September 3rd, 2010 
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- ISBN13: 9780312362089
- Condition: New
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Product Description
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.
Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man.
Stephanie Plum is so smart, so honest, and so funny that her narrative charm could drive a documentary on termites. But this tough gal from New Jersey, an unemployed discount lingerie buyer, has a much more interesting story to tell: She has to say that her Miata has been repossessed and that she's so poor at the moment that she just drank her last bottle of beer for breakfast. She has to say that her only chance out of her present rut is her repugnant cousin Vinnie and his bail-bond business. She has to say that she blackmailed Vinnie into giving her a bail-bond recovery job worth $10,000 (for a murder suspect), even though she doesn't own a gun and has never apprehended a person in her life. And she has to say that the guy she has to get, Joe Morelli, is the same creep who charmed away her teenage virginity behind the pastry case in the Trenton bakery where she worked after school.
If that hard-luck story doesn't sound compelling enough, Stephanie's several unsuccessful attempts at pulling in Joe make a downright hilarious and suspenseful tale of murder and deceit. Along the way, several more outlandish (but unrelentingly real) characters join the story, including Benito Ramirez, a champion boxer who seems to be following Stephanie Plum wherever she goes.
Janet Evanovich shares an authentic feel for the streets of Trenton in her debut mystery (she developed her talents in a string of romance novels before creating Ms. Plum), and her tough, frank, and funny first-person narrator offers a winning mix of vulgarity and sensitivity. Evanovich is certainly among the best of the new voices to emerge in the mystery field of the 1990s. --Patrick O'Kelley
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Stephanie Plum has been out of work for months. With her savings gone and her car repossessed, she's desperate enough to ask her cousin Vinnie for a job. But the filing job she went in for has been filled, so she decides to try her hand at bounty hunting. After all, how hard can it be?
Turns out to be plenty hard. After all, most of the criminals won't come when asked politely. And she did target Joe Morelli, a cop on the run trying to prove he was framed. Still, that huge paycheck and a shared past keep her focused on Morelli. But when boxer Benito Ramirez starts dogging her trail, she begins to suspect she's in over her head. Can she survive long enough to bring Morelli in?
I've been hearing lots about these books, but hadn't had a chance to try one yet. Wish I hadn't waited so long. The writing style is engaging and the pace fast. I had a hard time putting the book down and couldn't stop thinking about it when I did. When the book ended, I started looking around for the second to see what would happen next to the main characters.
It's easy to see why this series is so popular. The fun characters and storyline make for quick, light reading. I'm looking forward to catching up on the seven books I haven't read yet and hope to enjoy visits with these characters for many years to come.
Rating: 5 / 5
What a book. This was hilariously funny. Stephanie Plum is from NJ and having some money problems. Sold her furniture, her car has gotten repo and next she will be needing a place to live if she doesn't come up with an idea fast. She goes to see her cousin Vinnie ( Bail bondsman ) looking for a job. The job had just been filled but the bounty hunter he used was having surgery. Stephanie, newly employed as bounty hunter. After all you get 10% and she would get 10k for bringing Joe Morelli in. Joe is a former cop and is running from Murder One. Stephaine and Joe do go back to growing up. This was a great book! Very funny, Ms. Evanovich really has a gift for writing a story in a very refreshing way! The " who done it " I couldn't tell until it happened. The pages just kept turning as the characters were very real, and enjoyable! I can't wait to read the next one!
Rating: 5 / 5
I have read all of the Stephanie Plum series and can not wait until the next one comes out. These books are a definate joy for anyone who has ever had a bad day go worse. When reading these books I try to be alone, not only to be undisturbed but also because I laugh so loud I disturb others. At a book signing I learned Janet is as funny in person as in her books, she comes by the humor naturally. Stephanie always finds herself in situtations due to her lack of a better career and her stuborn personality that will not allow her to listen to others advice. Stephanie is a very real character that is very easy to identify with even if you don't live life as close to the edge as she does. The stories have it all from danger, humor, sexuality, and moves so well that you carry it around hoping to find a few minutes to read just a little bit more. This whole book keeps you coming back for more with great characters that are humorous and outrageous, but could easily be someone you already know. One of my favorite characters is the grandmother that gets into just about as much trouble as Stephanie. Read this first one and I guarantee you will be back for the rest of the series.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is simply the best first crime novel I have ever read. The characters, plotting, pacing, and writing all reflect years of experience by Evanovich as a romance writer. I have read three other books in the series, and this one exceeds the others in overall quality. That's most unusual in a series. Usually, they start slow, get better, and then slide downhill as the author overworks the formula. Even if you don't like female detection stories, you will like this one! If you are like me, you will read it in one quick sitting!
Stephanie Plum is an original character in crime fiction, and an appealing one. You'll be rooting for her to get the bad guy (and the good guys, too) every step of the way!
