Sunday, July 26, 2009

Finger Lickin' Fifteen: A Book Review

A synopsis:
The next Stephanie Plum novel, in which complications arise, loyalties are tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten.
Yeah, that's it. That's the synopsis as shown on Barnes and Noble. They usually go into much more detail, but I believe that this time, they gave the book all it merited. That is to say, one lousy line.

This series is fast going downhill. It's become very formulaic: every book, Stephanie will lose a car (most probably thru fire and/or explosion); every book, Stephanie's apartment will suffer some sort of damage (again, most probably thru fire and/or explosion); every book, Stephanie will end up in Ranger's bed and, although usually no actual sex is involved except in the minds of the characters, she still supposedly has hot, lusty and apparently lifelong feelings for Morelli, the other man in her life. This "torn between two lovers" schtick is getting waaaay old. And every book, Stephanie will end up losing a skip she's "this close" to apprehending and she usually loses the skip in some hyped-up, mad-cap, I-love-Lucy kind of way. The only variation from pattern that this book offers is that Ranger is now seeking professional advice from Stephanie, a concept that is so stupid as to be ludicrous. Especially when considering how inept Stephanie is at just about everything while Ranger is supposed to be the ultimate professional, stone cold killer that knows everything about anything. I will probably give Evanovich one more shot and will wait to see was Sixteen brings. If she doesn't step up her game, however, I will be done with this series. It's a shame, too, because the series started out so spectacularly funny and well written. I say read books 1 thru 8 (starting with One for the Money) and enjoy your brains out! They're fabulous. Go ahead and read 9 thru 11, too. They're pretty entertaining as well. You might want to borrow copies of 12, 13 and 14 because you'll regret actually spending money on them yourself and avoid this one, book 15, because reading it will do nothing but (in the words of author herself) cause you to end up rolling your eyes "so far back in your head you'll be watching your own hair grow".
I give this book a 1/2 star out of 5 on the Kari Hayes Scale of Readability (and I'm only being that generous because I figure I should give it something so I won't feel like my eighteen bucks was completely wasted!)

5 comments:

  1. Ouch! But thanks for the review because I am currently looking for mysteries for my nan to read. I don't like mystery as a genre so I am lost.

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  2. I'm not into mysteries as I once was.but thanks for the review.

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  3. Never read any of JE's books.

    Right now, I am reading the Dominick Dunne books I got at the book fair, in June...or was it May...hmmm.. Oh well...the current one I'm reading is Another Town Not My Own, which concerns the OJ trial. Did I say the books don't have to be current for me to enjoy?

    I "met" D. Dunne through A&E, I think...this is another one of those hmmm...moments when I can't quite recall something. Perhaps it was Court TV, now Tru TV. Regardless of what anyone else might think, I think his books are pretty darn good. This is the third one I've read. I have all those book fair books at the lake and brought back another D Dunne the other day, since I am almost finished with the "another town" one.

    I've been a mystery reader since childhood. I love a good mystery.

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  4. I meant to say, the "original OJ trial".

    I'll follow you. I like the feature, for the same reason you do. Makes it a lot simpler keeping up with folks. Some view it as a popularity thing. I don't see it that way.

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  5. I actually really liked this one. It was so much better than 12 and 13. But I agree with you that the series isn't near as good as it was in the beginning. A lot of the same old, same old. I really would like to see Stephanie make a choice between Ranger and Joe, although I don't think the choice is really hers to make. I don't think Ranger is looking for anything permanent. Can you tell I like Joe so much better?

    Anyway, I'll keep on with the series for a while longer. I did come back after the 12 and 13 disasters, so I might as well keep going. The books are just mind candy for me - I'm not looking for anything literary - so I'm not really that disappointed.

    BTW, I always buy my copies from a book club for about $12 tops!

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