Explosive eighteen a Stephanie Plum novel
Ratings14
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings14
Average rating3.7
Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead—and a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph he was supposed to be carrying.
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30 primary books34 released booksStephanie Plum is a 34-book series with 30 primary works first released in 1994 with contributions by Janet Evanovich. The next book is scheduled for release on 11/5/2024.
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Janet Evanovich is one of few authors who can make me laugh out loud when reading.
Stephanie comes back from a trip to Hawaii early leaving both Ranger and Morrelli there with cuts and bruises and neither one too happy with Stephanie. She has a photograph put into her bag into the airport which every one seems to want. Plus Stephanie's usual antics trying to apprehend her bounties with Lulu and trying not to get killed. Loved this as much as all the other books. Series never gets dull.
(Review originally posted here at Fictionally Inclined.)
I started the Stephanie Plum series nearly 8 years ago and have been a loyal fan ever since. Explosive Eighteen is the latest in the series, so I obviously had to read it. Especially since Smokin' Seventeen ended in a cliffhanger. Also, the last few installments have not been quite up to par with the standards the series previously set, so I was interested to see what this one had to offer.
Any Plum book is going to be an enjoyable read, period. Evanovich has a knack for finding the most absurd problems, and the comments about said circumstances are unfailingly hilarious. The characters are crazy, in good ways or bad. You can't read a Plum book and not laugh. 18 was no exception to this rule. Stephanie and Lula continued to crack me up, and the one-liners abounded. My favorite one was probably the first one listed in the Quotes section below.
However, I have found myself getting frustrated in the last few books. I have been a steadfast Ranger fan from the very beginning. I never wavered for a moment. I nearly bought myself a “Babe” t-shirt at one point. However, with the ridiculous absurdity that was the Stephanie/Ranger interaction in 17, I found myself just wanting Stephanie to give it up and pick one. Of course I want it to be Ranger. Of course. But the triangle is nowhere as fun as it used to be. It's just getting old. Maybe that's just what happens after 20+ books (including the Between-the-Numbers novels).
There were some things I liked about 18. I love that Tank made an appearance! I've missed him. There was Steph/Ranger interaction that wasn't chock-full of WTF-ery, ala 17. There was a fun surprise that I can't mention for fear of being spoilery. I liked that the mystery about the vacation was drawn out, although it went on for a little long. Overall, 18 was definitely an improvement over 17, and I can only hope that 19 continues the trend.
❝I was driving a truck now. Appropriate, I thought. Empowering. I'd practically grown testicles.❞
❝Sometimes there's a fine line between a cowardly act and a brilliant decision...❞
❝It's like you're a reality show, all by yourself.❞
❝“He didn't impress me as much of a good time, so I didn't invite him in. Did he catch up with you?”
“Yeah. He was waiting downstairs.”
“And?”
“I shot him, and he left.”
“Nice. I was thinking we should put the frozen pizza in the oven. Is there any more wine?”❞
The quality of the novels have been getting better since the downhill trend that started around book 13. We still need an answer to who she's going to choose and it looks like it's getting close to who I thought it was! Funny book as usual. Lorelei King is a great narrator and does all the different character's voices brilliantly.
