2010: #90 – Sizzling Sixteen (Janet Evanovich)

Book #90 was Sizzling Sixteen, the sixteenth book in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.  The back of the book reads:

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck. . . .

BAD LUCK:

Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.

GOOD LUCK:

Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.

BAD LUCK:

Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up Mooner’s vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in Ranger’s apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.

GOOD LUCK:

Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner’s Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle, they just might raise enough money to save the business, and Vinnie, from ruin.

BAD LUCK:

Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:

The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky—the only question is . . . with whom?

Unfortunately, this series is losing its luster with me. Beyond a few laughs, I was kinda bored with this.  It’s really just the same ole, same ole, and I’m ready for Stephanie to grow more as a character.  And while the Stephanie/Morelli/Ranger triangle has the potential to add a little spice to any book, Stephanie and Morelli’s on-again-off-again thing is getting tiresome. Though maybe a little more Morelli and Ranger would have helped this book — they were both missing for large parts of it.  Really, Morelli is hardly in it at all. Things are really up in the air at the end of this book, so maybe my dreams will come true and Stephanie will find a new way to get into trouble.

Other reviews:

A Book Blogger’s Diary: Review – Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Book Series Reviews: Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich
MariReads: Book Review: Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
YABOOKNERD: Mysterious Saturday Review: Sizzling Sixteen
Book Review: Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich – I’d So Rather Be Reading

Page count: 320 | Approximate word count: 80,000

2009: Jar City (Arnaldur Indridason)
2008: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Joanne Fluke)
2007: Sacred and Profane (Faye Kellerman)
2006: A Certain Justice (John Lescroart)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; E-book Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;