Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13) by Janet Evanovich
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Book Reviews of Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13)
Book Review: Series getting stale and predictable...but still funny
Summary: 3 Stars
Let's face it fellow readers. Janet Evanovitch has harvested from these same fertile fields many times and she still produces a good crop. Has the time come to rotate her crops? Probably. Is the current crop as good as those harvested when her soil was fresh? No. Is it still worth your while to eat from this particular harvest. Yes. Are things getting a bit, shall we say stale, in this particular field. Absolutely! That being said, a few things are glaringly apparent.
First, I'm way past wanting Stephanie to choose between her love interests. I just want the woman to GROW UP! If she is going to remain remotely interesting she needs to change. Whether the decision to keep Stephanie in a box is made by author or publisher remains to be seen; but both would be well advised to let this 30-ish adolescent grow up just a tad.
Second, Grandma Mazur needs a new pasttime. Hanging out at the funeral home is way past creepy.
Third, please let Stephanie get a real job for a change and moonlight as a bounty hunter. Do something to get this woman a little money in her pocket.
I could go on, but the point is that this series needs to grow. From the reviews of the 14th installment that didn't happen this year. Dear Janet, a word to the wise, give your characters some growing room. Dear Publisher, let the series progress. But in the meantime, the book has a few laugh-out-loud moments and that's enough for paperback entertainment. But my days of spending hardback bucks on Stephanie have long since passed.
Book Review: Reading with Tequila
Summary: 3 Stars
Lean Mean Thirteen wasn't my favorite of the Stephanie Plum series. It felt less light-hearted than previous Plum books. Perhaps it was the focus on Dickie Orr, Stephanie's ex-husband. Stephanie doesn't get angry much, but when it comes to Dickie, she has absolutely no control over her rage. And rightly so. He was awful to her and continues to be disgusting every time she speaks with him. It all makes sense. Unfortunately Stephanie's dark anger took away from usual fun and frivolity, making the entire tone of the novel something less humorous than usual.
All the key components to any great Plum novels are there in Lean Mean Thirteen. Morelli, Ranger, Grandma Mazur, and Lula are all there. There's pathetic attempts at apprehensions, cars destroyed, explosions and mishaps galore. Yet, something was off.
The mystery of Dickie and the rest of his law firm was good and definitely keeps you guessing, but it didn't have the urgency that I usually like. I want to feel that must keep reading, must find out what happens immediately, feeling and it just wasn't there with Lean Mean Thirteen.
I love the Stephanie Plum series and while Lean Mean Thirteen was decent, I could have easily skipped this installment and not felt like I missed anything important.
Book Review: The series is not what it used to be, but it's still fun.
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read all of this series up to 13 and I really feel like it isn't what it used to be, but it's still fun, put-brain-in-park reading. I remember earlier in the series when I would be guffawing on a regular basis while reading. Now, I chuckle from time to time but it's definitely not the gut-buster type of experience it used to be.
Used to be, I got most of my laughs from Grandma Mazur and Lula, but in this book it was more reactions from Stephanie's Mom & Dad to something Grandma Mazur did or said, or from Morelli & Ranger to something Stephanie did.
I found books 14 and 15 on sale so I am going to continue reading. I just don't run to the bookstore immediately upon publication anymore to buy them."
Book Review: The Plum Series is Going Down Hill!
Summary: 3 Stars
I love the Plum Series but this book just didn't do it for me at all. It was still funny in some parts but not as witty as the past editions. I used to laugh out loud with the other books but this one was sub par. I have heard that "14" is even worse. Not impressed.Book Review: LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN
Summary: 2 Stars
.Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13)
A ghost-written Plum? Oh my. All of the other Stephanie Plum 'Bounty Hunter' series have been fast, laugh out loud, one day reads. The plots are almost incidental to the fun banter, sexual tension and general silliness. A real guilty pleasure. But in this one the banter has been replaced with stilted dialogue that just seems totally out of character and the sexual tension has been replaced by crude, romance novel drivel. In any series part of the fun is getting to know the characters and anticipating their reactions to a situation. It makes the reading fast and the laughs louder. On this one, rather than the reading flowing along, I kept getting thrown off by all of the character/dialogue inconsistencies. Burg-ers of the past said 'fudge', 'frick, 'finkin' or anything else but in this one even Grandma Mazur is throwing 'f-bombs'. Morelli's playing happy housewife, Ranger's insecure about his looks and downright talkative, Lula's saying things like 'I'm considering the consequences', Tank's carrying on conversations and Stephanie's insecurities, Jersey-girl attitude and good girl dilemmas are almost totally missing. These are the same characters in name only. I can understand an author getting bored or stuck and the plot line suffering but when the basic voice of the characters is so drastically different it leads me to believe that it was written by someone else. Too bad, I'd have rather seen the series end