Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. The bail bonds office has burned to the ground, and bodies are turning up in the empty construction lot. To make matters worse, Stephanie is working out of a motor home she shares with a dancing bear, and Joe Morelli's old-world grandmother has declared a vendetta against her. And just when Stephanie decides it might be time to choose between the two men in her life, Morelli and Ranger, a third man from Stephanie's past moves back to Trenton...
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Things are not going well for the Jersey Girl bail-bondswoman Stephanie Plum or for her creator. Stephanie's sometimes-boyfriend Morelli's grandma Bella has put the evil eye on her, and Evanovich seems to be running out of steam in this long-running series. Worse, the story ends with Stephanie going off to Hawaii with & whom? Her cousin Vinny's bail-bonds office is now run temporarily out of stoner Mooner's van, since the office was incinerated. Her sidekick Lula's gone from bigger-than-life to complete cliche (there is a Lula food fight, but it is Stephanie who ends up smelling of sauerkraut). There are a couple of very scary villains, one of whom Stephanie's mother and grandmother are trying to set her up with, although his creepiness only comes out slowly. There's also a vampire story line we kid you not! And besides Morelli, there is Ranger, the other man in Stephanie's life. This long-running series, starting with One for the Money (1994), used to be funny and sexy and smart, but the characters are sketched in increasingly broad strokes and are no longer growing or learning or changing. Or very much fun this outing. To end on a cliff-hanger is just mean.--DeCandido, GraceAnne A. Copyright 2010 Booklist" From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
