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Most all of it falls flat on it's face.There is one bright spot to this novel. The plot really has no point.There are constant attempts at humor throughout. It seems the author made the storyline up as she went along.
I see some have tossed it aside after a couple chapters. It was like sitting through a root canal.It has an inane, silly plot as thin as the paper it's printed on. Absolutely awful.
The novel is so bad one wonders how & why it was written. Mercifully, it's short I gave it a chance going to the end thinking at some point it had to improve.
Wrong.
I love Lula and Grandma Mazur. Ms. Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors. I've recently started reading her early romance novels and intend to read them all. Evanovich, Thank You. If you want to laugh, be intrigued, or get a little steamy, she provides it all. Her "between-the-numbers" series will satisfy and leave you laughing for months after everytime.
I would buy from this seller again.The book was great - very fast read.
Possibly everything seemed funnier because of the horse. I laughed hard and often all through the last half of this book.The plot involves a bag of money, a trip to Atlantic City, a retired racehorse who needs an operation and an ex-jockey who having stolen the horse needs to steal back the money he stole to pay for the horse's operation. The scene where Stephanie's regular boyfriend calls her and she tries to explain about the two men and the horse in her apartment is pretty funny but possibly not the funniest scene in this short madcap romp. I hate the Stephanie Plum "between the numbers" books almost as much as I love the regular series. If you can get it cheap or from your local library, this is a fun book to read while getting a tan. But after FEARLESS FOURTEEN it seemed apparent that much of the energy and fun has been drained from the original series. The supernatural element introduced by Diesel, who is one hot stud of an angel, is really hard to take and not even funny after the first book. PLUM LUCKY reads more like a regular Stephanie Plum romp than the last book of the numbered series.
Need to house a horse. Does her strong and stubborn demeanor leave men hoping to be the only one to whom she'll succumb. Regaining custody of the steed provides for the impossible feats of transporting and accommodating a full-size horse in a recreational vehicle, an elevator, and a one-bedroom apartment. Does she possess a special un je ne se sais quoi. Perhaps it's time for a more leisurely schedule. Or time to fire the ghostwriter responsible for Plum Lucky.-0- Faced with certain predictable obstacles, including a shortage of cash, a lack of appropriate transportation and threats from the mob, Stephanie must save Grandma from the many perils of living in Jersey. The love square that Stephanie finds herself in adds more to the novella's classification as a romantic mystery novel than it does to the story itself.
Enter the rarely mentioned Ranger and his own parking garage. Instead, these three serve as a writer's convention for rescuing Stephanie from unconceivable situations and eliminating barriers to progress when Evanovich has written herself into a corner. In Plum Lucky, Evanovich's characters are thinner than the pages on which they're printed. Enter Lula and her firebird. Stephanie's suitors - Morelli, Ranger, and Diesel - are all strong, handsome men who supply resources and come to her aid as needed, but fail to contribute to the breadth of the story. Unfortunately, opening Grandma Mazur's bedroom door and picking up the pamphlet for Daffy's Casino in Atlantic city provides an efficient and tidy answer.
Stephanie's need to retrieve Grandma Mazur and return her to her home propels the story forward while certain unrealistic circumstances lead the reader to wonder if Grandma Mazur will make it back to Trenton alive. In Plum Lucky, Stephanie Plum and her cohorts travel between Trenton and Atlantic City, New Jersey in a somewhat comedic rescue attempt of Grandma Mazur. With so little said about our protagonist, our other characters barely merit mention. Despite her plain appearance, three hunky men adore Stephanie: her boyfriend, Joe Morelli; coworker, Ranger; and friend, Diesel. Plumb Unlucky Janet Evanovich meets her January 2008 deadline with Plum Lucky. I have spent longer contemplating the lost socks in the dryer phenomenon than Stephanie Plum spent deducing Grandma Mazur's whereabouts. Plum Lucky falls short of Evanovich's previous novels as her deadline, or her standards, appear to have interfered with her creative abilities. I've had dreams that were both more thrilling and more believable.
Or, is Stephanie the Xena: Warrior Princess of the bail bonds world and Evanovich failed to tell us. This New York Times Best-selling author sells herself short with this release. Mutated mobsters, heavy artillery, and leprechauns help to distract readers from the fact that this cozy is missing two essential elements: mystery and romance. Our protagonist, Stephanie Plum describes herself the same way this novel comes across, "a little boring and incredibly pale." Evanovich shies away from creating a real visual of Stephanie, a bounty hunter, by supplementing her description with the word "unexceptional." Stephanie has "shoulder-length, unexceptional, curly brown hair." It's questionable what this really means, and leaves Evanovich's readers' imaginations to make up for the writer's use of subjective language. Stephanie's obvious lack of charm causes readers to wonder why three exceptional men are pursuing her. Need to identify or locate a suspect.
And the mystery. Short on character, short on romance, short on mystery - perhaps she was short on time - Evanovich disrespects her audience of faithful readers by sending this nightmare to press. Need romance. Amidst the first twenty pages lies a great question - not a mystery, but the closest thing this novel offers: Where's Grandma. A focus on Diesel as her "leading man" could fuel a reader's desire for romance.
In fact, the introduction of new characters to supply a need appears to be one of the most-used literary devices in Evanovich's repertoire. Enter Diesel, armed with a current case file that just so happens to correspond. Anyone who has smelled a horse fart is surely holding his or her breath. Character descriptions from previous novels could remedy the absence of character. Besides Grandma, Lou Delvina also kidnaps an injured racehorse named Doug. Well, you're not going to find that here.
Evanovich has been writing about Stephanie Plum since 1994, and newer readers may have to venture backwards in order to learn who her characters really are and avoid being left wafting on a cloud of confusion. Need a car. Because her content is less than breath taking, Evanovich insists on literally taking one's breath away when she describes doug farting in the elevator. Douse herself in pheromones. Mob boss, Lou Delvina, asserts regularly that he "really [wants] to shoot the old lady" and would even forego the ransom for such an opportunity.
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