Ten Big Ones: a Stephanie Plum Novel

Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: Suspense
Reviewed by Kevin Tipple

The latest is this long running series finds Stephanie Plum having one outrageous misadventure after another. She, somehow despite previous disasters and near misses along with some success, is still a Bond Enforcement Agent working for her cousin Vincent Plum. And she still manages to get herself into major trouble with or without Lulu's help. In this case, Lulu helped.

While standing in a parking lot debating lunch choices with Stephanie, Lulu decides to show Stephanie her gun. In so doing, she manages to shoot the rear tire of a bicycle leaned against the window of the local deli-mart. Seconds later, they witness the robbery of the deli-mart by a man in mask, known as the Red Devil robber. A number of things go wrong, including the fact that his escape vehicle, the bike, has a flat tire. In the ensuing chaos, not only does Stephanie lose her car to yet another fiery explosion, she can identify the robber. He is a member of the local gang known as the "Slayers." Of course, gangs thrive on violence and intimidation and they can't have Stephanie messing up their plans. So, while she is out chasing various people who failed to appear, the Slayers put out a contract on her life as well as three others.

All the usual characters are back in this adventure, which includes separate storylines on Grandma Mazur as well as Valerie and her love life. The sexual tension between Stephanie and Ranger continues while at the same time she might be finally ready to admit she loves Morelli. The humor is back as well, a hallmark of this series, with several downright hysterical scenes.

But, a word of warning as well. The risqué parts are back as well and more over the top with graphic descriptions than ever before. This is a trend that started several novels ago and shows no sign of stopping. As such, some of this may offend some readers. This is a good series but this novel certainly pushes the boundaries, as there is considerable sexual innuendo as well as graphic descriptions of suspects who have lost their pants, for one reason or another.

If you have read the series then you know what to expect. If you haven't, I would strongly suggest you start at the beginning, which was One For The Money. Not only because this is an ongoing series with continuous character development and exploits, but also because of the risqué factor.

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