Notorious Nineteen

Seriously. If you’ve read the previous eighteen books of this series, you don’t even need to read this one to know the story line. In fact, if you’re still early in the series, you can probably quit reading these at around book 12. After that, each story is pretty much a rehash of what’s already been done. I stopped paying anywhere near full price for these books a long time ago (which is why I’m just now finishing book nineteen). I guess I keep plodding on with the series in the hopes that at some point, some new story lines will develop and things will get interesting and entertaining again. Until then, I only purchase these at a bargain rate.

So, in this entry we have the usual exploding/firebombed car. Stephanie manages to destroy at least one car per book. Her apartment also tends to catch on fire (that happens, too). Stephanie and Lula continue to get themselves in ridiculous situations, Grandma Mazur is a lunatic, and we still have the same old back and forth with Stephanie, Morelli, and Ranger. All of it has gotten OLD.

I’ve started wondering if Janet Evanovich is even writing these books anymore. Maybe there is a ghost writer who isn’t creative enough to do anything but follow the old tried and true formula that Ms. Evanovich originally developed for this series. I don’t know what the issue is, but if you’re a long time fan/reader of these books, I definitely advise against paying full price for them. Wait until you can get them on sale.

I took a few years off after 18 came out. I got sick of the seeming flatline as far as character development. This book sadly didn’t help the characters grow up. and from reviews i’ve read the following books are the same. the will they wont they with morelli and stephanie has gotten very old. either they love eachother and want to settle down or they dont and need to move on. even in the books it has to be about ten years by now and stephanie is hitting her 40s. While I personally love the thing with ranger that has gotten old too. something needs to give so these characters can grow up and move on. Obviously at this point in real life one or all three of them would have realized it was never going to work out and moved on. as far as the case goes, eh, its the same old same old. but i enjoy the antics. not as enjoyable as the antics used to be but maybe its because when i was 15-26 my mind set was different and my mind was developing and i felt the characters were growing with me. I will probably read the other books but, i’m not going to pay for them. this is likely the last one i’ll ever pay for. I do tend to wonder though, is Janet even still writing these books or has a ghost writer taken over, or has she just gotten lazy with it? Its not that the style of writing changed, it just hasnt really developed.

I’ve read 1 through 19 plus the three “between the numbers” Stephanie Plum books; meaning, I have read 22 Stephanie Plum novels. I always laugh so hard I can’t catch my breath, tears run down my face. Not so with this one. Other than a few guffaws (and I do mean “a few”), I rarely laughed. It just wasn’t funny.

After having read the first few chapters, I suspected Janet Evanovich used a ghost writer this time. The pace was rushed. The descriptions of the main characters were all off. Even the characters themselves were “off.” From the beginning, I questioned that Evanovich wrote this. Here are some examples:

Stephanie has described Grandma Mazur in previous novels, but she’s never said anything mean about her. In this one, when Grandma Mazur said ” but I don’t look my age,” Stephanie told readers that “Grandma looks 90.” That’s not in keeping with Stephanie’s character.

Ranger has always been described as being from Cuba. In “Notorious,” we are told he is a Latino. (Yes, I know. But why suddenly use a different term than she’s used in all previous novels? And “Cuba” and “Cubano” evoke different images for me that “Latino” does. One is very specific; the other much broader.)
Stephanie has always referred to Ranger’s mysterious past. This time, she tells us that he is former Special Forces. (I suppose it was pertinent to the plot.)
Stephanie’s descriptions of her relationships with both Ranger and Morelli, as well as they way she describes them, is just “off.”

And when has Stephanie ever worried about her weight? She always says she’s blessed with wonderful metabolism that she can eat fried chicken, donuts and pizza and not gain weight. Throughout “Notorious” she worried about her weight. And she kept nagging Lula to not eat this or that, to try to lose weight. Totally out of the norm.

I did not go see “One for the Money” when it was in theatres because, other than cousin Vinny the bail bondsman, I thought the movie was horribly miscast and I didn’t want it to ruin the books for me. Nothing against Kathryn Heigl, but she is NOT Stephanie Plum. (I would have considered Jennifer Esposito or Paulie Perrette.) One boring evening, I watched “One for the Money” on pay-for-view. As I suspected, it was horribly mis-cast (Does Debbie Reynolds look 90?) and has perhaps ruined the books for me because, as I read through this, I wondered if all those things have been consistent for so long were now being written with specific actors in mind.

To readers I’ll say: This is the worst of the 22 Stephanie Plum novels. Borrow it from the library; don’t pay to buy it.
To Janet Evanovich I’ll say: If you wrote this with someone else, be like James Patterson and clearly put that on the cover of the book.
To Hollywood: If you do another book, re-cast!

I just finished reading this novel, still laughing and high on the story, and then I read a load of one-star reviews! Really? I’m wondering if they read the same book that I did. No kidding, I laughed out loud all of the way through it, and the blurb at the end had me digging out the next one, ready to have “a little taste” before bedtime. The gripe that irked me the most was the folks who grumbled because Stephanie and Joe and Ranger weren’t older and more mature! Does Dagwood Bumsted change his hairstyle? Do his kids turn fifty on him? Are Mickey and Minnie in wheelchairs? I’m gonna grow old and die, but my fictional characters will (thank God!) live on to entertain readers not yet born, and they too will laugh out loud and love Ranger and Joe Morelli, and be hard pressed to choose between them, just like Stephanie. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jgtimm

I have read every installment in the Plum series, and had recently become a little disaffected with the seeming similarity of some of the more recent adventures. However, this latest addition to the series was a very pleasant surprise.

Although there were no surprises, I did think this was a return to form. I loved the constant annihilation of Stephanie’s cars, I loved the constant doughnut and chicken munching by the main characters, and the descriptions of Morelli and Ranger are always welcome.

The plot this time around involves Stephanie chasing the usual crazy FTAs, but specifically chasing missing patients from a local hospital that have they mysteriously vanished from. She is also recruited by Ranger to be his date at a friends wedding, which is most hilarious when Ranger relays his phone messages regarding her outfit, that made me lol.

I read this book in two days, and was genuinely sad when it was over. I now realise I’m not bothered if Stephanie remains unmarried and undecided about her love life. I don’t care where Ranger’s cars are from, and Stephanie’s family meals are always interesting, and leave me salivating. I don’t think there is anyone else out there writing as proficiently as Janet Evanovich, her unique blend of thriller/comedy are perfect, and she makes it look easy.

I love Lula’s wardrobe, and her reactions to those daring enough to mention her size. These are not politically correct novels, and I love them more for it. The characters language reflects the world they live in, and I hope we are invited as readers to visit them there again, and again in the future.

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