Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
Reviewed by Gerti
I
had never read a book by Janet Evanovich before, so picking up this
book was a little like getting on what I thought was an elevator and
finding out it was a rollercoaster. “Plum Lucky” is a comic
thrill ride, filled with quirky characters that were both horrible
and hysterical at the same time. I had a great time reading it!
The
protagonist is a woman named Stephanie Plum, who works for her uncle
in the bail bonds business. The story is told from her point of view,
which sounds as though it might limit the amount of information
coming in to the reader, but that is by no means true. Stephanie has
a funny family, led by her Grandma Mazur, who has just found a
duffle-bag filled with money. The problems come in as the original
owner of the money, and the man who stole it from him, both try to
get their money back from Grandma. She however has taken the
windfall, bought a Winnebago, and gone from Trenton to Atlantic City
to gamble.
Since
Stephanie is good at tracking down scofflaws, her mother enlists her
aid in finding her errant grandmother, but Stephanie is “Plum
Lucky” to have a bunch of people who help her out. Those people
include the other staff of the bail bond business, office manager
Connie and former whore now (almost) high fashion model Lula. The
cast rounds out with a cop boyfriend for Stephanie, another sexy
people tracker named Diesel, a mad mobster named Delvina, a
leprechaun thief named Snuggy, and a racehorse headed for the glue
factory named Doug. There are people who talk to horses, people
wearing tinfoil on their heads, and people shooting rocket launchers.
It’s a mad romp as Stephanie and her crew try to bring Grandma back
home alive and well, return the money to the mobster, but also have
enough money left to pay for Doug’s operation so he isn’t put
down.
Does
“Plum Lucky” make me want to look for another book by Evanovich?
Yes, because it’s so plum crazy, but also very entertaining. No
brain cells died in the reading of this book, meaning it was as easy
to digest as a bowl full of Cool Whip. And while there was very
little mystery involved in the novel, it was as much fun as a girl’s
night out. To top it off, I read this St. Patrick’s Day themed book
the day before the holiday, so it seemed like Evanovich and I are
meant to be. Can’t wait to see if she can keep up the manic action
and wit in her next book! I feel “Plum Lucky” to have finally
found this author!
