Stephanie Plum Loose in Las Vegas? Run, Elvises, Run!

There are events in our world that defy reason; happenings that our all too-limited minds find inexplicable. Much as the appearance of a "holy artifact" (which looked suspiciously like a Coca-Cola bottle) once convinced an African Bushman that "The Gods Must Be Crazy," the arrival of another Stephanie Plum "number" never fails to cause me to wonder if the reading public is a few french fries short of a Happy Meal. Our lascivious Ms Plum has returned for the ninth installment in Janet Evanovich's tales of the klutzy bail bond agent, and - although she's not necessarily dressed To The Nines this time out - she still has the moves.

Who's Gone This Time?

Steph's cousin Vinnie the bondsman recently branched out into a new field, issuing visa bonds. Not the credit card kind; the passport kind. His first ever bondee, a south Asian fellow named Samuel Singh, apparently didn't get the point of the bonding process. With but a few days left on his visa, Sam slipped away in the night taking only his laptop and his landlady's dog. Wildly distraught over the likelihood of negative publicity, Vinnie orders his bond recovery agents to drop everything and nab the missing Singh. This pairs Stephanie with Vinnie's only other real recovery agent, the dark and dangerous Ranger.

Subbing for the missing Singh at his former job, Steph stumbles over a clue that leads her to a pair of murders - one two years old, the other right before her eyes. And then the huntress becomes the hunted, as a string of sinister flower deliveries with threatening cards begin arriving. Her semi-fiancé Morelli and the equally hot Ranger run tag team security on the bumbling bond agent, but true to form, she proves as capable of destroying bodyguards as she's proven adept at destroying vehicles in past installments.

Singh's trail leads to Las Vegas where Steph takes her sometime partner, the retired 'ho' Lula, along to The Strip to pick him up... at which time the action gets even hotter. And sillier - it is Stephanie Plum, after all!

Dramatis Personae Revisited

Longtime Plum-watchers will be gratified to note that the Plum family returns in all its glory, although that poster child for senility Grandma Mazur sees less action this time out (a blessing, in my opinion). Instead, erstwshile-perfect sister Valerie and her 2-8/9 kids are given more tiem - most of which the hugely pregnant Valerie spends stuffing food into her face with a front-end loader. The voluptuous Lula - resplendent in an acre or two of leopard-print Spandex - gets more page-time this installment, as does pulchritudinous office manager Connie (who accompanies this modern-day Abbott and Costello team to Las Vegas).

In case you missed it, Steph and on-again-off-again beau Morelli are hot and heavy, keeping their long history current (it was Morelli, after all, who stuck in his thumb and pulled out a Plum cherry so many years ago). Steph's being off the market doesn't mean, however, that the dusky devil Ranger isn't still sending shivers down her spine every time he breathes in her ear.

Of course there's always Steph herself - a true vision in ratted hair, a little too much makeup, and a pair of FMPs. What's not to like?

Well?

No fall season is complete these days without Evanovich's upping the Plum "count" (each book title contains a number, rising from One for the Money to Hard Eight). Although this is one series that'll definitely never be mistaken for serious fiction, the Plum books are fun enough that fans keep coming back for another hit.

So, are those fans approaching certifiable? Consider this: in a world where the possibility of ending up crumpled on the sidewalk like a murder victim in a Spillane thriller seems stronger every day, we all need a little levity. If we can get it here, so much the better. Besides, it's refreshing to find someone who lives a carefree life with a happy (although bizarre) family, not to mention loads of hot sex. Bumbling or not, the girly Steph is almost enough to make me want to skip bail on cousin Vinnie just to get her on my trail!


Moved 7/11 because of the messed-up database
Moved again 9/11 for the same reason. This gets old.

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