2002; 326 pages. Book 8 (out of 29) in the “Stephanie Plum” series. New Author? : No. Genres : Crime–Humor; Women Sleuths; Beach
Novel. Overall Rating: 8*/10.
It’s time to branch out a bit.
After seven books’ worth of
hauling in FTA’s (“Failures To Appear”),
bounty hunter Stephanie Plum elects to do a favor for her parents’ neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, and go looking for Mabel’s daughter Evelyn and
7-year-old granddaughter Annie.
It’s a pro bono job, and Stephanie still has
to nab two FTA’s in her spare time. But
Evelyn’s recently divorced and everyone’s pretty sure she’s just gone into
hiding with her daughter to keep the ex-husband from getting custody of
Annie. Foul play seems unlikely, and
even the ex-hubby seems to want them found.
But take care, Steph. Other parties seem to also be interested in
Evelyn’s and Annie’s whereabouts, and they’re not shy at all about resorting to
violence.
Including a rabbit and a bear. Both about six feet tall.
What’s To Like...
Hard Eight is
the eighth book in Janet Evanovich’s great Stephanie
Plum series. I’ve been reading
the series in order, although I don’t think that’s necessary. The standard formula for these books still
holds true here: what starts out as a seemingly straightforward task—locate the
mother and daughter on the run—rapidly gets more complicated.
Stephanie gets a new, and unwanted, sleuthing partner
here, a bumbling lawyer named Albert Klougn (pronounced
“Clown”), who adds yet another comedic character to the cast. I hope Janet Evanovich plans to make him a
recurring character. Valerie’s daughter Mary Alice returns, she who is convinced she’s a horse, although for a while
here, she’s also a reindeer.
Stephanie still has to chase
down two FTAs (gotta do something to pay the
bills), and as usual, hilarious misadventures arise. There’s also the series-long love triangle
involving Stephanie, Ranger, and Joe Morelli to keep the reader entertained. The recurring effort by Stephanie to choose between the two is once again present, and it’s not a spoiler to say
that dilemma will carry over to Book Nine.
The main storyline is the search for Evelyn and Annie, but there are various subplots to keep
the reader’s interest. Who sent the
snakes, and why? Who dumped a body in
Stephanie’s apartment? What’s with the
Rabbit and Bear, and later on, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton? Who does Stephanie’s arch rival, Jeanne Ellen
Burrows work for and why is she so interested in all this?
I enjoyed learning about both
death cooties and TastyKake therapy. It
was neat to find out that Stephanie’s “perfect” older sister Valerie once won a
spelling bee in school, since I did the same many years ago. Determining the bad guy’s identity is pretty
easy for both Stephanie and the reader, but that’s okay. This isn’t a whodunit, it’s a “whydunit”.
Excerpts...
“Wait a minute. I have a theoretical question. Suppose you were watching television with
me. And we were alone in my apartment. And I had a couple glasses of wine, and I
sort of passed out. Would you try to
make love to me, anyway? Would you do a
little exploring while I was asleep?”
“What are we watching? Is it the play-offs?”
“You can leave now,” I said. (pg. 175)
Halfway through the movie, the doorbell
rang. It was Ranger. Dressed in his usual black. Full utility belt, looking like Rambo. Hair tied back. He stood there in silence when I opened the
door. The corners of his mouth tipped
slightly into the promise of a smile.
“Babe, your couch is in the hall.”
“It has death cooties.”
“I knew there’d be a good explanation.” (pg. 265)
Ratings…
Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 3,088
ratings and 945 reviews.
Goodreads: 4.16*/5,
based on 121,011 ratings and 2,443 reviews.
“What are you,
nuts? (…) I can’t shoot an unarmed rabbit.”
(pg. 281)
There are a couple nits to
pick.
As usual there’s a bunch of
cussing; I counted 23 instances in the first 20%. There are two rolls-in-the-hay, and one indecent
exposure incident. Overall, this is
about average for a Stephanie Plum book.
For me, the bigger issue was
the ending. The tension builds towards
an exciting showdown, but then all the action occurs offscreen. We don’t witness the reunion with Evelyn and
Annie, we don’t get to see the bad guys get their comeuppance, and worst of all
(ANAICT) we don’t find out why
Stephanie’s stun gun malfunctions at the most critical times.
Still, those bad guys do get
their comeuppance, and all ends well for the two runaways. Hard Eight
is full of interesting characters, snarky dialogue, romantic tension, and LOL
humor. That’s what I expect in a
Stephanie Plum book, and this one delivered on all counts.
8 Stars. For those who keep track of such things accomplished by Stephanie: Total Cars Wrecked: 3. Total Handbags Lost: 1. Total Handcuffs Lost: 5.
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