To the Nines

Once again I'm back to reading a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich. To the Nines is another book about the New Jersey bombshell bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. I snatched it off of the community bookshelf at work after I ran out of books to read. I hit Borders tonight and bought a couple of books to give my broke ass something to entertain myself for the weekend. I can take a rest from the comical world of Trenton, New Jersey for a bit again. Though the book is pretty much the same formula and characters as the first eight installments of the series, I found myself really enjoying this story. Here are some reasons why:

The novel pretty much centers on one apprehension that Stephanie has to make with not a lot filler or side stories to slow down the pace. She also teams up with the mysterious bounty hunter Ranger through a good portion of the book. The sexual tension between the two is comical.

Stephanie survives the entire book without killing a car. That is a rarity.

The girls from the bond company head to Vegas to try to catch their fugitive. There is a hilarious chapter at the casino that involves Elvis impersonators and a fight that breaks out between the girls, the Elvis wanna be's, and an unruly mob of Tom Jones fans. Most of the action in the novels takes place in New Jersey so it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Finally, Stephanie doesn't seem to be as clueless in this installment. Though the bumbling bounty hunter routine is endearing, she does seem to be getting a handle on her new profession. Of course I expect that to change when I get around to reading Ten Big Ones.

Again, if you haven't checked out the Stephanie Plum series of books, I highly recommend them as a fun and easy diversion to read. The laughs are plenty and the mysteries are decent.