Review: Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich

 

Explosive Eighteen continues to tease us along in the Ranger vs Morelli lust triangle.

The beginning of the book is particularly annoying, as we are strung long, not knowing who she went on vacation with, or what happened.

Once we get beyond that and find out what happened, I have to wish the story had been made into a book. I think it would have been a much better story than the one we were given. The basic plot wasn't that bad, it was the execution of the plot, and the silly shenanigans getting there, that were the problem.

One good thing though - Stephanie manages to rescue herself in an amazing fashion, without being rescued by either of her guys. I'll add a star to my review for that one fact alone.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was wasn't so bad, but as I said before, the execution of it pretty much sucked.
• Pacing was fine in places and drug out in places.
• Prose and dialogue were typical latter-Plum. Sometimes I wonder if Janet Evanovich is still writing these, as those first eight or nine books were executed so much better.
• Character development continues to stagnate. 

There were a few pluses in Explosive Eighteen. I've already mentioned that Stephanie manages to save herself once. She also seems to have a better handle on her own self esteem, and she's getting a bit better at planning and executing when it comes to catching FTA's. Not that she's good at it yet, she still has to screw up at least once with each person, but she's better at figuring out what went wrong and correcting for it. She's also not as hung up on whether or not she's a slut as she once was. That was annoying, I'm glad it's mostly stopped. There was an annoying bit about her being a slut if she slept in the nude (since all of her pajamas were dirty), though.

What I'm leading up to is the part where I figure out a rating, and I'm thinking it's going to be a six of ten. I keep reading the series because I keep thinking that eventually there will have to be a resolution.   I'm keeping the series at a 7, but that's mainly because the first nine or so books are so good.

• Book Rating: Explosive Eighteen: 6 of 10
• Series Rating: 7 of 10

One for the Money, the movie, is due out in theaters in January, here is the trailer:




 

Stephanie Plus Series
One for the Money (1994)
Two for the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 2009)
Sizzling Sixteen (June 2010) 
Smokin' Seventeen (July 2011)
Explosive Eighteen (November 2011)


Diesel Series
1. Wicked Appetite
2. Wicked Business (June 19, 2012)

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Review: Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich

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I've rated the last couple of books in the Stephanie Plum series down in the six and seven range, which is a shame since books one through nine in the series were rated up in the nines and tens. Some of those first books had me laughing so hard I almost peed myself.

There are a few laugh out loud moments in Smokin' Seventeen, but it doesn't really compare to the earlier books that way, as none of them had me rushing for the bathroom while laughing... but there is a plot in this book that is not totally ludicrous. And there is plenty of Ranger and plenty of Morelli. I had this whole theory about the insertion of a third guy that was totally wrong, but that's okay. It was a good story, so much better than the last half dozen or so offerings in this series.

Here's the blurb:

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.

Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts “the eye” on Stephanie.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

Unfortunately, I guessed who the killer was early on in the book, but I wasn't terribly annoyed that Stephanie didn't figure it out. As readers we have a smaller pool of people to choose from than Stephanie does, so it was okay that I knew and she didn't.

I'm going to use spoiler text to discuss where the series might be going... Janet Evanovich seems to be trying to wind Stephanie up to some sort of decision in the whole Morelli versus Ranger thing. It almost sounds like Stephanie was saying a few times in this book that if Ranger were really an option, she'd choose Ranger. But we know that since he has made it clear he's not relationship material in the past, he's not actually an option other than fun time in the sack. Morelli isn't as much on my nerves as he used to be - he's not trying to change who she is anymore, and he's more accepting of her choices. She and Morelli seemed to be having a conversation towards the end that would be the first stepping stone towards them becoming exclusive again, and if that happens then no more fun sex with Ranger. The books with Morelli supposedly don't sell as well, so is JE really going to put the two of them back together? And just who does Stephanie think is going to go on a trip with her? Odds are it's neither of the guys at all, based on previous cliffhangers. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

We only have five months to wait for Explosive Eighteen. I originally thought perhaps there was a specific reason the books needed to be almost back to back, but after reading Smokin' Seventeen I'm betting the marketing department decided they should shift the yearly schedule to the fall.

As for the writing elements:

• There is an actual plot, and a few subplots, that aren't totally rediculous.
• Pacing was well done.
• Prose and dialog were fine.
• There was also some character development this time around, with Stephanie learning from a few past mistakes, and realizing she is a better bounty hunter now than she was a year ago.

 All in all, Smokin' Seventeen was an enjoyable read. I was pleasantly surprised.

• Book Rating: Smokin' Seventeen: 9 of 10
• Series Rating: 7 of 10

One for the Money (1994)
Two for the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 2009)
Sizzling Sixteen (June 2010) 
Smokin' Seventeen (July 2011)
Explosive Eighteen (November 2011)
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Explosive Eighteen out in five months?

