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!

Janet Evanovich - Smokin' Seventeen

Publisher: Random House, Inc

ISBN: 978-0-345-52768-4

My rating: 2/5

Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum.

Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie's name is on the killer's list.
Short on time to find evidence proving the killer's identity, things get even more complicated for Stephanie when family and friends decide it's time for her to decide between long-time off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop, Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert, Ranger. Stephanie's mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both, and choose a former high school football star who has just returned to town. Stephanie's sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir "bake-off". And Grandma Bella, Morelli's old world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts "the eye" on Stephanie.
With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men and  a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie's life looks like it's about to go up in smoke. (www.evanovich.com)


My thoughts

See - I have no idea what to write or for that matter what to think about "Seventeen". I thought it was boring, confusing and here and there an affront to the readers.

I read a review on goodreads the other day and even though slightly harsh, it pinpoints more or less what I've been thinking. Click here to read the review.

So, okay, there was lots of Ranger, I always like that. He's my favourite without a doubt! Morelli is a sex addict who is not interested in spending any time with SP if it doesn't end up in the bedroom. Anybody else who finds that irritating?  Lula is slightly funny and Grandma Mazur is being neglected. As for Steph - the Vordo thingy is ridiculous and not enough reason for hopping into bed with the two men in her life within a day!

Anybody else who had figured out the killer half way through the book? Yup, it was too obvious, I thought.

Read it if you're a die hard Plum fan, otherwise, read the first few installments - They're brilliant!

Janet Evanovich - Sizzling Sixteen

Publisher: St Martins Press

ISBN: 978-0312383305

My rating: 3/5


Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck....

BAD LUCK:
Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.
GOOD LUCK:
Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.
BAD LUCK:
Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up local stoner Walter “Moon Man” Dunphy's vibe and making Stephanie question genetics.
GOOD LUCK:
Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, a plan that makes Mooner’s Hobbit-Con look sane, and Uncle Pip’s mysterious bottle, they just might raise enough money to save Vinnie and the business from ruin.
BAD LUCK:
Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a Turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.
GOOD LUCK:
The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky---the only question is . . . with whom?
 
Sizzling Sixteen . . . so hot, the pages might spontaneously combust!Nothing really sizzling about Sixteen! (http://www.evanovich.com/)


My thoughts
The plot is slightly more interesting than Fifteen (which wasn’t all that hard to achieve I assume), but still very confusing!

So here the short version: Steph is still on a break with Morelli so we get to have lots of Ranger. That has to be good – right? But for once Steph showed a bit of backbone and I respect her more by not jumping into Ranger’s bed just because she’s on a break with Morelli – though the reasoning was quite odd.

The plot? Not sure. Vinnie gets kidnapped because of gambling debts. Steph, Lula and Connie first try to find him and then to pay the debt.

And finally; what was it with all the hobbits?