Fearless Fourteen
by Janet Evanovich
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Book Reviews of Fearless Fourteen
Book Review: Still Going Strong
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephanie Plum is once again driving an embarrassing car and headed off to apprehend FTAs with her sidekick Lula, but that is where the story starts to follow a slightly different path than what we're used to. Stephanie picks up Loretta without a hitch, but when Loretta disappears after her release from jail, Stephanie has to take care of her teenage son Zook. Zook is into playing the computer game Minionfire, and spraypaints his enthusiasm for it on anything that doesn't run away--like Stephanie's car. Meanwhile, gorgeous Ranger has tagged Stephanie to help him with bodyguard duty for pop star Brenda, who's in town for a big concert. Brenda doesn't care much for Ranger's business-first attitude, but she has a hard time keeping her hands off him, while Stephanie has a hard time keeping her thoughts about Ranger clean. Things get really fun when Brenda wants to join Stephanie's bounty hunter team for the publicity. Stephanie is all but living with Morelli these days, though, and Zook is also staying at Morelli's house, much to the consternation of his uncle Dom, who is convinced Morelli is Zook's father.
Dom had just been released from prison, where he'd gone for a bank robbery involving $9 million that disappeared. His former partners think Dom knows where the money is, so they kidnap Loretta to get him to talk. The entire Burg seems to think the money is buried in Morelli's back yard, so Stephanie not only has her hands full with Zook and some of his Minionfire buddies, now she has to help chase off people digging in Morelli's yard at all hours, and put up with Brenda's appearances with her camera crew. Instead of exploding cars and taxidermy, this story is livened up by a potato gun and blue dye. Ranger and his merry men played a disappointingly small role, but I have to give Evanovich credit for giving us the same type of laugh out loud humor we've come to expect from these books, while retiring some of the old standby pratfalls that had grown a bit stale. Stephanie still has feelings for both Ranger and Morelli, but she's handling it a little better these days. As usual, though largely forgettable, the book was a lot of fun to read and provided several laughs. I had to pay more for this book than any other new hardcover I've purchased this year, though. The book was good, but it was not that good, and at a scant 310 pages, I can't shake the feeling the whole Stephanie Plum machine has gotten a bit greedy.
Book Review: Five stars because it made me laugh out loud!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am one of those Janet Evanovich fans who runs to the bookstore (or computer) to make sure I have her latest novel in my lap almost as soon as it is off the press. The Stephanie Plum series is without question her finest effort. It features the greatest lineup of kooky, lovable characters and wildly funny scenarios I have ever read. I don't know of any other books that make me laugh so hard.
I agree with many of the reviewers who feel that "Fearless Fourteen" is not the best or brightest star in this series. It lacks the depth of plot and fast paced telling that many of the earlier novels had. But it ranks among Ms. Evanovich's best writing as far as I am concerned. She has an amazing gift for being able to paint a wonderful portrait of her characters wtih very few words. Just one small example, when encountering Lula for the first time in this novel, she is described as "a former 'ho turned bonds office file clerk and wheelman. She's a plus-size black woman who likes to squash herself into too small clothes featuring animal print and spandex. Lula's cup runneth over from head to toe." Now if that doesn't place a clear image of this bizarre character in your mind I don't know what will! This book, like all of the author's novels in the series, is replete with such fairly brief but wonderfully descriptive characterizations.
This book is another wonderful romp through Stephanie's world of bail bondsmanship in Newark, New Jersey. While it may be short on mystery and suspense it is hysterically funny in its vivid portrayals of the bumbling yet somehow successful efforts of its protagonist. Some of the characters, like the unforgettable Grandma Mazur, may be that much more funny if you know them a bit (from prior novels of course!), but many of the new characters, like Zook and Moondog, and their video gaming nuttiness, had me rolling. I noted that some of the reviewers of this book were unhappy with some of the changes in some characters (e.g., Stephanie would never tolerate that!), but for my part I wholeheartedly enjoy these people, and if they have grown up a bit, well I guess we have to accept that in fiction as in real life! It didn't bother me at all that some of them have softened around the edges.
Whatever you do don't skip this book because of some negative reviews. It is a hoot and a half in a fine tradition of darn funny comedy!
Book Review: Enjoyable
Summary: 4 Stars
I was pleasantly surprised with Fearless Fourteen. I was bumming after the last one and approached JE's latest with some fear and trepidation. There are the same over-the-top situations and characters (I confess I DID find Brenda annoying, but I likely was supposed to) but the humor was not lost at the expense of the ridiculous. And other than Brenda, I really liked the new characters, especially Zook and Mooner. I have a teenage son and I may know Zook. Many Zooks, in fact. And anyone who gets a hoot out of the Leo character from That 70's Show can't help but love Mooner. He's cast in the same mold and even if lifted whole, that's cool man.
