Smokin Seventeen

I just finished reading Janet Evanovich’s latest book, “Smokin’ Seventeen: A Stephanie Plum Novel” and it’s classic Evanovich.
This is the 17th in a series of mysteries about a bounty hunting, donut loving, car destroying Jersey girl named Stephanie Plum. My husband once asked me what these books were about and I described them as a lighter, fluffier, female version of the Spenser series by Robert B Parker.

After 17 books, it’s no surprise its formulaic (I’d say after 4 books it got formulaic) but that’s comforting: you know sort of what to expect, but still wonder how she’s going to serve it to you. It’s also a great book to take to the beach or the lake because it’s such an easy going read.

After 17 books it’s hard to remember what happened to which character, why certain people are out to get Stephanie, where she’s at with her relationships with the two men in her life Ranger and Morelli, and what cars she’s blown up (between 1 and 3 of the cars she drives get destroyed per book). In a clever play on the hoopla surrounding the Twilight series, the book comes with stickers at the back so you can declare “I love Ranger” or “I love Morelli”.

There are a few twists and turns, lots more of all the favorite characters, some interesting dynamics between Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger, and another outrageous escape by Stephanie. The cliffhanger ending is another unexpected twist, so now I am awaiting the next book; “Explosive Eighteen” which comes out November 2011!