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Four To Score (A Stephanie Plum Novel)
Books: CookBooks: Hors D'Oeuvres: Item 2
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Four To Score (A Stephanie Plum Novel)by Janet Evanovich
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful: Viva La Stephanie!, August 18, 2001 Reviewer:W. Kaplan "calyndula" (Wynnewood, PA United States) - In this fourth outing of the so-far-fabulous Stephanie Plum series, Janet Evanovich is in perfect form--and so is her dippy bounty-hunting heroine. Why do these books work so well? The mysteries are entertaining, but certainly not edge-of-the-seat suspense. The endings are more or less foregone conclusions. The plot twists and turns can only be called improbable, if not impossible. Put them all together, and you have the most entertaining, well-written, often hilarious, always amusing set of silliness. I challenge anybody to read this book, for instance, without at least one loud, inappropriate, uncontrollable guffaw! On to the plot: Stephanie takes on what looks to be a simple, straightforward case, the apprehension of a first-time offender named Maxine. But of course Stephanie's cases are NEVER straightfoward, and Stephanie is soon embroiled in a mystery that features chopped-off fingers, a grisly scalping, counterfeit money, several fire-bombings, and some new characters who are funny enough to do serious damage to your insides as you laugh yourself sick. In addition to the much beloved regulars: Lula the ex-hooker (in fine form as always), the taciturn Mr. Plum (who actually has a speech that lasts more than a sentence in this book!), Grandma Mazur (who should be declared a national treasure), and the gorgeous, sexy, Morelli (not much of Ranger in this book), we now have Sally, a hefty transvestite who stands almost 7 feet tall when decked out in full regalia (including stiletto heels). Sally has a problem, though: he refuses to shave his ultra-hairy legs, arms, and chest, and often has trouble with his mascara. Need I say that Grandma Mazur just loves him? Then we have Sugar, Sally's gay roommate, who buries his anxieties in frenzies of baking. All-night baking. Cover-the-counter with 8 million cakes and cookies baking. Sugar has an unrequited crush on his straight but cross-dressing roommate. Hence the baking. I could go on and on....but I don't want to introduce any spoilers. Here's a hint, though: We see much more of Morelli than we have in the three previous books. hehehehehehehehhe Wait up, Lula! Keep your pleated plaid skirt on, Candy! I'm on my way back to the burg! On to Book 5!!!!
Product Review
Stephanie Plum, the trash-talking New Jersey bail bondswoman of this popular series, is tracking Maxine Nowicki, who's wanted for skipping out on a car-theft charge lodged by her ex-boyfriend. Now the ex-boyfriend's very interested in getting back the love letters he supposedly wrote to Maxine. But what he's really looking for is the secret on which Evanovich hangs her screwball cast of colorful minor characters, including Sally Sweet, a cross-dressing drag queen; Lula, the 250-pound ex-hooker who works for Steph's boss; Cousin Vinnie, the bail bondsman; Grandma Mazur, who packs a Glock and is always looking for a little action; and Joyce, a wannabe bounty hunter who's been cramping Steph's style since she played pass the salami with Steph's ex-husband. The action doesn't get much farther from Trenton than the Jersey Shore, but when Steph's apartment and car are blown up by the others on Maxine's trail and she moves in with Joe Morelli, the handsome, arrogant cop she's been hung up on since high school, it gets hotter than the craps table in Atlantic City. Plum's fans won't be disappointed in this fourth outing in the series, and they're likely to be even more interested in the snappy patter and sexy shenanigans than in the mystery that holds it all together. --Jane Adams --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Half-Hungarian, half-Italian and all-Jersey, Trenton's best-known bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, is a raucous delight in this fast-paced sequel to Three to Get Deadly (1997). There's no such thing as a simple assignment for Stephanie. When Maxine Nowicki, charged with stealing her boyfriend's car, skips her court appearance, she's fair game to be hauled in?no big challenge, thinks Stephanie. Wrong. Before the case is over, Stephanie will invade an Atlantic City casino with her intrepid allies: sneaker-shod Grandma Mazur; her colleague Lula, "a two-hundred pound black woman with blond baloney curls all dressed up like Cher on a bad day"; and Sally, a seven-foot transvestite rock singer. Although Stephanie is the bounty hunter, she's the only one of the quartet who isn't armed. She also loses another car and her apartment, moves in with handsome cop and longtime love interest, Joe Morelli (causing a stir in his family and hers), has several memorable run-ins with arch rival Joyce Barnhardt, discovers a corpse and, finally, catches her quarry. With her brash exterior and high emotionality, Stephanie Plum is a welcome antidote to suave professional PIs. The supporting cast members, eccentric and recognizable, are as entertaining as those devised by Westlake and Leonard. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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