Sizzling Sixteen

When it comes to books in a series – particularly one that I've read more than 3 of (so the Plum books qualify several times over) – I don't bother to read the back cover, I just want to read whatever's next. So I had no idea how tough a sell this book would be for me until I got a few pages into it.

Vinnie Plum is probably my least favorite character in the Plum books (well, other than Joyce Barnhardt, now that I think of it). His character isn't that interesting, almost never contributes anything to the story that couldn't be handled by someone less-skeevy, say, Connie. So when the big story of the novel is going to be about rescuing Vinnie, I'm not going to be that invested. Actually, I'm going to root against Stephanie and her crew saving the day. A happy ending to this book would be Vinnie getting capped and Connie taking over. Or, fine, if he has to live – he's so shaken by the experience that he sells his business to Ranger.

Of course, I knew that this is a Stephanie Plum novel, so the odds of that happening are pretty low, if not non-existent. Typically, everything resets at the end of the novel, and that status is quo going forth.

So, I had to seek fulfillment elsewhere – how many cars will Steph blow up? (her car's in the shop for mechanical difficulty, of all things, when the book starts) Will Lula's diet and the breaking of it annoy me? (not too bad, really) Will Stephanie's efforts to bring in a pretty easy FTA or two be stupid flops, or actually funny? (eh, not bad...not as funny as they could've been, but not annoyingly stupid) Will Grandma Mazur's antics seem like they'd be a better fit for The Nanny's grandmother than a crime novel? That kind of thing.

And overall, Evanovich pulled it off. This isn't her at her best, but it's her doing her thing. It'll satisfy long-time readers, but probably wouldn't win a first-timer. Pleasant enough way to spend 300 pages.