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Book Review: Three to Get Deadly

July 6, 2016 by Elizabeth Drake

Title: Three to Get Deadly

Author: Janet Evanovich

CrowTree

After finishing the third book in the series, I can say that it is the funniest of the series so far. Not really funny, but with funny moments.

I didn’t figure out the way the mystery would end in this, although I had suspected Uncle Mo was into child pornography rather than what he was doing *Spoiler Alert* which was making pornographic movies with consenting adults. So, I wasn’t far off.

Granted, this was only a portion of what was going on, and I was unable to figure out the actual killer.

After doing a more thorough analysis of the story and my own detective skills, I am not sure I could have figured it out. There were no clues to tie it together until the very end. Not that it really matters. At least, not to me.

If you liked the first two stories in this series, you will probably like the third. It is very similar in pacing and style. Being outside my normal reading fare, I can’t say how much of it is realistic and how much is just a fun read. Add to it that the story takes place 20 years ago, and I am really outside my comfort zone. The one thing that did strike me is why does Stephanie Plum stay a bounty hunter? She notes in book 3 that she has a college education. So why would her choice for careers involve working at the button factory or working at the tampon factory?

I took a look at  map, and Trenton is right off the freeway and a pretty straight shot to NYC. If there is no work in Trenton, why not make the leap up to NYC for work?

Maybe I am just a coward, but if I had been accosted, threatened, and tortured like Stephanie has been, where my apartment isn’t safe and I’ve had cars destroyed by professional car bombs and rocket launchers, and where my grandmother was stabbed with an ice pick and later shoved in drawer reserved for the dead, I would not stick with the job. Especially as I am not adept at it. Especially as all of this has happened within the first 6 or so months on the job.

I’d be happy to loan Stephanie Plum the book What Color is Your Parachute (and I know it was around back then) to help her figure out what skills she has and how they could apply to a job where people aren’t trying to kill her.

I get that this is part of the charm of the story. If she was good at her job, it wouldn’t be funny. But I am starting to cringe at certain parts of her incompetence and at the way she is so blasé about danger.

The humor does add something to the story, and I love the feisty dialogue and the off-the-wall characters that have just enough of someone I know in them to make them real.

Filed Under: Book Review, Uncategorized Tagged With: blue-collar, book, career change, characters, Mystery, Stephanie Plum

Book Review: Two for the Show

July 5, 2016 by Elizabeth Drake

Title: Two for the Show

Author: Janet Evanovich

Alone

Two for the Show is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series. It was very similar to the first one, but with a different mystery to solve. Same characters, same world, same story of Stephanie being sent after a criminal she has no right to try to apprehend based on her skills and experience.

The one thing I really appreciated about this book was while it was a little richer if you already knew the characters in it, you didn’t have to read the first book to thoroughly enjoy and understand the second. I really like this in a series, especially a series I may only casually follow.

While the mystery was still intense in this one, it was also a lot funnier. I actually laughed out loud at a couple parts.

I am getting better at the mysteries as I was able to guess at least part of this one. I am learning the author, her writing style, and the how she organizes her plot. I have always been very good at figuring out patterns (sometimes to my own detriment).

I am not sure what I think of the series, exactly. Still processing it, and I still have 3 more books in the series sitting in my “to read” pile. Not sure how long the series actually is, but it looks like the author started writing it back in the mid-nineties.

I like the characters. They are fun caricatures of people I have known in my life. The mysteries are compelling, but some of the stupid stuff Stephanie does from time to time makes me roll my eyes. I still like her, but…

I think this might be a me thing. I prefer reading about competent characters doing cool stuff. One of my first book loves as a child was Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps Stephanie will grow into her role of bounty hunter. I sometimes wonder if she’d make a better police detective.

The one thing I will say is the author is spectacular at letting you see and feel places with minimal description. She also has a way of describing characters that makes them feel real. If she has ever “told” me something about them instead of showing me, I haven’t noticed. And, it has always been consistent. This is definitely a departure from the romance novels I have read lately. Frankly, I like this author’s way better.

Still not sure what I am hoping to learn from this series that I can apply to my own writing. The description difference is interesting, although I am not sure how well it would be received in the romance genre. Perhaps I need more time to let it percolate, or perhaps I just need to read the next book in the series . . .

Filed Under: Book Review, Uncategorized Tagged With: blue-collar, Books, characters, Mystery, Stephanie Plum, Story

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