Book Review: One For The Money

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the Stephanie Plum novels as a rule. This series makes me actually laugh out loud. Whenever Stephanie goes over to her parents for supper, something is bound to happen, courtesy of Grandma Mazur more times than not. I finally got around to reading the first in this series and I'm glad I did.

Stephanie Plum is out of work and getting desperate for money. Her car is about to be repo'ed, she has been pawning off her stuff to pay her bills, and the rent is coming due again soon. Running out of options, she hears about a filing job at her cousin Vinny's bail bonds shop and reluctantly goes down there to apply. The position has already been filled, but Vinny's secretary tells Stephanie that the real money is in bounty hunting; why, they have one right here that is worth $10,000 if she's interested in it.

Meet Joe Marelli, an ex vice cop who is wanted for murder and who has jumped bail. Stephanie knows Joe intimately well - or she used to when they were teenagers - and Vinny gives her one week to catch him or else he will give the file to someone else. Being that Stephanie has no clue how to be a bounty hunter, she gets in touch with the best in the business, Ricardo Manoso a.k.a. Ranger, to give her a crash course in hunting fugitives. Before the end of the book, Stephanie manages to steal a car (or, as she calls it, "commandeer" a car), get shot at, almost get blown up, and punched in the face by a stalker.

There is quite a cast of characters in this book - an insane boxing world heavyweight champion and his head-in-the-sand manager, a couple of hookers named Lula and Jackie, and of course Stephanie's parents and grandma Mazur. It's quite a rollercoaster ride and a lot of fun.

4 stars out of 5


View all my reviews.