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Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Novels) by Janet Evanovich
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Janet Evanovich Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2009-06-23 ISBN: 0312383282 Number of pages: 308 Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Reviews of Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Novels)Book Review: 'You can't toss sprinkles on crap and call it candy' Summary: 2 Stars
When I found out this book was going to be Ranger-oriented, I was reluctantly excited. The last few books had left me disappointed, and more than a little disillusioned with the series as a whole. I was hoping, after an interview last year in which Janet Evanovich promised a "Ranger book next time", the stagnation in Stephanie's relationships--both personal and professional--would be shaken up a bit, and the energy and passion of the books before 13 would be back after an extended absence.
Having read the entire Plum series--with the exception of Visions of Sugar Plums, which I couldn't muddle through--I know what to expect. These books are typically light on plot, high on humor, and filled to the brim with sexual and romantic tension. When I read a Stephanie Plum novel, I don't expect hard-as-nails action like I might with Kay Scarpetta or Kinsey Milhone. I rest assured none of the main characters are going to be seriously maimed or blown to smithereens. I like that these books are familiar and warm, like having drinks with my best friend from high school. I like that they aren't Tolstoy. Even Evanovich's all-too-frequent continuity screw-ups (which she calls 'senior moments' and I call 'poor editing') I can forgive, if the story itself leaves me with that "birthday cake" feeling at the end.
That said, the last few have been lacking that special something, that low-in-the-gut tingle I get when something exciting happens. It's the same tingle that makes me want to glue my butt to the couch and keep turning the pages until I get to the end, forsaking meals, bathroom breaks, and on a couple of occasions, even work in the process. I've come to accept the fact that Stephanie will never age or carry a gun, that her mother will always be her primary source of clean undies and pot roast, and that zany characters that might be scoffed at in other, more serious, mystery novels, will bask in the glow of their own absurdity.
But in this book, like the one before it, even the usual Evanovich fare comes up short. The plots, while always lacking in common sense, are now nonexistent. The robust characters I've come to know over the years are cardboard cut-outs of themselves. Even the humor, which has always been politically incorrect and at times downright crude, seems to be aimed more toward the white trash crowd than the blue collar one. Reading this book, I felt like it was all one big inside joke... one that Evanovich's readers, sadly, were the butt of.
The so-called plot of Finger Lickin' Fifteen is two-fold. First, Lula is being targeted by cleaver-wielding assassins after witnessing a star chef being decapitated. This takes up most of the book, which boggles my mind, since it has little to do with Stephanie at all, except by association. When Lula moves in, Stephanie moves out. Then cars blow up, barbecue sauce is spilled, yadda, yadda, yadda... Honestly, it was hard to care (or even keep track of) what was happening, because it was always happening to someone else, somewhere else, for some reason I never fully understood.
Once again, Stephanie is never in any real danger. The villains are about as villainy as Barney, the big purple dinosaur. The action scenes come across as if they're timed for a laugh track I don't have access to. Stephanie doesn't even seem to be bounty hunting anymore, unless you count calling Ranger and having him do the dirty work for her while she goes home to clean off whatever gunk she's rolled in this time. (Of course, she still collects the check.) It all seemed like an unfortunate series of events that lacked logic and were seldom ever tied together, an Evanovich habit that's grown tiresome.
The second part would be the series of break-ins Ranger has asked Stephanie to investigate at Rangeman. Don't bother placing bets on whodunnit, whydunnit, or howdunnit, though. The ending to this sub-plot (and don't let the excerpts fool you, it is a sub-plot, and a very small one at that) is as benign as a plate of nothing, and if you're like me, you'll be as embarrassed as Ranger at the lackluster outcome. I actually found this to be particularly manipulative and dishonest of Evanovich, since she had promoted this as being a "Ranger book", and even used the hook of Stephanie and Morelli being broken up to reinforce that inaccurate descriptor. Some might think that's unfair, but the way I see it, if you're not going to serve the filet mignon, perhaps it's best to take it off the menu and stop using it as the lead in your advertising campaign.
As for the relationships, all are as they always were. Ranger is still closed off, emotionally. Morelli's expectations of who Stephanie should be and what she should do still don't mesh with her own. And Stephanie, who blathers on and on about making the same mistakes over and over again, closes the book by making the same mistake over again--going back to Morelli under the pretense that maybe they won't fight if all they do is have sex.
And from there stems the biggest frustration: Stephanie. Yet again, we're treated to a book where Stephanie does absolutely nothing. The majority of Stephanie's time is spent driving around in a variety of cars, contemplating the meaning of life. Who is she? What is she doing with her life? Why is she always covered in mysterious goop? Why do her cars get destroyed? Why, oh why, has she stalled? These are all questions I have asked myself regarding this series, and I've been eagerly anticipating not only an answer to them, but a reaction to them as well. But as it is, a "minute-long fart" from Lula is the only answer we receive, and we're lucky to get that. At least it didn't come from a monkey.