After finishing, I started reading the reviews here and began to rethink myself but decided that was not fair. As I closed the book, I realized I had genuinely enjoyed it. In thinking about the reviews though, especially comments that Stephanie is not growing and the characters are not developing, it occurred to me this whole book probably occupies about a week in book time. On JE's website, there's a comment that I'm possibly taking out of context, but in response to a question about age, the answer is the characters are the same age they always are. Years are not passing for these characters; how much growth could there be? Yet there was some. Stephanie does not want to bring in a skip with a camera crew riding along because she knows she and Lula are much more Lucy and Ethel than Cagney and Lacey. And once Stephanie is committed to carrying out an action for the police, we see Morelli exhibiting frustration at events he cannot control. Now, I confess I had to suspend disbelief when Morelli made tomato sauce from scratch the day before it was needed but it totally made me want him even more.
Ranger's part was much less than in the past, but that's ok with this Cupcake girl. According to the website, JE has two more books on her current contract. In thinking about this one as a step toward a possible end, I know who I want her to end up with. It occurs to me in this one, we are faced with the potential Zook is more than a cousin to Morelli and Stephanie thinks about how she would feel about that. Hmmm, she's considering parenthood. Geez, I can't believe I'm about to recommend unplanned parenthood, but for these two characters, surrounded by this supporting cast, the potential is delicious.
Book Review: Not her best...
Summary: 3 Stars
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich is the latest in her Stephanie Plum series. I thought much of it was amusing and there was at least one good belly-laugh (where I had tears rolling down my cheeks). But overall, I think Fearless Fourteen is a bit of a stretch--even for Stephanie Plum.
Plum is a bounty hunter from Trenton, NJ and as usual, her life is utter chaos. She ends up babysitting the teenaged son of a skip, Zook. Zook is addicted to an interactive Internet game called Minionfire. He also likes to spray paint everything. Ranger (a fellow bounty hunter and owner of a security firm) hires Stephanie to help babysit an aging singer, Brenda, who acts like a diva and is inclined to get into trouble. Plum also finds herself in the middle of a 10-year-old $9 million unsolved bank robbery, and it appears that the money might be somewhere in boyfriend Joe Morelli's house. Brenda decides to start a reality show and follows Plum around as she's trying to do her job. And when things couldn't get any worse, Lula is engaged to boyfriend, Tank, and is driving Plum crazy with wedding plans. All of these situations play out with the usual Evanovich zaniness. Unfortunately, I think there was just way too much going on here--especially toward the end.
Evanovich is skillful at describing life in Trenton. Of a fast-food restaurant, she writes "Cluck-in-a-Bucket is a zoo on Sunday. It's the lunch of choice for the lazy, the fat, the salt-starved, the emotionally injured, the families on budgets, the cholesterol-deprived and the remaining ten percent of the population who just want a piece of chicken." My favorite character (next to Plum) is Lula, "former `ho, turned bonds office file clerk and wheelman. She's a plus-size black woman who likes to squash herself into too small clothes featuring animal print and spandex. Lula's cup runneth over from head to toe." I'm glad that Evanovich has turned Lula into a regular.
Although I don't think this is Evanovich's best Plum book, I still enjoyed reading the exploits of Stephanie. When I need a break from serious female detectives and private investigators including Kinsey Millhone, Sharon McCone, Nevada Barr, Kathy Mallory and Temperance Brennan, reading about Stephanie and Lula is like watching "Lucy and Ethel" on television.
Book Review: Such a shame
Summary: 1 Stars
The Stephanie Plum series is one of my absolute favorites. Each year, I wait impatiently for the next installment. Janet Evanovich has created a cast of characters which resonate with each of her readers - some hilarious, some serious, all endearing. Except the creepy bad guys, of course!
But probably my favorite part of this series is the sparks that fly in every direction as Stephanie tries to survive her job and the two men in her life.
In Fearless Fourteen, those sparks have been largely snuffed out. What is left is an amusing tale of Stephanie attempting to unravel a case involving a skip who has disappeared, a 14 year old computer gamer, a ex-con with a grudge against Morelli, a has-been pop star with a need to be back on TV, and a monkey.
There are some vaguely amusing moments, some creepy moments, and some sweet moments between Stephanie and Morelli. If you read the Plum series for the her relationship with Morelli, then you might enjoy Fearless Fourteen.
However, if you love the other characters - Steph, Lula, Ranger, Tank, etc, - or for the scary adventure, then Fearless Fourteen is probably not for you. Gone is the sassy, spunky, straight-talking Stephanie, replaced instead by Morelli's gaga-eyed girlfriend who sings his praises and calmly obeys each of his orders. Gone is strong, survivor Lula, replaced by a simpering bridezilla. And Ranger is just....gone.
To say I was disappointed with Fearless Fourteen would be an understatement. All the things that have made previous books stand out - the sexual tension, the strong characters - have been negated. I had been holding out hope that however Ms. Evanovich decided to resolve the love triangle, she would be able to do so while keeping all three characters strong and vibrant. Instead, Ranger has been relegated to a caricature present in less than 15 pages, and Morelli has even more of a disturbing past revealed. Before this book, I would have been happy with an end to the series that chose either man - I loved them both for different reasons. However, with the changes to Morelli's character and Ranger's character disappearing entirely, I find myself ambivalent about any ending at all. This is a series that I am sad to say I won't be keeping up with anymore.