Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
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Book Reviews of Fearless Fourteen
Book Review: Fun and More Fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I think Fearless Fourteen is classic Janet. Sure, Janet uses a couple "moments" or "lines" that were used in previous books, but that pales in comparison to all that was wonderful about this book.
1) Stephanie THINKS in this book. I loved how many times she sat down and put herself in the antagonist's shoes, and tried to figure out who he was or what he'd do next in order to solve the mystery of his identity and figure out how to get Loretta back. This book wasn't a series of pratfall jokes where Steph continually rolled in garbage (although those were still used sparingly to great comic effect), but a showcase of Steph's mystery solving skills more like the early books. And she and Joe worked very well together. While he was working the gang killings, he trusted Steph to handle the Loretta situation and she did so very well. And then there was the Shazam! Woo Hoo!! Janet gave us a lot of warmth, sexy banter, teamwork, and fun with Joe and Steph.
2) Stephanie did a lot of growing in this book and it was time. Whether it was inner musings with herself or through conversations with Rex, we saw genuine emotion from Steph when she was scared, frustrated, re-evaluating who she was.
3) There's actually a mystery. In the majority of the past books, you know who the villain is. I liked the change that we don't know until the very end who the antagonist is in this story. Something to guess at while we were reading, figuring it out along with Steph. That's what a "mystery" is.
4) Ranger lost a lot of his creepiness factor. There were some minor flirting comments, nothing serious, and that left him time for the dry, witty "straight man" humor I first enjoyed in the early books. Almost any time he opened his mouth to say something about Brenda I laughed.
5) The lack of the triangle was a huge positive. Mainly because "triangle" is a misnomer. All three parties have to be aware the relationship involves three people to be a triangle, otherwise it's cheating. JE said recently that Steph is human, and absolutely she's going to notice Ranger is a good looking guy. But in Fearless Fourteen she never does anything in response to those thoughts (and there are only a couple of them besides), and even though Ranger verbally flirts, he didn't make any physical moves either. Leaving page time for the mystery and the humor.
6) As to the humor, I loved Carl the monkey. Mooner was great, better than before. The "Star Fleet" potato cannon members were a hoot. Grandma Mazur was hilarious. Brenda was funny, and her interactions with Ranger were some of the funniest in the book. Same when she was with Joe. Zook was a great character and I hope we see him again. I laughed out loud throughout the book and the last time I can remember doing that with a Plum was TTN. But Fearless Fourteen took the characters back to the early books, then added in some new friends, and it all worked wonderfully.
Buy this book and you're in for a fun ride.
Book Review: New characters with the old
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a hoot. As in "Plum Lucky" (the last between-the-numbers novel), Evanovich introduces some new characters to the series to keep it vibrant. We have Zook, the teenage son of one of Morelli's cousins, who is a likable character whom I would hope to see pop up in future novels in the series. We also have Brenda, a 61-year old version of Briteny with the same bad girl habits. We see a lot more of Morelli's family in this novel, but still a little of the Plum family, including Grandma Mazur. Of course we also have Ranger, whom Stephi can call on for help if she needs a little B&E to gain entry to a building or a file of information on an individual. Every man has his uses. Of course there is Lula, and there is Bob (woof). Yes, there is a monkey that shows up in a couple scenes.
Janet Evanovich may not win a Pulitzer, but she does provide some very good light entertainment. A member of an Internet Forum compared her to Carol Burnett. You can expect things to be blown up (usually at least one vehicle) or set on fire. Some reviewers complain that she reuses the same plot devices, but there are many ways to blow up a vehicle. She also introduces a few new things. In this novel you are introduced to the potato gun. Don't do this at home. More to the point, don't let your children do this at home.
There is a plot in all this. There is the $7 million in loot missing after a robbery 10 years previously where one of Morelli's cousins was involved. There are people from the Burg and a couple dead bodies. And there is Brenda, an aging star looking for a new lease on life. The novel has earthy language and sex by reference.
It has come to my attention that there is a small, vocal group of Ranger fans making an attempt to give this novel a bad rating. They are easily identified. The best you can do is ignore their squaking.
As a side note, an interview with Janet Evanovich appears in "Speaking of Murder - Volume 2." She said her first novel (unpublished) was "this very strange book about a fairy who was living in this scary forest in Eastern Pennsylvania." She obviously has a creative mind when it comes to characters, and only she could come up with the ones used in the novels.
If you are interested in characters created by a different author, I would recommend independent insurance investigator Fifi Cutter and her freeloading half-brother Bosco Dorff in "Murder...Suicide...Whatever," a novel by Gwen Freeman.
For something different, you might also try PI Izzy Spellman in "The Spellman Files," the first novel in a fairly new series by Lisa Lutz.
Book Review: Fun, fabulous, fantastic number 14
Summary: 5 Stars
Trenton, New Jersey's most infamous bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, may not have a reputation for keeping her promises. But when it comes to a kid, does she have a choice? Her latest adventure begins with an offhand remark to a mother who failed to appear at her court hearing that she didn't have to worry --- Stephanie would pick up Zook, the woman's teenage son, from school if Mom hadn't finished the paperwork at the police station in time. Stephanie wouldn't do this for just anybody, but the mother is Joe Morelli's cousin Loretta (he's related to half of Trenton), so she's almost family. Simple, right?
If you're a Stephanie Plum fan, you already know that nothing in her life is simple.