She has a toughness, yet vulnerability, that charm more than repel. She's pursuing the American Dream in her own unique way by doing whatever it takes to succeed, but trying to be a decent person while she does it.
To understand how good the plot is imagine the writer's problem: You take an unemployed former discount lingerie buyer in a crime-ridden department store, and turn her into a successful bounty hunter in one book, without having everyone think the story is ridiculous. Naturally, Stephanie Plum isn't very good at doing something that is hard to do, and that she hasn't done before. Her learning is turned into wonderful comedic episodes. But gradually she gets better, and I was very excited for her.
The story itself works at several levels. There is the surface one of Stephanie becoming a bounty hunter to escape total poverty (her car is repossessed early in the book, she has sold most of her furniture and her apartment is at risk). To get a job, she blackmails her cousin (threatening him with exposure to his wife for his very kinky sex habits) into giving her the task of bringing in Joe Morelli, a cop up on charges of killing an unarmed man. Even this conditional assignment is hers to lose, and she has to keep at it to get other assignments. No one in her life wants her to be a bounty hunter, but her.
The second level is the development of a romance with Morelli. The two have a relationship from their youth. Morelli played choo-choo between her legs at age 6 and did more than that in high school before leaving for the Navy. When Stephanie next saw him, she ran over him with her car because he never called again, and left a note about his second deed in the rest room of a restaurant. Stephanie is able to find Morelli quite often, but cannot subdue him. Pretty soon, he's looking for her. The scenes and by-play will appeal to all who like romance with their crime.
The third level of the story is about Stephanie learning the bounty hunting trade. She gets lots of help, and you'll like the other characters who help her. All of them repeat in important ways in future stories. Ranger (Stephanie's mentor) and Lula (Stephanie's future sidekick) make indelible impressions.
The fourth level of the story is Stephanie's relationship with her family. They want her to be 'normal' and she does just enough of that to get free food at the family dinner table. This is a wonderful story of becoming independent in a traditional family.
The fifth level of the story is a mystery of about who did what to whom, leading up to Morelli's killing of the 'unarmed' man. Morelli claims the man was armed, and that there was a witness. He is avoiding jail to find a way to show his innocence, and tries to persuade Stephanie to help him.
The sixth level of the story is about a sexual sadist who decides he wants to have his way with Stephanie. This side of the story is dark, and takes a valuable look at the problems such people present to women everywhere.
Evanovich brings all the strings together into a tidy package at the end. Her plot resolution is excellent. Yet she leaves lots of areas where you'd like to see and know more. Fortunately, you have five more novels to read right away.
I also recommend that you continue with the series. Although the future books are not as balanced and outstanding as this one, they are fine stores of crime and romance in the comedic vein.
On a personal note, there is a lesson here for us all about the untapped potential we have to do more than we think we can. Taking on a major goal is the starting point. Usually, we wait until we have no choice but to get better. However, we have the choice to decide to get better whenever we choose. We can have more, be more, and have better relationships with others by deciding to do so. When sociologists study those who have accomplished the most in their lives, what they usually find is that these people had written goals that they stayed focused on. You can do that, too! I hope you will find this book inspirational in encouraging you to fulfill your purpose in life...
Rating: 5 / 5
Let's face it - the basic premise of this book is so whacked that you just gotta laugh before you even start reading it! Stephanie Plum, a down on her luck and out of work lingerie buyer cons her cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a job as a "recovery agent", a skip tracer, a bounty hunter. She's brash, vulgar, feminine, cute, sexy, tarty, sassy, funny and, on top it of it all, she's got balls made of brass. She actually believes she's qualified to chase down an old high school acquaintance, Joe Morelli, now a hardened career cop charged with murder and skipping bail.
The dialogue is perfect - smack dab in the centre of a triangle cornered by New York police procedural, hammed up sit-com and cute romance! Yeah, yeah, yeah ... really hard to believe, I know! But Evanovich pulls it off, doles out a generous helping of laugh out loud writing and manages to keep the whole book light enough to polish off at a single sitting! Stephanie's grandmother is completely off the wall and positively hilarious.
Now if only she could have figured out a way to resolve the mystery part of the plot without resorting to the painfully trite cliché of the gloating criminal holding the heroine at gunpoint explaining how nasty he intends to be in intricate, precise detail! And, puhleeeze ... our hero, Morelli, just HAPPENED to catch the whole conversation on tape which of course exonerates him completely from the murder charge.
Full marks for the fluff - humour, romance, characterization, banter, dialogue! Failing grade on plot! OK, we'll call it 3-stars and let everybody decide for themselves whether they want to take on the second book in the series. I'm going to give "Two for the Dough" a read and see how it goes!
Paul Weiss
Rating: 3 / 5