Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Plum... with a slightly darker tone
Review: As always, devouring the latest Stephanie Plum novel took far too little time, and left me wishing I'd savoured the book instead. Not possible. I was on it faster than Vinnie on the aleged duck, and I don't regret it a bit.
Fans will not be upset with the typical crazy-life Stephanie events. Her sister Valerie is still about, and losing her perfect sainthood. Grandma Mazur is alive and kicking and still ready with the perfect ill-timed comment. Lula buys boots and dyes her hair. Cars explode. Bob vomits. Crazed rabbits, bears, and ex-presidents are chasing down Steph... and just you wait until you get to the geese incident.
Then there's the romantic confusion. Morelli, Ranger, and Stephanie hit the peak of their sexual tension in this book, and tip over in a way that knocked me reeling. I wasn't expecting who ended up sleeping with who, and what it meant. How's that for a vague way to avoid plot spoiling? It was definitely worth the ride, though.
Aside from the zany and the romantic, however, there's a darker tone that we've not seen since the very first book. Echoes of the psychotic boxer return in another character, and the whole issue of battered wives fleeing their husband with children they've snatched away in the middle of the night is not your usual Plum story. That said, it fit. As the stakes rose - and grew more serious than the usual Steph life-catastrophes of the previous books - so did the emotional reactions of the characters involved. And the ending will blow you away: I refuse to give it away, but I was left with a real bit of gutwrench. This one doesn't leave you dangling with a romantic "Oh gosh!" It leaves you stunned with a "Yow... harsh!"
The story does wind up a bit quickly after dancing and drawing itself out - the pace is a bit breakneck at the end as things suddenly all reach the denouement, the book's only real failing. But otherwise, prepare to laugh out loud throughout, and be a little surprised at the content in this one. "Hard Eight" is hard indeed.
'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: Keep With It
Review: This book started off slow, but it quickly picks up and throws off the quirky humor we have come to know and love in the world of Stephanie Plum. There is a significant lack of "curse- nasties" in this one compared to the others, which I found refreshing and helped to hold my interest. Read this book; it's worth it!!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the funniest Plum yet
Review: Readers of the series will not be disappointed - this one is absolutely hilarious, and all our favorite characters turn up for some fun and mayhem. New readers will appreciate the humor, but not, perhaps, some plot points which refer to the story of books one through seven. Haven't laughed so hard at a book in ages - and Grandma Mazur fans are in for a special treat!
Rating:
Summary: Escape with me.
Review: ... I love to escape into the world of Janet Evanovich. Janet's writing takes me away from the real world and into the adventures of her characters. Descriptive characters bring her series to life. Janet's series is a must read. I'm waiting for Travis McGee to show up and save the day.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!!
Review: This series just gets funnier and funnier. Spiders in a car, a killer bunny and more Grandma Mazur.....definitely a recipe for a best seller. Stephanie's car problems are starting to get a little repetitive at this point, but the ways in which she gets the job done are still fresh and quite entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Such a disappointment
Review: I fell in love with the Stephanie Plum series from the start, but feel it peaked at about #3. I still rush out to buy a new entry on the day it's published, but... I think I'll stop now. After books worth of anticipation, Stephanie's encounter with Ranger is anticlimactic; her relationship with Joe has almost reached an adult-like maturity; and the constant rehashing of past events (books) is a bore. Something has gone very wrong with this terrific character and I sure hope Ms.Evanovich can resusitate her.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! They weren't kidding about the darkness.
Review: I just finished this, and I feel like I need to read it again just to take it all in. All of the usual Stephanie Plum stuff is here (destroyed cars, crazy FTAs, the family, Bob, etc.), and there are some great, laugh-out-loud moments. But this book has an almost totally different vibe than the rest of the books. The Amazon.com review stated that there was an edge of darkness to this book, and I think they understated it. All of a sudden the Morelli v. Ranger story has become very serious (btw, this book is GREAT for Ranger Babes), and the villian this time makes Stephanie's past adversaries look like a walk in the park. There's no cliffhanger (thank goodness), but the ending was as shocking as they come. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it.All in all, I think this is the best of the Plum books, so far. While the others are a great, fluffy read, this installment starts giving the characters more dimension, and that's to the good. Just don't buy this book expecting it to be completely true to formula.
Rating:
Summary: Hard not to howl with laughter
Review: Hard Eight delivers Stephanie Plum and her zany supporting cast wrapped in murder, mayham and mystery--and you will laugh all the way through the book. Hard Eight is a little weak on plot and it starts out a bit slow, but Evanovich hits her stride about three or four chapters in and the rest of the book is fast-paced and delightful. In this book we get a little more insight into Ranger. If you are a Stephanie Plum fan, you won't be disappointed! And if this is your first encounter with the errant bounty hunter, you'll be hooked.
Rating:
Summary: Par for the course, which is pretty good
Review: In this, the eighth Stephanie Plum novel, we get exactly what we have come to know and love about the other seven books in the series. Stephanie wisecracks her way through one scrape after another, aided and abetted by Morelli, Ranger, Lula, and of course Grandma Mazur. Stephanie is called on to help her parents' neighbor, Mabel, for reasons involving a child custody bond. But there's dirty work afoot, and soon Stephanie is, as usual, up to her neck in everything from spiders to "bunnies." There's even a guest appearance by by Bob, the large and perpetually nauseated dog. I can honestly say this is NOT the worst book I've read recently. Now that I've damned with faint praise, let me be specific about a few things... 1) The Morelli/Ranger will-they-or-won't-they routine is a tad stale. 2) At least once per book, Stephanie is assigned to pick up someone who is predestined to get away several times before she hauls him/her in to face the music. It's a little old. 3) The ending is breathtakingly abrupt. The McGuffin in the story, which I will not reveal here, is something of a letdown. 4) I love her wisecracking, but I'd love to see, JUST ONCE, a really dark entry in the series. Nothing too bad, but it's too much like Moonlighting at times. Of course, Moonlighting was a delight, and so (for the most part) is this book. It's the literary equivalent of comfort food, earning four stars easily. I didn't go with five stars because there is no new ground broken here. If you've read any of the other books in this series and found them worthwhile, you'll no doubt enjoy this one. For all its faults, it's a welcome return visit from an old friend, Stephanie Plum. Long may she roam the streets of the Burg, in search of elusive FTAs.
Rating:
Summary: Magic
Review: I always knew there was some benefit to living on this side of the itnernational dateline - HARD EIGHT hit the book stores yesterday morning and I finished it this morning. Mind you, I probably need to go back and reread it since I was just so compelled to turn the pages that my eyeballs could hardly keep up. I really did enjoy this book: Scariest bad guy since Ramirez roamed the earth, an endearing lawyer (yes, really!) and the usual wonderful cast of characters. Do I comment on the Joe vs Ranger debate? Nope, I give away nothing but suffice to say I am satisfied and Stephanie (lucky girl) certainly seems to be.Janet E. has managed to find(in my opinion) a way to make everyone happy! Must admit I wondered if it could be done but it sure does work for me. Happy day for all Plum fans!
|