 
Apparently, Janet Evanovich has already written Explosive Eighteen and it is due to be released November 22.

I'm just diving into Smokin' Seventeen, but if I had to guess, I'd say that we're probably going to have some sort of cliffhanger ending so the decision was made to put the second one out sooner rather than later.

Or, I could be wrong and they might just be shifting the yearly releases to the fall instead of the summer. I'll probably have a better idea once I've finished Seventeen. I've had an idea all along that the addition of a third guy will force Ranger to make a decision. We'll see...
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Smokin' Seventeen to be 17th Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich

 
The seventeenth Stephanie Plum book will be titled Smokin' Seventeen. Amazon has a page up for it, but all it tells us is the title, that it will be 320 pages, and that it will be released June 21, 2011. There is no blurb yet.

One For the Money, the movie, is supposed to be released in July, so it's possible both are going to come out within a short window of time.

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Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich

 

Where do I start? I suppose I should start by saying that I once loved the Stephanie Plum series, and I think I'm only hanging on because I so want Stephanie to get together with Ranger, and I'm afraid I'll miss it.

But I'm beginning to face the fact that Ms. Evanovich is just going to keep Stephanie in stasis, as is, forever. She's as much as told us this, there was once a question on her site about how much Stephanie has aged, and she says Stephanie is like Homer Simpson, she stays the same age forever.

I want characters in a series to grow and learn and change, and that's not happening here. Sizzling Sixteen was slightly different than previous books, as the main plot in this book was in saving Vinnie, and there wasn't a lot of bounty hunting. And Connie got involved, which should have given us lots of laughs (remember when they kidnapped the bad guy and took him to the coast to 'rough him up' and none of them could do it?). Unfortunately, even bringing Connie in didn't help. I laughed one time in Sizzling Sixteen, and it was more of a chuckle than a laugh.

There were a few good moments, all involving Ranger, and I'll put them behind spoiler text for those who don't want to be spoiled.

Ranger admits he loves Stephanie, he's a little more touchy feely with her than he has been in the past, and there are a few kisses. But I seriously think this is just teaser fare, designed to get us to buy the next book. We end the book with even more ambivalence than usual between which guy she may end up choosing. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

Here's the blurb:

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck....

BAD LUCK:
Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster
Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.

GOOD LUCK:
Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.

BAD LUCK:
Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up local stoner Walter “Moon Man” Dunphy's vibe and making Stephanie question genetics.

GOOD LUCK:
Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, a plan that makes Mooner’s Hobbit-Con look sane, and Uncle Pip’s mysterious bottle, they just might raise enough money to save Vinnie and the business from ruin.

BAD LUCK:
Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a Turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:
The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky---the only question is . . . with whom?

Sizzling Sixteen . . . so hot, the pages might spontaneously combust!

Oh, the lucky bottle thing? That part was just silly.

As for my usual rundown... the plot is shaky at best, the dialogue is good, pacing has some problems, and there is no character development because we've known these characters a long time.The characters don't grow, they don't change, there is no further development. Nada. Zilch.

It takes a lot of skill to create a book that makes you laugh out loud until you cry - one that makes you lightheaded from lack of oxygen because you're laughing too hard to pull enough oxygen into your body. Janet Evanovich has that talent and that skill. She did it for a long time and I fell in love with her writing, and with her characters. But it's been a long time since I've seen it in the Plum series. There is a fine line between funny and silly, and a few of the last four or five books have gone past silly and into ridiculous. Sizzling Sixteen didn't head completely into ridiculous, so it was a little better than some of the more recent books, but it's still a far cry from the early books. And that's too bad.

I'm giving Sizzing Sixteen a 6 of 10, and I'm dropping the series down to 6 of 10.





One For the Money (1994)
Two For the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 2009)
Sizzling Sixteen (June 2010)

Sizzling Sixteen - Third Excerpt posted

 

Janet Evanovich has uploaded the first portion of the second chapter of Sizzling Sixteen . This gives us all of chapter one and half of chapter two. I believe she plans to release the other half of chapter two on June 1.

You can go here to download the pdf. This gives us the first 22 pages of Sizzling Sixteen.

Sizzling Sixteen is scheduled for release June 22.

 

Sizzling Sixteen - second Excerpt posted

 

Janet Evanovich has uploaded the second portion of the first chapter of Sizzlin Sixteen.

You can go here to download the pdf. This gives us the first 15 pages of Sizzling Sixteen. 

 

Sizzling Sixteen Excerpt

 

Janet Evanovich has finally uploaded the first portion of the first chapter of Sizzlin Sixteen.

