Book Review: "Explosive Eighteen"

"Explosive Eighteen " by Janet Evanovich
Originally published in 2011
My rating: 4 out of 5

If you read my review earlier this year of Janet Evanovich's lackluster "Smokin' Seventeen," you know that I've been nonplussed lately with my former favorite author. She managed to redeem herself slightly with her November addition to the Stepanie Plum series, "Explosive Eighteen," but I've lost hope that the Plum books will ever return to their glory days of laugh-out-loud humor, edge-of-your-seat suspense and seductive romance.

This installment was far better in the plot department than the last few books, but I didn't laugh once. The funniest line was when Lula compared a boxy Scion to a toaster. That's a far cry from the guffaws and snorts Janet's writing used to elicit. And in this book, Stephanie is "off men" so there's not really much of a romantic element.

In general, this book follows the same basic plot as all the others. Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum somehow gets entangled in a dangerous web of crime, she's followed around by some bumbling idiots and murdering maniacs, she debates between love interests Morelli and Ranger, catches some bond-skippers along the way with the help of her motley crew of friends, and ultimately has a run-in with the murdering maniacs, which she escapes with luck and/or desperation.

As much as I love returning to the Burg and catching up with Stephanie, Lula and Grandma Mazur every year, I think it might be time for the series to be laid to rest. There's only so many ways Janet can re-write the same story, and plus we all know Stephanie is going to choose Morelli in the end. In the meantime, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the second book in Janet Evanovich's clever and hilarious Lizzy and Diesel series, "Wicked Business," which comes out next June. Even though the Plum series has become a bit of a dud, at least the "Wicked" series proves Janet has not lost her mojo entirely!