Review: Janet Evanovich "Takedown Twenty"

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN: 9780345542885

My rating: 3/5


New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore “Uncle Sunny” Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it’s up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in—not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, has skin in the game, because—just Stephanie’s luck—the godfather is his actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.

It’s not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client’s mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she’s working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior center, trying to catch a killer on the loose—and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favor.

With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown. (Evanovich.com)



My thoughts

Same old, same old. More or less.

Nothing much really has changed. Stephanie and Lula are after a big bond Salvatore Sunucchi, but doesn't get very far - and after a few failed attempts, even Stephanie gives up her job.

Rest is the same ... it's a toss up between Ranger and Morelli (there are a few good one-liners from Ranger in this one!), Lula does her thing and Grandma Mazur is in the midst of all.

And then there's the Giraffe. But I won't even go there. 

 

Janet Evanovich - Notorious Nineteen

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN: 9780755385010

My rating: 3/5

 
After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track down the con man. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.
The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember: No guts, no glory. (evanovich.com)


My thoughts

I didn't mind this story. It wasn't exciting, and it wasn't the as good as the first Plum novels, but much better than the ones of late.
The plot is the same as the previous novels, Steph needs money, one big bond is Cubbin, who's disappeared, but unlike the few before this one, one doesn't lose the oversight of who she's actually chasing at the time. Lula is ok, but the jokes are the same. Grandma Mazur has a few more lines in it, but they're getting old, as well. Morelli / Ranger - same here as well. So it's basically the plot that keeps the story going.

Better than the previous ones, but no 'halelujahs' in that one either. Lots of 'Babes' - I DID LIKE THAT :-)


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Janet Evanovich - Explosive Eighteen

Publisher: Bantam Books

ISBN: 978-0-345-52771-4

My rating: n.a.

 

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photograph– Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of a FBI sketch artist Stephanie recreates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.
Over at the Bail Bonds Agency it’s business as usual– until the bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke, Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their “largest” FTA yet, lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment, and everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?!
Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is…it’s complicated. (evanovich.com)


My thoughts

Not my cup of tea - 'nuff said!

"One for the Money" Movie Trailer

Am I looking forward to seeing the movie ?? You bet I am :-)
Trailer looks great, don't you think?

Details on the book - click here.

I'm sure you'll like it so why not check out Number "Explosive Eighteen" !!!