Ten Big Ones
Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum returns yet again in this tenth installment (eleventh if you count the Visions of Sugar Plums train wreck) of her adventures as a barely-competent bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey. Unfortunately, one book reads just like another and though there is remarkable continuity between the stories, Evanovich is beginning to seem incapable of deviating at all from her tried-and-true formula. The addition of gang warfare to Trenton seems like either an attempt to focus on a real and growing problem or, more often, like a cheap and exploitative way to add suspense to Stephanie's life. At this point, though, readers know that she won't be killed or seriously harmed, so even when her car is blown up within the first few pages there is little suspense or intrigue to drive the novel. Ten Big Ones lacks the charm deployed by the previous installment's hilarious field trip and previously vivid Trenton is beginning to seem contrived and bland. This could be because the Burg is so familiar to readers, but when Evanovich adds an entirely new section of town (Slayerland), Trenton becomes just another gang-ridden, decaying city. Also maddening is the completely unrealistic expository dialogue about gang problems in Trenton, problems that, suspiciously, have never revealed themselves before, right alongside a borderline offensive explanation of gang graffiti that echoes the novel's quiet racist tones. Stephanie's ongoing romantic saga with Joe and Ranger is at its most insipid in this book and is particularly uninspired, with Stephanie quickly going downhill from a humorously confused woman to an immature brat. I am quickly losing my sympathy for the once-spunky protagonist and as strong supporting characters like Lula and Grandma Mazur are tragically reduced to stereotypes and predictable outbursts, the series weakens considerably. Everything that once made this series fresh and interesting is quickly becoming stale and boring and, though there are some good bits to this tale, I think I'm going to quit the series soon before it becomes unbearably cliche. Ten Big Ones is a good effort with some good quick gags and a hilarious (if rushed) resolution, but because it fits so well and so blandly into the established Plum universe it is incredibly disappointing.
Grade: C+
Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum returns yet again in this tenth installment (eleventh if you count the Visions of Sugar Plums train wreck) of her adventures as a barely-competent bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey. Unfortunately, one book reads just like another and though there is remarkable continuity between the stories, Evanovich is beginning to seem incapable of deviating at all from her tried-and-true formula. The addition of gang warfare to Trenton seems like either an attempt to focus on a real and growing problem or, more often, like a cheap and exploitative way to add suspense to Stephanie's life. At this point, though, readers know that she won't be killed or seriously harmed, so even when her car is blown up within the first few pages there is little suspense or intrigue to drive the novel. Ten Big Ones lacks the charm deployed by the previous installment's hilarious field trip and previously vivid Trenton is beginning to seem contrived and bland. This could be because the Burg is so familiar to readers, but when Evanovich adds an entirely new section of town (Slayerland), Trenton becomes just another gang-ridden, decaying city. Also maddening is the completely unrealistic expository dialogue about gang problems in Trenton, problems that, suspiciously, have never revealed themselves before, right alongside a borderline offensive explanation of gang graffiti that echoes the novel's quiet racist tones. Stephanie's ongoing romantic saga with Joe and Ranger is at its most insipid in this book and is particularly uninspired, with Stephanie quickly going downhill from a humorously confused woman to an immature brat. I am quickly losing my sympathy for the once-spunky protagonist and as strong supporting characters like Lula and Grandma Mazur are tragically reduced to stereotypes and predictable outbursts, the series weakens considerably. Everything that once made this series fresh and interesting is quickly becoming stale and boring and, though there are some good bits to this tale, I think I'm going to quit the series soon before it becomes unbearably cliche. Ten Big Ones is a good effort with some good quick gags and a hilarious (if rushed) resolution, but because it fits so well and so blandly into the established Plum universe it is incredibly disappointing.
Grade: C+
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