Paperback, 334 pages
English language
Published June 13, 2006 by St. Martin's Griffin.
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.
Meh. Needlessly violent / cruel, also predictable.
The first book in Evanovich's Stephanie Plumb series (which is currently up to 25 books!), this lays out the start of Plumb's career as a bounty hunter. She runs up against some pretty tough dudes (like a potential heavy weight champion who promises to do awful things to her) and some guys from her past (who she would rather had stayed there). Not a typical profession for a mystery series, but she definitely and not surprisingly, gets mixed up in a mystery that, as usual, boils down to a drug problem.
The New Jersey neighborhoods of Trenton are written about with care and color. Plumb is a pretty funny character, full of moxie, charm, and trepidation. Not some macho guy who can knock down walls, she still does a pretty good job of standing up for herself.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice the audiobook was an abridged version. I did wonder …
The first book in Evanovich's Stephanie Plumb series (which is currently up to 25 books!), this lays out the start of Plumb's career as a bounty hunter. She runs up against some pretty tough dudes (like a potential heavy weight champion who promises to do awful things to her) and some guys from her past (who she would rather had stayed there). Not a typical profession for a mystery series, but she definitely and not surprisingly, gets mixed up in a mystery that, as usual, boils down to a drug problem.
The New Jersey neighborhoods of Trenton are written about with care and color. Plumb is a pretty funny character, full of moxie, charm, and trepidation. Not some macho guy who can knock down walls, she still does a pretty good job of standing up for herself.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice the audiobook was an abridged version. I did wonder why it was so short, but I just figured it was a short book. But I am sure I got the gist of it and the narrator, Lori Petty, is realistically Joisey enough to be annoying, so that's good I think. The story moved along nicely (not surprising in an abridged version!) and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I'll give the next book a try, although the non-abridged version is narrated by someone else. Maybe I will give the actual book a try instead. But if you have somehow missed the Stephanie Plumb series, I suggest giving it a whirl.
I like Stephanie, in large part because she's not perfect: she makes mistakes, sometimes stupid ones, and I can sympathize with that. But she also learns, and soldiers through adversity.
A lot of people said this was funny. While there were some amusing bits, I admit I didn't find it all that funny. But that may be because I didn't grow up in Trenton, and I don't know all the people in Stephanie's world, though it's clear that Evanovich knows them quite well.
SpoilerI've taken off one star because of the villain's speech at the end, explaining the whole plot.
Different with likeable characters, I'll look forward to book 2!
Another entertaining read, disposable but well-written. The ending wrapped things up just a little bit too perfectly, with the villain explaining his nefarious plan in detail while a recording device was present, but... nobody's perfect, y'know?
