Stephanie is stalked by a maniac returned from the grave for the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. He's killed before, and he'll kill again if given the chance. Caught between staying far away from the bounty hunter business and staying alive, Stephanie reexamines her life and the possibility that being a bounty hunter is the solution rather than the problem. After disturbingly brief careers at the button factory, Kan Klean Dry Cleaners, and Cluck-in-a-Bucket, Stephanie takes an office position in security, working for Ranger, the sexiest, baddest bounty hunter and businessman on two continents. Tempers and temperatures rise as competition ratchets up between the two men in her life -- her on-again, off-again boyfriend, tough Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and her boss, Ranger. Can Stephanie Plum take the heat? Can you?
321 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 21,2005
Perpetrator Name and Alias: Ricardo Carlos Manoso (aka: Ranger).D.O.B.: AugustWanted For: Thinking a salad is a meal and skipping dessert.Previous Offenses: Las Vegas, Nevada—Classified Information. Suspect is no longer allowed in state.Trenton, New Jerse...
Height: 5 5"Hair: Blonde, no red, no brown, it all looks good on meEyes: BrownJob History: Former ho, now file clerk and part time bounty hunterFavorite Fast Food: Chicken from Cluck-in-a-Bucket, burgers, donuts, subs, pancakes, pizza and baco...
Stephanie Plums maternal grandmother, who is nothing like her more traditional daughter, Stephanies mom. Lives in the ‘burg; spends her days attending visitations and funerals, like the other old ladies in the ‘burg. But she has a wild streak and energy t...
Real name Salvatore Sweet; an extremely tall cross-dressing musician and school bus driver; great at solving puzzles and cryptography; he was the wedding planner for Valeries wedding....
Current Position: Detective, Crimes against Persons, Trenton PDPrevious Positions Held: Patrol, ViceCriminal Record: Minor run-ins with the law related to intoxication/fighting and writing on bathroom walls in his youth. Previously wanted in connection wi...
Single young woman in Trenton, NJ who was raised by traditional, Roman Catholic parents but has a healthy libido nonetheless. On and off relationship with Joe Morelli, whom shes known since grade school, but finds it hard to resist Ranger as well. Half-It...
Okay, so I made a promise to myself that this had to be the last one for a while. And let me tell you, it was an amazing one to end on. I got to witness Plum's attempt to leave the bounty-hunter business behind, and of course, it was just a一连串 glorious的灾难. One after another, it was like a never-ending comedy of errors.
I still get a bit mad about her whole "He's sexy, oh no he's sexy" thing. I understand that it's a tension-building love triangle situation. But I guess I just don't really get into those when the one stuck in the middle stays (mostly) in a relationship. I mean, you're in a relationship, you chose to be in it and you do seem to enjoy it. So, like, stop letting the other guy kiss you already!
In spite of that, though, I truly love everybody in these books. And I love following them around, and for me, this book was a lot more about just following everyone around and "hanging out with them" than about the mystery plot. Which is actually really cool.
I haven't been mentioning the mystery plot of each one as I've gone along, but they're almost always mapped out well, with some really cool red herrings. I've managed to figure out some things, but it doesn't make me hate the plot or anything when I do. I could do without Evanovich's tendency to have the "bad guy" sum up all his motives and actions at the end of the book, when Plum's "getting him to talk." You know what I mean? But it hasn't been too particularly irritating either, probably because I tend to kind of skip over those paragraphs of dialogue.
Heh.
Anyway, definitely there are problems with the books, but they are still extremely entertaining. And, as I said, this was a good one to stop on. But here's the deal. There's a preview of the next book at the end, in the form of that book's first chapter. And when I got to the end of that preview, I had to throw the book out in the yard. Somehow, I felt that doing that would keep me from going back on my promise to stop on Eleven on Top, at least for now. Because, dude. DOOOD.
(When it started to sprinkle outside, I hurried to rescue the book. It's fine.)