Published By: St. Martin's Griffin
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback from library, 350 Pages
RATING: 5 HILAROUS LULA STARS
Blurb: Goodreads
A “saintly” old candy store owner is on the lam - and bounty hunter extraordinaire Stephanie Plum is on the case. As the body count rises, Stephanie finds herself dealing with dead drug dealers and slippery fugitives on the chase of her life. And with the help of eccentric friends and family, Steph must see to it that this case doesn't end up being her last....
BOOK REVIEW:
To date this is the BEST Steph Plum book I have read.
Why?
Lula and Stephanie together and their banter. Lula is freakin’ hilarious. She really shined in this book and I would go as far as to say, she stole a lot of the limelight.
I have noted all the pages in my review notebook and written, ‘Lula’ as the keyword and there's a lot of them. I shall share some Lula moments, but firstly an update on Lula’s description.
Lula was a former hooker turned file clerk. She’d just recently embarked on a makeover program that included dyeing her hair blond and then straightening it and recurling it into ringlets. The transformation had her looking like a 230-pound black kick-ass Shirley Temple.
Lula as a sidekick is magic.
“I’ll stake it out good,” Lula said. “I won’t miss a thing.”
I turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the curb. “What will you do if you see Mo?”
“I’ll snatch the little fucker up by the gonads and squash him into the trunk of my car.”
“No! You’re not authorized to apprehend…”
The chemistry between Stephanie and Lula had me in fits of laughter all the way through this book. She is such a gem of a character.
“Remember,” I said to Lula, “I do the talking. And most of all, don’t shoot him.”
“Not unless he starts something.”
“He isn’t going to start something, and even if he does there will be no shooting!”
“Hunh,” Lula said. “No pocketbooks, no perfume, no shooting. You got an awful lot of rules, you now that?”
The way Lula approaches looking for a FTA with Stephanie is as funny as hell, which always evolved into so much more with other characters coming into play as they both get deeper into an investigation.
I approached the closed bathroom door with my pepper spray in hand. I flipped the door open and jumped back. The door crashed against the wall and Lula dove behind the couch.
I looked into the empty bathroom, and then looked over at Lula.
Lula picked herself up. “Just testing my reflexes,” Lula said. “Trying out new techniques.”
"Uh-huh.”
Joe and Steph have some awkward chemistry in this installment.
He stood and tugged at my hair. “Be careful driving home.”
He snagged a brown leather bomber jacket off a hook on the wall at the far end of the bar and left.
I stared after him, dumbstruck. He’d tugged my hair. First a chuck on the chin, and now a tug at my hair. This was a definite put-off. It was one thing for me to snub Morelli. It was an entirely different matter for him to snub me. This was not how the game was played.
Now let’s talk Ranger. He tickles my lady bone. He is such a gorgeous, Alpha character who is so good to Stephanie and playful.
“They’re setting an extra plate,” I told Ranger.
There was a moment of silence at the other end.
“You come from a long line of scary women,” Ranger finally said.
Water bubbled up from the boiling potatoes…
My mother stabbed at the potatoes. “The potatoes are done,” she said.
“I have to go,” I told Ranger. “The potatoes are done.”
“What’ll happen if I don’t show up?” Ranger wanted to know.
“Don’t ask.”
“Shit,” Ranger said.
“Boy,” I said when we were out on the street. “Mr. Charm.”
“In sweats, too,” he said. “You should see me work my magic in leather.”
"So why are you really here?" I asked Lula.
Lula's eyes never left Ranger. "I'm here 'cause he's the shit."
"The shit?"
"Yeah, you know...the shit. The king. The cool."
"Do we know anyone else who's the shit?"
"John Travolta. He's the shit, too."
We watched Ranger some, and I could see her point about Ranger being the shit.
Love Steph’s family who are always in the picture. Steph’s dad I am still trying to work out, but the women of the household are so real and warm.
He was staring at Ranger with the sort of dumbfounded confusion you’d expect of a man whose home had just been firebombed for no good reason.
Ranger was in his black mode today. Double gold studs in his ears, form-fitting long-sleeved black T pushed up to his elbows, black-banded diver’s watch at his wrist, black rapper slacks tucked into black combat boots, with enough gold chain around his neck to secure bail for murder one.
“Have some ham,” Grandma said to Ranger, passing him the plate. “Are you a Negro?” she asked.
Ranger didn’t blink an eye. “Cuban.”
The recipe for a Stephanie Plum read is shenanigans abound, mixed with some slow burning sexual tension along the way, FTA’s that need bounty huntering, sidekicks that add so much humor and some gorgeous Alpha men and a quirky family thrown in for good measure.
Oh...and always a bit of gorey description to add extra flavor.
I’m addicted.
I so could have seen this book as a movie. Lula was truly the star and that is okay because this is Stephanie’s long series and she knows how to keep us coming back for more.
Next up…Four To Score.
I’m addicted.
I so could have seen this book as a movie. Lula was truly the star and that is okay because this is Stephanie’s long series and she knows how to keep us coming back for more.
Next up…Four To Score.
