset by two thugs in her apartment and shots are fired. Her elderly neighbors pour forth to lend help with enough armament to have rescued Custer. Or when Stephanie struggles to apprehend a fugitive costumed as a chicken in a fast food joint. I normally like to vary my reading, but I'm immediately jumping to Plum's next escapade, FOUR TO SCORE. Albeit frivolous, this is good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Bewildered
Review: I'm completely bewildered as to why this series is so popular, but it only seems further evidence of the decline of Western Civilization where trash has become mainstream, be it junk TV or junk novels. And I know Jersey well, too. The characters, particularly Lulu, were incredibly annoying and often of the lowest common denominator. The plot was thin, at best, and far from challenging -- and as to what was so hilarious, you've got me! I have never considered "astute" dialogue to be bad English, whether it's supposed to resemble "real" conversation or not. It's not hard to write such dialogue, it's actually harder to be "witty." Wit this is not unless you consider the smartass dialogue in some movies "wit" even if you can see it coming a mile away. But to each his or her own, obviously. Still, I don't get it and I couldn't get through this book. It seemed like a huge waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps getting better and better . . .
Review: Evanovich is getting better and better at this series. Stephanie Plum, semi-reluctant bounty hunter for five months now for her bail bondsmen cousin, Vinnie, is still trying hard, still learning her trade, still relying on others as necessary. If she didn't live in Trenton's blue-collar "burg," surrounded by supportive family, old school friends, and her ever-reliable gossip network, she probably would never make it. But she can always call on Ranger, a truly bad-ass bounty hunter and her sometime mentor. And she can always go home for meals when the checks are slow in coming. And especially, she can always depend on vice cop Morelli to show up with pizza, park outside her apartment building watching for the bad guys, and keep her lust stoked. This time, the quarry is the burg's beloved "Uncle Mo" Bedemier, proprietor of the candy store, who has always opposed drugs and bad influences generally and whose store has long been a safe haven for kids. Uncle Mo got tapped by a rookie for carrying concealed and not only has he blown off his court date (which makes him scum as far as Vinnie is concerned, regardless of how the rest of the community feels about him), he's completely disappeared. More than that, drug dealers begin disappearing, too, including several that Stephanie and her wannabe sidekick, Lula, literally stumble over themselves. As with the first two books, there are plenty of very funny, very cinematic scenes here -- especially the great chicken takedown.
Rating:
Summary: I'd rate it lower if I could
Review: Admittedly, not having read the first 2 books of this character, I'm coming in cold. I can't recall a dumber major character in a book. Stupid moves compound themselves for the major character, making it difficult to root for someone so completely clueless floundering in her chosen profession. The main character should be stocking shelves in a department store, not trying her inept hand at bounty hunting. (Ex: A bounty hunter that: A. forgets her gun often B. Forgets to load her gun C. Can't seem to keep her cell phone batteries charged.) I'm sure this might be more interesting to someone from Jersey. If you liked "Dumb and Dumber" which many people did, you might like this character. My thoughts run toward: Any bouty hunter this weak, stupid and unprepared would not last much more than a week. Couldn't buy into the idiocy, making the contrived humor harder to take. If you like true crime or well thought out murder mysteries, avoid this like the plague. If you're a fan of oprah, jersey and thought "dude where's my car" is a masterpiece, this might just be for you. I want the hours of my life spent reading this book back.
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