Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich

Trenton, New Jersey's favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he's out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in.

I enjoyed this book! It made me laugh out loud like some of the earlier books in the series. Great easy and quick read.

A light and easy read. Found it a bit predictable with Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger all very much unchanged from earlier Plum novels and the story line feeling very much like a re-hash of earlier books with very similar things happening. Good but not great.

What to say, what to say . . . I mean seriously, these are like 80's sitcoms at this point. A big reset to the status quo at the end of the novel, most of the jokes are variations on previous novels. Which makes it hard to talk about them. Let's break this one down quickly:

The Good: Vinnie didn't appear. Joyce Barnhardt only appeared as an allusion. The pacing was a bit different, I thought. Stephanie's main target was taken care of pretty early, freeing her up to help Ranger.

The Bad: The main target for Stephanie was so close to the guy in Takedown Twenty that I briefly wondered if I'd already read this one.

The Surprising: The other big case for this book – Ranger's case, was a lot more serious (grading on a Plum curve here) than we're used to. Involving a bit more peril than one expects. Grandma was used well, and Evanovich showed a little restraint with her and her antics.

The Funny: There was the standard amount of general amusement. But, and this is important, (at least until Evanovich figures it out and drives it into the ground), Bob + Ranger = Comedy Gold. Who knew? I actually laughed out loud. That whole scene lifted this from a 2-2.5 star rating to a three. It's been a long time since I actually laughed at one of these.

I got a little behind on the Stephanie Plum mysteries, so I got to enjoy two Plums this summer. Enjoy is a good word when it comes to the Plums. You aren't going to take away any great insights from these stories. You aren't going to rethink your life. You aren't going to learn any new ideas. It's okay. These books are all about getting lost in a fun ride and hanging with some zany folks for a couple of hours. So, enjoy.