Damn skippy

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

I’m aware that it’s traditional to review the first in a series rather than the fourteenth, but I didn’t just read the first book (One for the Money, if you’re interested) so it’s just tough.  *shrugs*

Stephanie Plum works for her cousin Vinnie as a bond enforcement agent, or bounty hunter if you will.  She finds the people who have jumped bail, either through negligence, forgetfulness, fear or sheer lunacy, brings them into the court and makes sure that justice is served.  Or that’s the theory, anyway.  In Stephanie’s case, it’s more likely that she’ll go to their house and find her car destroyed (again), exploding stuffed mammals or lil’ naked midgets all greased up, hoping to evade the long arm of justice through the expediency of being uncatchable.  Then she has to medicate with baked goods and go home to her hamster, Rex.  Steph lives near the ‘Burg, an area of Trenton, New Jersey, where nothing happens without someone’s grandmother seeing and telling everyone else.  Her lovelife is every bit as complicated as her professional one, although thankfully containing fewer oiled dwarfs…

The magic of a Stephanie Plum novel is the repetition of key themes and incidents – her car always gets destroyed, meaning she has to borrow her grandmother’s powder blue Buick again, which she hates.  She will fluff up her hair, add extra layers of mascara and wear something a bit too revealing when she needs to look good (I wish fluffy hair and mascara worked for me…).  Her mother frequently requires her presence at family dinners, probably to convince Grandma Mazur to stop dressing in latex or something, and will bribe her to come with the offer of pineapple upside-down cake, which gives me another excuse to post this picture:

*drools*

Aaaanyway!  My point is that the Stephanie Plum books are comfort food for the brain.  You know what you’re getting with them – a spunky, if somewhat accident-ridden, heroine who has an equal interest in cute men and birthday cake.  Now that’s something I can get on board with.  In this installment, she has to take care of a teenage boy while his mother gets bonded out, only it becomes a slightly more long term arrangement when the mother unexpectedly disappears.  Having discovered the kid’s penchant for tagging, starting with the dog, Stephanie embarks on a hunt for her only to realise that the mysterious disappearance has something to do with the whereabouts of a stash of money – something that the hostage takers will go to any lengths to find.  She has also taken on a job for Ranger’s RangeMan company, protecting a mid-50s singer from a stalker, something her on-off boyfriend is none too happy about.  So, much the same as the other books, really!

Loved it.  Once again, I read it and craved cannoli or mac and cheese the whole way through.  Ms Evanovich certainly knows her audience.

Go on, try to tell me you don’t want something to eat right now.

Advertisement