Loretta is kidnapped and held for a $7 million ransom of hot money from a bank job her brother Dom went to jail for that may be buried in Joe's basement. This would explain the strange men who start coming and going through Joe's cellar door ever since Dom got out of jail last week. When one of them winds up dead with a bullet hole in his forehead in the middle of Joe's basement floor, he hires a friend to guard his house.
Joe and Stephanie are surrogate parents to Zook, the nerdy 14-year-old whose ears are permanently attached to his iPod and his fingertips connected to his laptop computer. When things turn nasty at Joe's house, they move Zook and his entourage (he's something of a gamer guru and has established a following) to Stephanie's apartment.
Meanwhile, Stephanie is moonlighting for Ranger as a bodyguard for has-been country western singer Brenda, playing Trenton on a farewell tour. Brenda decides that bounty hunting would be a great new career choice after watching Stephanie and Lula in action, so she tags along as they try to rescue Zook's mom from the kidnappers. That job becomes more urgent after a well-manicured toe arrives attached to a brick through the window with threats of more body parts to come.
Somehow, a nasty little monkey named Carl gets involved but doesn't meet the end he so richly deserves.
Janet Evanovich introduces several new characters, most of whom are related to Joe, and some effective new weaponry in the form of potato shooters. The computer gamers ride to the rescue along with the professionals, and all is calm in the burg once again. The crime is resolved, but Stephanie's complicated relationship with Joe and Ranger is not. Hopefully we won't have to wait another year to get our hands on book 15!
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
Book Review: Five stars because it made me laugh out loud!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am one of those Janet Evanovich fans who runs to the bookstore (or computer) to make sure I have her latest novel in my lap almost as soon as it is off the press. The Stephanie Plum series is without question her finest effort. It features the greatest lineup of kooky, lovable characters and wildly funny scenarios I have ever read. I don't know of any other books that make me laugh so hard.
I agree with many of the reviewers who feel that "Fearless Fourteen" is not the best or brightest star in this series. It lacks the depth of plot and fast paced telling that many of the earlier novels had. But it ranks among Ms. Evanovich's best writing as far as I am concerned. She has an amazing gift for being able to paint a wonderful portrait of her characters wtih very few words. Just one small example, when encountering Lula for the first time in this novel, she is described as "a former 'ho turned bonds office file clerk and wheelman. She's a plus-size black woman who likes to squash herself into too small clothes featuring animal print and spandex. Lula's cup runneth over from head to toe." Now if that doesn't place a clear image of this bizarre character in your mind I don't know what will! This book, like all of the author's novels in the series, is replete with such fairly brief but wonderfully descriptive characterizations.
This book is another wonderful romp through Stephanie's world of bail bondsmanship in Newark, New Jersey. While it may be short on mystery and suspense it is hysterically funny in its vivid portrayals of the bumbling yet somehow successful efforts of its protagonist. Some of the characters, like the unforgettable Grandma Mazur, may be that much more funny if you know them a bit (from prior novels of course!), but many of the new characters, like Zook and Moondog, and their video gaming nuttiness, had me rolling. I noted that some of the reviewers of this book were unhappy with some of the changes in some characters (e.g., Stephanie would never tolerate that!), but for my part I wholeheartedly enjoy these people, and if they have grown up a bit, well I guess we have to accept that in fiction as in real life! It didn't bother me at all that some of them have softened around the edges.
Whatever you do don't skip this book because of some negative reviews. It is a hoot and a half in a fine tradition of darn funny comedy!
Book Review: Excellent if you can't get enough Plum...
Summary: 5 Stars
Not for people who are tired of the storyline of the bumbling bounty hunter and her penchant for stumbling into trouble
Ok so I understand a lot of people are kind of jaded with the storylines and the characters, but that's what I come back for. I don't understand why people are upset with the characterization of Stephanie and Joseph and Lula.
1.) In every single book it's reiterated that Joe used to REALLY be a Man about Town... I mean even now, just because he's faithful to Stephanie... it's only that he's sheathed his tomcat claws a little, I wouldn't say he was all of a sudden going to be like oh that's my kid... I thought he was totally within character.
2.) Stephanie's character is the fact that she's kind of a bumbling bounty hunter... if she was suddenly good at her job... she wouldn't be Stephanie... In celebration of Fourteen coming out I reread my entire collection from book 1 from about mid-May and I think this book followed nicely... I still can't get enough.
3.) Lula's treatment of Tank is another topic I've seen come up. Lula is just being Lula. That's how she treats everyone. She's funny and kind of a user but we love her because she's Lula.
I think it's one thing to be tired of the books and the way they're sort of formulaic because hello... like most series, written about the same subject by the same author, there tends to be similarities... but it's another to accuse the author of changing the characters... I've just re-read all 13 books and in 14, the characters stay true to themselves.
Even though I bought the book immediately it came out I was re-reading Eleven On Top at the time and reading the reviews, I was so nervous that Morelli would be completely decimated as a character and that I was going to be made to hate him and Lula. So I read the book really cautiously and fully expecting to hate it and with this feeling of apprehension... And I laughed out loud but nervously and really got into it, only to turn the last page and nothing... It was like wait what's everyone talking about? So i re-read it a week later and just finished today and still I love it... I think it's pretty good... It's not my favourite, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Bring on more Plum please!!!!!!!!