Saturday, July 05, 2008

Drive By...

Read Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. Love me some Stephanie Plum, Joe Morelli, Lula, Ranger, Tank, Grandma Mazur. Love it.

I don't know why the reviews for this were so bad. It's a typical Stephanie Plum novel, albeit with a bit more domesticity which I found pretty cool. It was nice to see Steph with Zook, Mooner, and Gary and how she dealt with the "what if's".

I enjoyed it very much. If you read this series and are hesitant because of the whole Amazon and BN review fiasco, ignore it. This book IS GREAT. I laughed out loud so many times... it is just great.

My grade: B+

6 People Gabbed:

Nikki said...

I really liked this one, too. I laughed out loud several times, and I felt very satisfied when I finished.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, I was disappointed in this book. The books started out as mysteries but over the years have evolved into some mish-mash of bad women's fiction meets bad slapstick comedy. The last real "mystery" in this series was in Twelve and as a reader I would appreciate if Evanovich and her publisher stopped trying to sell these books as what they obviously aren't anymore.

I didn't like Brenda...that whole thing made no sense to me. She needs protection and supervision at the beginning of the book but can go without it the rest of the book? Lula tricking Tank into marriage and no one says anything about it, not even Stephanie who knows the truth or Tank who should be smart enough to remember he didn't even buy a ring? Morelli is a good detective but it takes him three days to detect someone is living in his garage, can't remember if he slept with his (distant) cousin, cares more about his basement floor than a missing person? And what the heck was with that stupid monkey?

I didn't like the domesticity at all either. It felt less like comfort and more like apathy. Everyone seemed bored by everything that was going on. Dead guys pile up and body parts are flung through windows and no one cares. I sure didn't. There was something lacking in this book and I can't put my finger on it. I was bored by chapter six but kept on because I thought it would get better and it never did. I can't count the number of times I fell asleep while trying to read this one. There was no reader/writer connection at all in this one for me and that was very disappointing because I used to love this series. Now I can't remember what it was about these books that made me want to buy them in the first place.

Dev said...

I haven't read Thirteen yet. I have it in my TBR pile just mocking me, but I haven't picked it up yet. I love Stephanie Plum also, so I don't know what's holding me back.

Go Ranger!!!

Anonymous said...

I have to admit - I've never read a book by Janet Evanovich. It's on my list of things to do someday.

So many books, so little time.

Rowena said...

I have to read Thirteen still too, Dev. I'm so busy reading other stuff that I don't know when I'm going to get around to these books but I'd like to read them again, I miss reading about Grandma Mazur.

Now, I gotta ask Anne. Are you a Cupcake or a Babe?

Anne said...

Nikki - I am always anxious for the newest Plum book because I know I'm going to get some really great laughs... and this one had TONS!

Anonymous- I'm sorry you didn't like the book. I've learned that when reading a Plum book you need to expect the unexpected and learn that what can't necessarily happen in real life will most definitely happen in these books. So, I bend my belief system and just enjoy the book rather than reading "into" it, if you know what I mean. I do agree, though, that the Lula and Tank thing was a bit much. It would have been better if Tank were more willing. *shrug*

Erin- Gotta read 'em! SO good!

Dev and Rowena- Thirteen was great! Fourteen is LOL funny. Fun stuff.

And Rowena, if I really think about it, I have to say I'm a cupcake. Being a babe is nice and fun and very steamy to be sure, but being a cupcake has the stability and love that you get to see more of in Fourteen between Morelli and Stephanie.

So, I'm a cupcake. :-)