Ten Big Ones - Hardcover

Evanovich, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312289723 ISBN 13: 9780312289720

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2004

Synopsis

Janet Evanovich is the hottest author in America, and her Stephanie Plum novels have taken the nation by storm

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She's accidentally destroyed a dozen cars. She's a target for every psycho and miscreant this side of the Jersey Turnpike. Her mother's convinced she'll end up dead . . . or worse, without a man. She's Stephanie Plum, and she kicks butt for a living (well, she thinks it sounds good to put it that way. . . .).

It begins as an innocent trip to the deli-mart, on a quest for nachos. But Stephanie Plum and her partner, Lula, are clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. A robbery leads to an explosion, which leads to the destruction of yet another car. It would be just another day in the life of Stephanie Plum, except that she becomes the target of a gang---and of an even scarier, more dangerous force that comes to Trenton. With super bounty hunter Ranger acting more mysteriously than ever (and the tension with vice cop Joe Morelli getting hotter), she finds herself with a decision to make: how to protect herself and where to hide while on the hunt for a killer known as the Junkman. There's only one safe place, and it has Ranger's name all over it---if she can find it. And if the Junkman doesn't find her first. With Lula riding shotgun and Grandma Mazur on the loose, Stephanie Plum is racing against the clock in her most suspenseful novel yet. Ten Big Ones is page-turning entertainment, and Janet Evanovich is the best there is.

About this title

About the Author

Janet Evanovich is the author of the Stephanie Plum books, including One for the Money and Sizzling Sixteen, and the Diesel & Tucker series, including Wicked Appetite. Janet studied painting at Douglass College, but that art form never quite fit, and she soon moved on to writing stories. She didn't have instant success: she collected a big box of rejection letters. As she puts it, "When the box was full I burned the whole damn thing, crammed myself into pantyhose and went to work for a temp agency." But after a few months of secretarial work, she managed to sell her first novel for $2,000. She immediately quit her job and started working full-time as a writer. After 12 romance novels, she switched to mystery, and created Stephanie Plum. The rest is history. Janet's favorite exercise is shopping, and her drug of choice is Cheeze Doodles. She and her husband live in New Hampshire, in house with a view of the Connecticut River Valley.

Reviews

Evanovich is at her best in her 10th Stephanie Plum adventure (after 2003's To the Nines), which reads like the screenplay for a 1930s screwball comedy: fast, funny and furious. The Trenton, N.J., bond enforcement agent (bounty hunter), accompanied by her trigger-happy friend Lula, an errant file clerk, is after a quirky collection of bail-jumpers—a man who killed a neighbor's rosebushes relieving himself on them, a drag queen musician/school bus driver accused of assault, and a woman who claims she robbed a Frito-Lay truck because she hated her low-carb diet—when she witnesses a convenience store robbery. Unfortunately, Anton Ward, the holdup man, learns that Stephanie can identify him and puts out a contract on her. After she tells her colleague Ranger her predicament, he offers her sanctuary. As usual, she's torn between sexy Ranger and her longtime lover, cop Joe Morelli, with whom she's living. The rollicking plot, replete with car chases, family squabbles, massive doughnut consumption and a frantic, wacky finale, keeps the reader breathless. As usual, Evanovich's eccentric characters—fun-loving Grandma Mazur, anxious to accompany Stephanie on her job; self-absorbed sister Valerie and her hapless fiancé Albert Kloughn (pronounced Clown); Sally Sweet, the transvestite who shows a talent for wedding planning—are a treat.
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Although the strain of keeping her formula fresh and funny shows a bit in this latest adventure of New Jersey's most unusual bond enforcement agent, Stephanie Plum, there's still enough to entertain readers hooked on the wacky, wildly popular series. Plenty of familiar characters and running gags are here: Lula and Grandma Mazur are as comical as ever, and Stephanie still can't hang on to handcuffs and cars or decide between the two men in her life--sexy cop Joe Morelli and scary Ranger, who is hot, hot, hot. This time, though, the tale starts quickly (Stephanie pegs a convenience-store robber as a member of a vicious Trenton gang, then becomes a target on a hit list) but seems swamped by more than the usual absurdities. Fortunately, a dynamite finish--unexpected and very funny--saves the day for both Stef and her fans. Also on the plus side this time are some extraordinary new, hope-to-see-again additions to the roster[...] Not the high mark of an outstanding series, then, but still good fun for the legions of devotees. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312289723
• ISBN 13: 9780312289720
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320