If you're a fan of tight jeans, FMPs and VBS, chocolate cake, cheese doodles, and cream-filled doughnuts; then it's a sure bet that there's one fictional female gumshoe whose next appearance is marked with a star in your NASCAR-themed datebook. And that's gotta be Stephanie Plum, bond-enforcement agent (not-so) extraordinare from the wilds of Trenton, New Jersey. Well, Plum lovers, you're in luck: settle yourselves down for a few hours of mirth-laced mayhem, 'cause your favorite ding-a-ling is back in harness. Yes, folks, it's that time: it's Twelve Sharp.


If there's only one thing in the world Stephanie Plum figures is unique, it's the mysterious and drop-dead-sexy Ranger Manoso. But when a dangerously angry young woman shows up at Plum Bail Bonds looking for her wayward husband, and that young woman claims she's Ranger's wife of six months, sure things suddenly don't look so sure to Steph any more. But wait, it gets worse: Ranger's soon the subject of a nationwide manhunt, since the Feds want him for kidnapping his ten-year-old daughter Julie from her Mom and Stepdad's house in Florida. Now it really feels like Steph's world has tilted on its axis...

Have no fear, though, for it's not Ranger. Well, it is Ranger, in a way - it's the evil anti-Ranger pretending to be the real article (as if such a thing were possible), and whoever he is he's made a very detailed plan that seems to include Stephanie Plum in the role of his one and only. Considering that Ranger hasn't managed that little detail yet, wonder how this guy thinks he can do it? Life's complicated enough for Steph, what with a push on at the office to round all their wayward clients, a new filing clerk (a reformed? pervert), and a gaggle of wannabe bounty hunters to interview for a new position. Now all of a sudden Steph's got a new roommate (a very sexy Latino - guess who?) sharing her one-bed apartment. Is it you, or is it getting hot in here? But there are more important things than snuggling: there's an innocent little girl out there in the hands of a murderous nutcase - and he's already picked out his next victim...

Life wouldn't be complete without Stephanie getting zapped with a stun gun a few times, Lula fitting herself into a dress ten sizes too small, and Morelli alternating between looking sexy and being the consummate (sexy) cop. In other words, the gang's all here. And, just has happened the last eleven times, you can be certain that Stephanie Plum will get her man. You just can't be certain which man it'll be...


It's tough to believe, but this is Janet Evanovich's twelfth trip to the well - and, perhaps amazingly, it's one of her best in years. Perhaps a little break to cobble together a female metrosexual (Barney Barnaby of Metro Girl) put some lead back in her pencil, as some of the high single-digit installments were a little slow. Never one to let tight plotting get in the way of having fun, Evanovich has actually put a little suspense into this plot to go along with her usual bizarre cast of bond skips and the obligatory Grandma Mazur action at the funeral home. That's not to say that the central plot - an Amber Alert within Stephanie's inner circle - doesn't leave room for Evanovich's trademark highjinks and over the top characters (yes, Sally's here - in a pink feather thong). To make life a little more complicated for Steph, her monumentally untalented (well, just plain monumental) co-worker Lula has taken a night job as lead singer in Sally Sweet's rock band, The What (you know, like The Who). And she wants Steph's Grandma on backup vocals! Well, to tell the truth, Grandma kinda looks like Jagger, so this rocker gig might work out after all!

If you've never had the pleasure of a Stephanie Plum novel, here's a taste of what you've been missing - it's Evanovich's capsule description of one of the skips the tragically inept Stephanie and Lula are having their usual difficulty apprehending:

Caroline was seventy-two years old, according to her bond sheet. She had skin like an alligator and bleached blonde hair that was teased into a rat's nest. If it was a wig, she got swindled no matter what she paid. She was wearing orthopedic shoes, fishnet stockings, a tight spandex miniskirt, and a skimpy tank top that showed a lot of wrinkled cleavage. I was guessing she smoked three packs a day and slept naked in a tanning bed.

And she's one of the normal ones...


Whether you're a diehard fan of the divine Miss Plum or a Plum virgin, Twelve Sharp will delight with its unrelenting silliness - and for once it even has a little seriousness, to give it some edge. This one's a keeper...



Note: I'd like to thank pearannoyed for adding this book at my request.


A couple of Steph's other Plum-silly adventures:

Eleven On Top
To The Nines

and, of course,

Metro Girl


Moved 7/11 'cause the database is such a mess

Recommended: Yes