With so much exposition and mindless filler--and so little plot or series progression--I found it hard to keep up with what little story there was. In fact, more than once while reading, I asked myself when we were going to move away from Stephanie and onto someone else, someone more interesting, only to realize a split-second later that it's her point of view and we're stuck with her. At one point I found myself in my kitchen listening to my iPod, without remembering when I'd put the book down and moved into another room. It was that bad.
Summary of Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Novels)New Jersey bail-bonds office worker Lula is a witness to celebrity chef, Stanley Chipotle, losing his head, literally. Now Lula and Stephanie Plum, a bond enforcement officer, are on the hunt to identify the killers before Lula is next on the chopping block. Meantime, security expert Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, has recruited Stephanie for a top secret mission. Someone on the inside at Rangeman is leaking client information, determined to bring the company down. Can Stephanie hunt down a killer, a traitor, and keep her Grandma out of the sauce? Book Description SAVE THE DATE: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 EVENT: The next Stephanie Plum novel, in which complications arise, loyalties are tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten. WHERE: Wherever books are sold across America WHAT TO BRING: Sunglasses, insect repellant, a flotation device, suntan lotion, cheez-doodles, extra-large towel, fire extinguisher, baseball bat, lip balm, monkey leash, sixty three pieces of chewing gum, and one canister of oxygen (don?t ask). Hey, it?s a Stephanie Plum novel! Janet Evanovich and Michael Connelly: Author One-to-One In this Amazon exclusive, we brought together blockbuster authors Janet Evanovich and Michael Connelly and asked them to interview each other. Find out what two of the top authors of their genres have to say about their characters, writing process, and more. Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of the Harry Bosch series of novels as well as The Poet, Blood Work, Void Moon, Chasing the Dime, and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Lincoln Lawyer. He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. Read on to see Michael Connelly's questions for Janet Evanovich, or turn the tables to see what Evanovich asked Connelly. Connelly: Let's get the business out of the way. What's Finger Lickin' Fifteen, the new Stephanie Plum novel, all about and what brought you to the story? Evanovich: I wanted to do a book that featured Stephanie's wheelman, Lula. Lula is one of my favorite characters because she's pulled herself up from hard times and now is just more of everything. Fifteen opens with Lula witnessing a crime, and it all gets complicated after that. We're talking about barbecue gone bad, cross-dressing firemen, dancing hot dogs, etc. Connelly: You strike me as an author who is involved in every aspect of the publishing of her work. But the output--at least two solid novels a year--suggests otherwise, that you delegate all over the place so that you can focus on writing high-quality stuff. So which is it? (And if your answer is that you do indeed delegate, how the heck do you learn to do that?) Evanovich: You reach a point in your career where the business side threatens to eclipse writing time and you either delegate or power back. I delegate everything but the writing. My daughter and her staff manage the website, the fan mail, the book tour, the author publicity and marketing. My son is my agent and finance officer and chief problem solver. When no one else can solve the problem it gets dumped on my son's desk! I oversee all aspects, but I've had to learn not to micro-manage. Connelly: We have an author friend in common-- Robert Crais--who has steadfastly refused to sell or option his series character Elvis Cole to Hollywood. On the other hand, I've flogged Harry Bosch up and down the studio strip. (Interestingly enough, to the same effect--no movies made!) Where do you stand with Stephanie and will we ever see her on the big or small screen? Evanovich: Jeez Louise, I wish I knew the answer to this one. TriStar owns the Plum franchise with Wendy Finerman attached as producer, and Wendy has been trying to get this sucker off the ground for fifteen years. Probably somewhere in the vicinity of three million people read each of my Plum books, but for whatever reason, TriStar has yet to greenlight the project. Connelly: Speaking of that L.A. business, do you remember when we first met? Since you conveniently put numbers in your titles, it is easy for me to remember that it was fourteen years ago in L.A. I bet you don't remember the name of the restaurant, which sadly is no longer there. But, luckily, we're still here and my memory of that lunch is important to me because at the time we had probably sold a hundred books between us (not counting romance novels). Evanovich: What I remember is that what I consider to be my graduating class (you, Crais, and Jan Burke) would get together at all the mystery conferences, and you would be our fearless leader! Connelly: Did you know that in my most recent novel a very bad man plans to use a Janet Evanovich novel to get close to an unsuspecting, potential victim? It's scary stuff--the plan, not the Evanovich novel. Have you reached a stage where your work is part of the terrain and gets these sorts of little nods here and there? Evanovich: Every now and then my name or one of my character names pops up and it's usually in the work of a friend. I think it's fun and I always reciprocate...so live in fear.
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