Saturday, March 15, 2008

“High Five” by Janet Evanovich

High Five” by Janet Evanovich
1999 St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0-312-97134-6

High Five” by Janet Evanovich is a terrific read. Stephanie Plum is who I would be if I were braver. But, since I’m not I’ll be content reading of her exploits sitting on the edge of my seat as she is in one car after another that gets blown up.

There’s a quirky humor that runs through these stories and the characters in them. Grandma Mazer is a pip as she refers to people occasionally. Stephanie’s mother is so understandable as she tries to cope with a daughter who she is convinced would be happier if she had a job at the button factory instead of being a bounty hunter.

And, Stephanie’s love life? Ah, only in the movies would you have two…count them two guys, Ranger and Joe, who you’ve got the hots for and who have the hots for you. At the same time. And, Stephanie tries to walk the tight rope between them. Well, too, because the same thread is repeated in the other Stephanie Plum stories.

What’s really neat? It’s that Janet Evanovich keep writing them.

Anyway, in “High Five” Stephanie tries to find out what happened to her Uncle Fred who’s gone missing. It’s something with the garbage company’s accounting that has gone wrong. The last time Uncle Fred was seen he was on his way to their offices to prove that he’d written a check for their service.

Stephanie unravels this mystery with much danger and mayhem to herself and those who hang around too closely to her. The bad guys become the good guys and the good guys sometimes look like the bad guys. Just like in real life.

You don’t have to have read the first four books before you read this one. Janet is such a great writer that you know right where you are wherever you pick up the thread of these stories. Haul your bony butt off to the library today and see what they’ve got on their shelf.

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