Product Description

Stephanie Plum's fast becoming the most unpopular woman in New Jersey. Even her own mother can't love her for taking on the job of tracking down Uncle Mo, everybody's favorite candy store owner. Cursed with a disastrous new hair color and an increasing sense that it's time to get a new job, the world's favorite bounty hunter sets off on her latest adventure, with a little 'help' for her new sidekick, hooker turned file clerk Lula, who's just itching to get a felon in the back of her racy redfirebird...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4996 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
Most of the "Failure To Appears" that bounty hunter Stephanie Plum goes after are no great loss to society; it's only their girlfriends and bowling partners who don't want them caught. But Moses Bedemier is no ordinary FTA. The candy-store owner pulled in on a concealed-weapon charge is a popular guy in his Trenton neighborhood, and nobody but Stephanie cares whether he sets a new court date. So when Stephanie goes after Uncle Mo, the path is littered with the bodies of buddies who've thrown themselves in the way - and some bodies that have been thrown by other folks, too. Before long, Stephanie, on her second illegal visit to Mo's apartment, comes across the first of four dead drug dealers (and she'll soon lead her onetime-lover/constant nemesis Joe Morelli and his colleagues on the Trenton Police to four more, though the cops have to dig these four up themselves). What's the connection between staunch if slippery Uncle Mo and the bad guys? Why do a bunch of ski-masked thugs keep threatening Stephanie and her hamster with violence if she doesn't lay off Mo? And what can she do about the hideous orange color her hair turned in the middle of a chase after still another FTA? Stephanie's third case (Two for the Dough, 1996, etc.) dispenses almost entirely with mystery and detection in favor of a comedy/variety format. But in going repeatedly for the funny bone, Evanovich, who clearly agrees with her heroine that "adaptation is one of the great advantages to being born and bred in Jersey," is obviously dealing from strength. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
Stephanie Plum's fast becoming the most unpopular woman in New Jersey. Even her own mother can't love her for taking on the job of tracking down Uncle Mo, everybody's favorite candy store owner. Cursed with a disastrous new hair color and an increasing sense that it's time to get a new job, the world's favorite bounty hunter sets off on her latest adventure, with a little 'help' for her new sidekick, hooker turned file clerk Lula, who's just itching to get a felon in the back of her racy redfirebird...

About the Author
Janet Evanovich, originally from South River, New Jersey, lives in New Hampshire. Her two previous novels, ONE FOR THE MONEY and TWO FOR THE DOUGH, were both published by Hamish Hamilton and Penguin.

Customer Reviews

Another laugh a minute book!
Fantastic!!! I would love to be friends with Stephanie Plum - what an exciting time you would have out in the car with her!! Yes you would probably have whipp lash from all her accidents, and yes you would probably have a few cuts and bruises from the near death experiences - but what fantastic tales you would be able to tell everyone! Keep the novels coming Janet - I'm totally addicted!!!

Three, the hard way
One of the good things about this series is that you don't have to read them in order. After book one, I jumped right to this one (because I didn't have a copy of book two).

Stephanie Plum is, as usual, way over her head in her unchosen profession. Untrained, uncoordinated, dysfunctional and disorganized, she's the world's most unlikely bounty hunter - a definite Sandra Bullock role if they decide to make the movie.

This time her main task is simply to track down the town saint, a well-loved candy man with a devoted following of little old ladies, and a stable of nasty goons on the side.

Suddenly people are shooting at her, drug dealers are turning up dead, her vehicles don't work, and her new sidekick is a former hooker with an attitude and a craving for action - once it's not too dangerous.

Acknowledging her limitations, she calls on professional bounty hunter Ranger (part to be offered to Sam Elliot if I have a say in casting) and police officer Morelli (think Colin Farrell), her primary weakness in the romantic department.

After all the expected twists and turns, and the unexpected twists and turns, this turns out to be a wildly funny and entertaining read.

Amanda Richards

Dependency Narrowly Avoided by Stephanie Plum!
Ever since Stephanie kicked out her husband for doing something unmentionable with a high school classmate on the dining room table, she has been trying to find her own way. It's tough out there in the real world. Being a lingerie buyer didn't work out, so she's put pressure on a relative to let her be a bounty hunter for his bail bond business. This has given her a new set of friends, including Lula (the toughest ex-streetlady turned bounty hunter in training) and Ranger (her tough-as-nails bounty hunter mentor). But Stephanie is still new to bounty hunting, and things go wrong.

In this installment of the continuing Stephanie Plum sage, Stephanie has three men to bring in. One runs a candy store, another is a kid who works in fast food, and the third is a pusher who's armed and dangerous. Naturally, it's the elderly man with the candy store who's the main problem. She can't find him, no one wants her to find him because he is beloved by the community, and pretty soon dead bodies are stacking up like cord wood wherever Stephanie goes. Three times in one day, she is shot at, and her nerve starts to go. Pretty soon, her normal solo act is being backed up by both Lula and Ranger.

Then, too, Joe Morelli (exboy friend in this story) starts acting strange, Stephanie finds him more attractive. He also moves into a house, and Stephanie starts to wonder if he's ready to settle down. With her guard down after more and more dangerous encounters, Stephanie almost succumbs but is saved by her weak stomach.

The mystery isn't the thing in a Stephanie Plum novel. It's just there to give Stephanie something to do. She's the real focus. Characterization in this fine novel is outstanding. That's the strength of the book. The humor is fine, too. The plot's a little below par, but you'll like the romantic parts and Stephanie dealing with food and exercise. If you have a macabre sense of humor, you'll like some of the corpse humor as well.

The real focus of the story is whether Stephanie is going to retreat into eating all of her meals at her parent's house, move in with Joe Morelli, and give up on chasing bad guys and get a job at the button factory. Although she's very tempted, she keeps her freedom and independence. You'll enjoy the tug of war, and be rooting for Stephanie. If you have children, you'll probably also change your mind about how often you let them go to candy stores alone.

Overcome your tradition stall that catching the bad guys is only for he-men. Stephanie can trip them up with the best!

Enjoy this book the next time you want a good laugh!