Explosive Eighteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel

Janet Evanovich

Nov 2011 · Sold by Bantam

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich.

“The most popular mystery writer alive.”—The New York Times

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photo—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?
 
Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii.  And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: A little darker than usual . PLOT OR PREMISE: While on a flight back from a trip to Hawaii with both Ranger and Morelli (it's complicated), Stephanie's seatmate gets whacked during a layover and everyone thinks Stephanie knows something . WHAT I LIKED: While the lighter side of the Plum series is the main draw, it is nice to see that once in awhile it goes a bit darker. Stephanie has real bruises and knife nickmarks, and Morelli and Ranger had a knock-down drag-out fight, with Stephanie doing the dragging (it is only told as a past event, but still good even if you don't actually "see it"). . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: As always, there are a few too many incompetents running around, and too many coincidences. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

I'm a HUGE fan of the first 12 Plum novels, and decided to give this one a go. First of all the love "triangle" is more than a bit old and tedious. You have a seemingly smart grown man who says babe (makes me want to smack the writer), a tired loyal cop, and a stupid ditz . Stephanie has become a caricature of the original character, and the same old gags are just being rehashed, and it makes her look idiotic not kooky. This series seriously needs to be retired. Minus Zero stars.

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About the author

Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Trouble Maker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.