Janet Evanovich: Four to the Score

Janet Evanovich

Four to the Score

Christina says:

Stephanie Plum, head hunter trainee, once more has a case that seems simple at first but turns out to be everything but simple. Maxine Nowicki stole her boyfriend’s car and failed to appear in court. She sends Eddie coded messages. Stephanie enlists the help of drag queen Sally Sweet, a gifted code-breaker. Sally joins Stephanie and her ex-hooker sidekick Lula in the hunt for Maxine, and in case of emergencies the unique Grandma Mazur helps out. The pace of the story picks up as people associated with Maxine lose their finger or scalp or even their life. Stephanie’s apartment burns out, forcing her to move to an unexpected place. She also finds she is not the only one who’s after Maxine and her mother. Will she be able to get to Maxine before the mysterious finger cutter does, or - even worse - Stephanie’s arch rival Joyce Barnhardt?

It seemed to me that the thrill was gone just a little in the fourth installment of the Stephanie Plum series. It’s hard to imagine, but even exploding cars and bizarre helpers lose their appeal if used too often. When you’re writing against the rules of the genre you probably are bound to run out of taboos to break one day and you have to repeat yourself. Still, FOUR TO THE SCORE is a funny book and a good read for the weekend. I didn’t laugh out loud anymore as I did reading Evanovich’s first three books, but this one still had me grinning and giggling.

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Christina Gross

Last changes: 17/03/03