Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
Paperback, 352 Pages
2005, St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 0312936222
Series: Book 10 of Stephanie Plum
Synopsis
She's accidentally destroyed a dozen cars. She's a target for every psycho and miscreant this side of the Jersey Turnpike. He mother's convinced she'll end up dead...or worse, without a man. She's Stephanie Plum and she kicks butt for a living (well, she thought it would sound good to put it that way...)
It begins as an innocent trip to the deli-mart, on a quest for nachos. But Stephanie Plum and her partner, Lula, are clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. A robbery leads to an explosion, which leads to the destruction of yet another car. It would be just another day in the life of Stephanie Plum...except that she becomes the target of a gang. And the target of an even scarier, more dangerous force that comes to Trenton. With super bounty hunter Ranger out of town (and Stephanie on the outs with vice cop Morelli), she finds herself alone, with a decision to make: how to protect herself and where to hide while on the hunt for a killer known as the Junkman. There's only one safe place, and it has Ranger's name all over it-if she can find it. And if the Junkman doesn't find her first. With Lula riding shotgun and Grandma Mazur on the loose, Stephanie Plum is racing against the clock in her most suspenseful novel yet. Ten Big Ones is page-turning entertainment and Janet Evanovich is the best there is.
Review
Ten Big Ones is your average Stephanie Plum novel. The one thing that pushed the book past mediocrity was the ending. I loved the ending. It was one of those never saw it coming, awesome surprises. Probably the best ending of the first ten books.
Stephanie leaves Morelli (yet again). This time she's claiming it's for his safety. In fact, Stephanie seems to be trying to keep herself out of danger this time around. She's not as bumbling as usual and it's about time. She's still not great at her job, but at least she seems slightly less likely to be killed.
Lots of Ranger, though only a little Ranger action - in both senses of the word. Ranger actually starts to seem like a real live person in Ten Big Ones, rather than super hot, action-figure Ranger. He's even funny on occasion.
A great balance between Stephanie's home and work life as usual. Valerie's planning her wedding with Sally Sweet as her wedding planner. And he's good at it. Lula and Connie help Stephanie in a hysterical "torture" scene that'll leave you thinking less of all of them. All in all, an interesting addition to the series that leaves me wondering if Stephanie's days as a bounty hunter are numbered.
Rating
Links
I really need to give her a try already
ReplyDeleteI love her books. You're always sure to get a good laugh. I think it's brilliant how she saved the really zany, over-the-top stuff for now than we've fallen in love with the characters & more willing (eager?) to accept the improbable. I definitely recommend anyone trying this series for the first time start with book one or it would be hard to accept the slapstick humor.
ReplyDelete@caitieflum - I tweeted you about her, but to answer the question for anyone else wondering - I read a couple of Evanovich's stand alone romances and have no memory of them. At all. I vaguely remember liking them okay, but nothing else. I like the Stephanie Plum series more that her Full series, so if you want to give Evanovich a try, I's suggest reading One for the Money and if you like it, continuing the series.
ReplyDelete@ebony - Yes, definitely. I've read a few reviews where the books get bashed for being ludicrously improbable. The thing is, if you read the series one by one, the characters really suck you in and the mystery is kind of in the background (at least for me). These are definitely character driven books and if you grow to love the characters and the humor, the other stuff is just part of the fun experience.
I see the shelf full of Evanovich books every time I'm at the bookstore but I've never actually picked one up. By the sounds of your review maybe I should, though I'd best start with the first one.
ReplyDelete@Evelyn Applegate - Yes, definitely start with the first one. It kind of explains how Stephanie got into her line of work and her "love triangle" situation.
ReplyDelete