Manhunt by Janet Evanovich

Reviewed by Gerti

Janet Evanovich has the ultimate recipe for writing success in her numbered series of novels about bounty hunter Stephanie Plum (“One for the Money”, “Two for the Dough”, etc.) She tries to use a similar formula here in “Manhunt” - take a sexy but hapless career woman and put her in the craziest situations imaginable. In this book, successful NYC stockbroker Alexandra Scott decides to pitch it all, all her money and all her success, and head to Alaska on a whim to find a husband. Perhaps it is my status as a housewife, but I don’t believe that story for a minute. It is utterly implausible that a modern woman would trade her gorgeous clothes, fancy condo, etc. for an uber-rustic cabin and a broken-down store in the wilderness in order to catch herself a man.

While that may have worked as the plot of a 1950s Doris Day/Rock Hudson film, it is in fact the setup for the novel “Manhunt”, originally published as a Loveswept paperback in 1989. The 2005 re-issue (which is the edition that I read) is in slightly larger print, which is pretty easy on my over-50 eyes, which is why I chose it as a beach book. I wasn’t really looking for a romance book, but knowing its origins does explain the few steamier love scenes in the book which differ from the other half-dozen Evanovich books I’ve read already. Thankfully, the humor with which she writes is unchanged, and it is in fact the writer’s humor and charm that gilds this highly implausible turd of a tale.

I know I’m not alone when I admit that I read Evanovich books because they are great fun, and “Manhunt” is no exception. Her characters are vastly entertaining and appallingly unique. Her books are as easy to digest as a Twinkie and just as substantive, but I don’t care when I’m reading one because sometimes I don’t want to work that hard with a book. This one goes down easy, and I enjoyed reading about the Alaskan version of Mr. Darcy, hero Michael Casey, who saves Alex’s dog, gives her shelter after she burns down her own outhouse, and eventually proposes, because who doesn’t love a broke, beautiful airhead with spunk? Or maybe there really are no women in Alaska! Lucky for Alex, he’s rich and hunky, so all’s well that end’s well. You won’t be placing this book on your classics shelf next to Dickens or Tolstoy, but it will certainly warm up your beach blanket for a few hours! Read it and laugh, thankful that all the misfortunes that Alex has to face are not yours! 

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

Reviewed by Gerti

Janet Evanovich has the ultimate recipe for writing success. She takes a fabulously interesting protagonist, bail bondswoman Stephanie Plum, and puts her in the craziest situations imaginable. In this book, it’s a few days before Christmas, and Stephanie wakes up to find a man in her apartment. Not just any man, but a sexy sort of superman/alien named Diesel, who has the ability to open locks and seems to know things about the universe the rest of us don’t, like why a fugitive named Sandy Claws is having a hard time making toys this season.

While she is initially shocked and scared to find Diesel has gotten into her place, he is not a serial killer, but becomes instead Stephanie’s sidekick as she visits her funny family, led by her hot-to-trot Grandma Mazur, and her unexpectedly pregnant sister, Valerie. Diesel also accompanies Stephanie to the little shop in Jersey where Claws supposedly sells toys, and to other locales, like where little people/elves are hired as toymakers. No problem if large humans can’t enter. Stephanie has a friend named Briggs who is vertically challenged and owes her a favor. She convinces him to apply for a job, and together they infiltrate the organization, only to find that some other alien/super creature named Ring is after Claws and determined to shut down his toy operation. Diesel explains how it’s an old rivalry, but I don’t really care. What it is, is funny. I especially love where Stephanie gets attacked by elves. LOL funny.

I’ve read a number of books by Evanovich now, and you don’t read them to increase your IQ, improve your manners or increase your vocabulary. But they are great fun to read because her characters are vastly entertaining and appallingly unique. Her books are easy to digest and if there is very little mystery, or at least very little mystery that can be solved using normal human logic, well, that’s part of the fun. “Visions of Sugar Plums” is escapist literature at its best, but Evanovich keeps the comedy coming, and that’s what keeps me picking up her books.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Reviewed by Gerti

My husband says you should never read a “New York Times” bestseller, because you’re bound to be disappointed. I’ve never followed that advice, and this book makes me thankful for it. I found John Grisham’s “Skipping Christmas” to be a flat out delight, even if I didn’t get to read it till after the tree was already on the curb.

Now I’m a huge Grisham fan, but usually he puts out legal thrillers that have me trying to decide whether the jury is rigged or a judge corrupt. That’s why this is such a delightful change. It has all the advantages of a Grisham novel – his ridiculously original characters and brandy-smooth writing – with a whipped cream heavy plot, so it doesn’t require more thinking than say, whether to use bubble bath or not before you engage in a soak.

The principals are Luther and Nora Krank, and since they are sending their daughter off to the third world for Christmas, they decide to forgo their usual holiday rituals (which accountant Luther finds are costing them a fortune) and take a holiday cruise instead. Oddly enough, that will be cheaper by half than buying all the fruitcakes, trees, invitations and custom-made holiday cards and throwing the huge party they usually throw. What is thrilling, however, is seeing how it all goes wrong, for just as they are getting ready to leave, their daughter calls and says “surprise!” she is coming home for Christmas after all, and bringing her doctor fiancé who would really love to see an American Christmas celebration.

Luther has made a ton of enemies with his anti-Christmas stance, and it is heart-warming how his neighborhood, which has turned against him for his resistance to taking part in their theme decorating that year, bands together to bring his Christmas miracle to pass. Grisham’s sense of humor sparkles, and his mastery of clever plot shines as brightly as the lit up “Frosty the Snowman” meant to be mounted next to the Krank’s chimney. He leaves no omission without it’s consequences, and it’s wonderful to watch how all the plot elements gets knit together by the end as tightly as that holiday sweater your grandmother sent you when you were 12.

I loved this book, and felt like a child on Christmas morning that I’ve discovered it at last. Thank you, John Grisham, for giving me and your faithful readers the ultimate gift, tied up in a pretty holiday bow. I’m ordered the movie they made from the book matches the level of wit and merriment of Grisham’s “Skipping Christmas,” but (spoiler alert!) it does not. Read the book for real holiday laughs!