You can go here to download the pdf. All 9 pages of it.  With big margins. And there isn't that much on the last page.  It does give us a really good idea of what this book is going to be about, and that's a good thing.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich

On the one hand, Finger Lickin' Fifteen is like visiting old friends. I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it. It wasn't as funny as some (maybe most) of the other books in the series, but there were a few LOL moments. And it was kind of nice to check in with Stephanie and the gang again.

On the other hand, nothing's changed. When the book ended, I was disappointed. I had hopes for change and growth in this book, but sadly, there was none.

The plot was half way decent, a few cars get destroyed, we hear more about Lula's life as a ho, and there are a number of slapstick things designed to get laughs that didn't (a few that did, but more that didn't). Like I said, while reading it I enjoyed a good part of the book, but as it ended I was just disappointed. No one is growing up. Ranger, Stephanie, Morelli, Lula... the whole cast of characters is caught in a time warp where nothing changes.

I'm giving Finger Lickin' Fifteen a 7 of 10, and I'm moving the Stephanie Plum series down to a 7 of 10. Which is a shame, because once upon a time I rated the series a nine of ten.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10








One For the Money (1994)
Two For the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 2009)

Finger Lickin' Fifteen Excerpt

Janet Evanovich has added onto the excerpt she'd previously put up for Finger Lickin' Fifteen, the latest Stephanie Plum novel due to be released on June 23rd.

I'm pretty sure that Stephanie and Morelli were fine at the end of the previous books, so I'm not sure why they seem to be on the outs again at the beginning of this book. But, it looks like there may be some Ranger action as a result, so I'm game.

You can go to the page with the excerpt on the author's site, or you can download the pdf directly from the author's site.

In Fearless Fourteen there was a conversation that basically said Ranger wasn't happy with where his and Stephanie's relationship had gone, that maybe he needed to reevaluate things, but that it wasn't going to happen on that day. So this book has Stephanie broken up with Morelli and working with Ranger on a daily basis, and I have to wonder if we aren't going to see Ranger make an attempt to change the nature of his relationship with Stephanie. If he could get over his commitment issues (or, whatever his issues are) then I think they could be great together.

Ranger doesn't try to change Stephanie, he likes her for who she is. Not who he wants her to be. I don't always feel that way about Morelli, so as much as I like Morelli, I'm not sure he's the right one for Stephanie.

But, can the author ever let Stephanie pick one guy and stay with him? I don't know. I'd like to think so, but she's survived so long on the triangle thing, I'm not sure she'd even try. I've stated before that if this book isn't a bit of an improvement over the past few books that this will be the last book I'll purchase new in this series. I will continue to read it, but I will do so with used books once they only cost a few dollars. I really hope that this book is back to the caliber of the first ten or so books.

To see more excerpts, go to my excerpt page.

Plum Spooky (A Between-the-Numbers Novel) by Janet Evanovich

In the past I've said that you shouldn't bother with the "Between the numbers" books in this series, as they are just silly. I refuse to pay full price for the Between books, so I've waited to read this one until I could find it used for a couple of dollars. I finally did, and discovered that this book was no sillier than Fearless Fourteen. And the plot in Plum Spooky was better than the plot in Fearless Fourteen, too. Which means the Between books are no longer worse than the Numbered books. Sadly, I think that's mostly because of the Numbered books going downhill.

My favorite books in this series were in the 7 to 10 range, I think. We learned more about Ranger, and Stephanie appeared to be figuring a few things out. In recent books the characters have just stood still, with no growth forward at all.

But, enough about the series, I should spend some time reviewing Plum Spooky.

It seems that Ms. Evanovich has decided to start making the Between books more relevant to the series. In the past you could skip the Between books and not be lost when the next Numbered book begins. With this book, she's given closure to something from the numbered books that, if she doesn't give a really good explanation in the next book, will leave you lost as to what happened since Fearless Fourteen.

But, in order to understand Plum Spooky, you'll need to have read at least a few other Between books. Kind of a catch-22 there, if you've just been ignoring the Between books as silly holiday books that aren't really part of the series.

As for specific things I've heard from other reviewers: I've heard lots of complaints about Carl the Monkey, but he honestly didn't annoy me that much. Lula was a little more annoying than usual. And we actually get full sentences from Tank in this book. Others have been annoyed by the view of Tank we finally get, but I'm okay with the view we finally get of him. He's Ranger's second in command, so of course he's got to have some smarts. Right?

I learned a few things about New Jersey (there is a large wilderness area in NJ, who knew?), and I had a few laughs. The bit with the Easter Bunny and Sasquatch really could have been left out, though without them maybe the Fire Farter wouldn't have made as much sense. I guess we needed to understand that other mythological creatures have found refuge in this kind of no man's land that exists in New Jersey, of all places.

Diesel is back, of course. I'm not terribly sure how I feel about him. With him around it means Stephanie has a third hunk in her life, and the second man that she is constantly turning down for sex even though the idea is pretty appealing. It seems a bit much.

