Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum, No. 10) by Janet Evanovich Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum, No. 10)
Book Review: Goes Through Cars Like Toilet Paper
Summary: 4 Stars
It's been a while since I've read one of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels, but a sudden need for light reading found Ten Big Ones at the book store. Plum's biggest worries tend to be about whether she is lusting after Joe Morelli or Ranger, how to get the latest bond jumper down to the police station, and how she is going to replace whatever vehicle just got destroyed. Definitely light fare, even if her current problem is how to avoid death identifying the thief in a grocery store heist and then turning the local gang leader into a careening pinball in traffic. He not only wants Stephanie dead, but he also wants her end to be spectacular.
Stephanie's response is to break up with her steady boyfriend, Joe Morelli, again, gorge on jelly donuts, and go into hiding at one of Ranger's lairs. Of course, this doesn't work as well as it should because even Ranger's soap is too sexy for words. And Stephanie, glutton for punishment that she is, she has to go out and make sure everyone knows that she is trying to keep a low profile. So, you see, this is standard Stephanie Plum fare - lighthearted mayhem and a heroine who is half macho and half wuss, usually with bad timing.
My issue with Evanovich's books isn't with any particular one, but with what happens if you read too many at one time. Stephanie's biggest problem is herself - a decided lack of common sense. Which is what you would expect from someone who works as a bounty hunter, but leaves her gun in the cookie jar. In four hundred pages this is funny, but if you've been reading a lot in a row, the steady diet of vaudeville sight gags is déjà vu all over again. After a break of a year or so this goes away and I found Ten Big Ones a pleasure to read. It introduces a whole ne order of plot complication and one of the more remarkable bus drivers in literary history. By all means, if you need a break from the weight of the world, take the time to read this.
Book Review: A Great Series
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up the first Stephanie Plum novel out of curiousity and wasn't disappointed. I've gone on to read every book in the series and have enjoyed every one. Rarely does a book have me laughing out loud, but I do with each one of these.
The characters are wonderful. Grandma Mazur is great. She may be old, but she doesn't let that stop her. She'll try anything, anytime. I love Ranger and Joe. If I had two guys like that in my life, I'd have a hard time deciding between them too. I love the family dinners. The conversations are hilarious. You can picture Stephanie's dad trying so hard to tune everyone out and not quite succeeding. And Lula! She gets better with every book.
Sure the situations and the characters can be a little out there at times, but isn't that what makes a great book? I love to get lost in a good book and tune out everything around me. I'm starting the 11th book next, I already have #12 and can't wait for the 13th to come out.
I recommend this series to everyone. Give it a chance and read it for what it's supposed to be, escapism. There's too little of that these days and I think we all need it to some point in our lives.
Book Review: Whatever happened to plucky Stephanie Plum?
Summary: 1 Stars
When I first discovered the Stephanie Plum series (I started with Four to Score, then backtracked), I was delighted with the character of Stephanie Plum. Although she was down on her luck, she was plucky, endearing, and canny enough to make the best of any situation she encountered. In earlier books, Stephanie was kind to her family and friends even though they drove her crazy, held her own in her on again/off again relationship with boyfriend cop Joe Morelli, and walked a fine line during her curious encounters with Ranger. She even showed some attitude with her smarmy cousin Vinnie, her ex-husband, and her nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. But now, Stephanie Plum has morphed into someone who is selfish, stubborn and just plain stupid. She has develped a childish mean streak and displays little regard for anyone but herself.
In Ten Big Ones, Stephanie is stalked by a gang hit man and, being the intrepid bounty hunter that she is, Stephanie walks right into the eye of the storm. Deciding that Joe's concern for her safety is too oppressive, she moves out of his house and into Ranger's unoccupied apartment. In one of her silliest schemes yet, she wrangles Lula and Connie into helping her kidnap a gang member, putting them all in jeopardy. And as her sister's nuptuals approach, Stephanie becomes more and more obnoxious. All this is played for laughs, but it misses the mark. The plot is deja vu, the characters predictable.
Sadly, the loveable characters created long ago by Evanovich are now stuck in a time warp where they never grow up, never change and they go through similar events again and again. Come on, bring back the old Stephanie and give Morelli something to do other than walk his dog Bob and answer his cell phone. I'm taking a vacation from this series. Bring on James Patterson, Laurie King, Lisa Gardner....
Book Review: Perhaps the series should have ended two books ago
Summary: 1 Stars
Like many of the readers, I agree that Ms. Evanovich seems to have run out of ideas. The series could be written by a twelve year old. Just give them a checklist- blow up car, eat donuts, feed Rex a donut/grape/piece of pizza, eat donuts, vascilate between Ranger and Joe, eat six tastykakes. You get the idea. Ms. Evanovich did expand the plot a little with this book, though. She added in Ranger's shower gel to the list. It was only mentioned every other paragraph. Might I add that I have never smelled a shower gel that lingers quite like his supposedly does. Seriously, the books went downhill after the sixth installment. If Ms. Evanovich cannot expand the plots and allow more character growth rather than rehashing the same events over and over, perhaps she should consider ending the series. Book Review: A good twist on a typical plot!
Summary: 5 Stars
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and her co-worker Lula are off to buy nachos, but in the meantime witness a robbery from the "Red Devil". No one was hurt, but yet another one of Stephanie's cars gets destroyed.
Stephanie finds out the hard way that she is now being targeted by a gang. Now she's on a hit list for the famous "Junkman", and Stephanie has to stay in hiding to protect herself. Morelli and Stephanie are having a rocky relationship, and with fear that she might be endangering anyone she lives with, she sets off to find a good location. However, Stephanie manages to find her way to Ranger's apartment while he is away.
Ranger has returned just in time to get a lead on Junkman, but has also hired several bodygaurds to keep Stephanie safe. All the while, Valerie is planning a wedding, but Junkman has confronted and threatened Stephanie.
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I want to tell you the end so badly, but you'll just have to read it for yourself! I must say I was somewhat disappointed with "Seven Up" and "Hard Eight", but this one exceeded my hopes. I didn't beat the last novel, but it still is a classic.
Janet Evanovich has done yet another great job adding an unusual twist to the life of Stephanie Plum, and I never would have expected it to even begin the way it did!
I know I can always count on these novels to be packed with plenty of thrills, and I still laughed. The best part was that we finally got more information on what Ranger is about. We didn't exactly see his "Bat Cave", but I was happy to hear Stephanie had finally managed to scope out his apartment, and so cleverly too!