And I think that we have further evidence to point to Ranger being an Unmentionable. He gets a headache when Diesel is in town. And he assures Stephanie that Wulf won't mess with any of his men. And he knows that Diesel and Wulf are cousins. And he knows what nationality they are. It's kind of hard to explain all of that without having him be an Unmentionable as well. Plus there is the thing where Diesel can open doors and start cars with his finger, and there has always been the question of how Ranger gets past Stephanie's chain lock thing without taking it down. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

I think I'm going to have to move this series down to an 8 of 10. The first ten or so books are still easily a 9 of 10, and I won't go so far as calling the recent books bad, they just aren't as good as the first ten books. Plum Spooky gets a 7 of 10, though I came close to giving it a 6 of 10.

I will be buying Finger Lickin' Fifteen, in large part because of a conversation in Fourteen that made it sound like Ranger might want to rethink keeping Stephanie at arm's length. From the excerpt and blurb on the author's site for Fifteen, it looks like Stephanie is off again with Joe, and that she'll be spending a lot of time with Ranger. I do think though, that if Fifteen is disappointing that it will be the last book in this series that I'm willing to spend the money on for a new book. I'll continue to read them, but it will be when the used books come down to a couple of dollars.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10








One For the Money (1994)
Two For the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky (January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)
Plum Spooky (January 2009)
Finger Lickin' Fifteen (June 23, 2009)

Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

No vampires in this series. No werewolves, no ghosts, no fairies, no trolls. The most supernatural thing that happens is Stephanie's intuition when she's on a case.

Well, wait a minute. That's not entirely true. The "between the numbers" books do deal in the supernatural. But the main numbered books do not. Unless you want to consider that Ranger might be more than human, but there has only been one hint of that (Diesel and Ranger apparently know of each other, and how would that be unless... or, maybe not.)

At any rate, the "between the numbers" books were basically just holiday books and really aren't worth reading. So for all intents and purposes, the main part of the series does not deal in the supernatural.

Stephanie Plum starts out unemployed and then becomes a bounty hunter, finding people who skipped out on bail and returning them. As a former lingerie buyer for a department store, she's not really qualified to be a bounty hunter, but she needs the money. Between the gossip she gets from her mother, grandmother, cousins, and friends she manages to pull enough clues together to get her guy (or gal). And when gossip doesn't do it, surveillance and asking questions of strangers and good old women's intuition do it for her. Not to mention dumb luck.

This series has no underlying themes of good vs evil, or the shades of gray in between. Nothing to make you think much about stereotypes. And the kick-ass female isn't often kick-ass, and when she does manage to kick ass, it's usually by accident.

We end up with kind of a love triangle going and Stephanie has two very hot guys in her life. But I can't talk about that without spoiling if you haven't started on the series yet, so that's all I'll say about that.

This series is just an enjoyable read. Entertainment that doesn't make you think too hard, but makes you laugh. A lot. It's kind of the book form of the sitcom.

The biggest thing the series has going for it is that it is funny. Not just LOL funny, but laugh until tears are streaming from your eyes funny. Laugh until you can't breathe and you get lightheaded, funny. Laugh until you have to run to the bathroom so you don't wet yourself, funny.

Much of the humor comes from Stephanie's grandmother. Some of it comes from Stephanie's inability to keep a car. They keep getting blown up, or stolen, or set on fire. It's never her fault, but she just doesn't keep a car for very long. Some of the humor comes from her friends and other family members and various characters she runs across (or who run across her).

I had a hard time getting started on the first book. The first time I read it I didn't finish it. But after a few more recommendations I tried it again and liked the first book okay once I'd gotten a few chapters into it. I'm glad I kept going. It's a really enjoyable series, and the farther you get into it, the better it gets. Even after you've read it, it's something to pull out again if you just need a good laugh.

As I noted before, the 'number' books are the main ones. I haven't even linked to the 'between the number' books, though I did list them at the bottom. If you want me to rate the holiday between the numbers books they get a 2. Don't bother with them. They were ridiculous little holiday novels, they are short and more than a little disappointing when compared to the numbered books, so stick with the numbers.

I've linked to the boxed sets below that include three books at a time, but the individual books are also available if you prefer. The books are written in a way that when you finish one book you want to just pick up the next book and keep going, so the boxed sets are handy for that.

Series Rating: 9





One For the Money (1994)
Two For the Dough (1996)
Three to Get Deadly (1997)
Four to Score (1998)
High Five (1999)
Hot Six (2000)
Seven Up (2001)
Hard Eight (2002)
Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) (don't bother)
To the Nines (2003)
Ten Big Ones (2004)
Eleven on Top (2005)
Twelve Sharp (2006)
Plum Lovin' (2007) (don't bother)
Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
Plum Lucky(January 2008) (don't bother)
Fearless Fourteen (June 2008)