Synopses & Reviews
Semiretired mob guy Eddie DeCooch is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeCooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding him and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeCooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn't afraid to use his gun. He's already shot Loretta Ricci, an innocent old lady, and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn't mind shooting Stephanie next.
Likeable losers (and Steph's former high school classmates) Walter "MoonMan" Dunphy and Dougie "The Dealer" Kruper have inadvertently become involved with DeCooch. They've gotten sucked into an operation that is much more than simple cigarette smuggling and holds risks far greater than anyone could have imagined.
When Dougie disappears, Steph goes into search mode. When Mooner disappears, she calls in the heavy artillery and asks master bounty hunter Ranger for help. Ranger's price for the job? One night with Stephanie, dusk to dawn. Not information she's want to share with her sometime live-in roommate, vice cop Joe Morelli,
A typical dilemma in the world of Plum.
And on the homefront, Stephanie's "perfect" sister, Valerie, has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell with her. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight--including the furniture.
Mud wrestling, motorcycles, fast cars, fast food, and fast men. It's Seven Up. Absolutely Janet Evanovich at her very best.
Review
Stephanie Plum, the bond enforcement agent heroine of Janet Evanovich's series of bestselling novels, bears little resemblance to the hardboiled female detectives created by Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and other contemporary crime fiction writers. Steph's not particularly brave, has no expertise in the martial arts, and she sure doesn't jog. Dragged out on the sidewalk by her boyfriend, Joe Morelli, for a morning run, she observes, "I can walk three miles in four-inch heels and I can shop Morelli into the ground, but I don't do running. Now if I was running to a sale on handbags, maybe." Most of all, Steph couldn't be a brooding loner if she tried; she's too deeply, if grouchily, entwined with the neighborhood she grew up in, a Trenton, N.J., suburb called the Burg.
Even if Steph were cut out to be an action heroine, the Burg keeps getting in her way. In the latest Plum adventure, Seven-Up, Steph spots Eddie DeChooch, the bail-skipper she's after -- an 80-ish, semiretired mob hit man caught trafficking contraband cigarettes -- at a funeral and she contemplates slapping her cuffs on him. In the end, though, she chickens out: She doesn't want to "create a scene and upset people who were grieving. More to the point, Mrs. Varga would call my mother and relay the whole gruesome incident." Like the protagonists in most detective yarns, Steph gets beat up in the course of her investigation, but it's by a purse-wielding little old lady in a fight over a parking place.
DeChooch manages to elude Steph at least a half-dozen times in the course of Seven-Up, partly because she's distracted by a worry-wart mom, a thrill-seeking grandmother, a prim sister who's just arrived back home after the breakup of her "perfect" marriage, and a stoner pal who likes to dress up as a superhero. Then there's her sexy police detective boyfriend/fiancé (the idea of marriage is freaking Steph out) and an even sexier bounty-hunter colleague who promises to help land her aged quarry if she'll agree to a little trade. Like I said, this girl is no loner.
The mystery in Seven-Up is pretty incidental, if pleasantly silly. What makes Evanovich irresistible are charms of a different order: her snappy Jersey dialogue, the daffy supporting characters, and all the hilarious scrapes Steph gets into in her quest not to end up moving back in with her parents. Laura Miller, Salon.com
Review
"It's mystery and detecting on the lighter side, the perfect way to cleanse your palate." USA Today
Review
"Janet Evanovich's madcap comic mystery is pure, classic farce--Jersey Girl style." New York Times Book Review
Review
"Almost every chapter has a laugh-out-loud moment....(Seven Up is) funny, sexy, scary--how can we wait till next year?" (Booklist)
Review
"Expect a laugh per page...a clever cast of good-hearted hoods and nutty family members to rival The Sopranos...Bottomline: Plum Pick." (People Magazine)
Review
Praise for the narrator:
“Narrator King somehow makes the crazy, comic antics of Evanvovichs irresistible bond agent, Stephanie Plum, seem almost rational in this fine audio adaptation…with plenty of prior experience narrating Evanovich titles, King has no trouble highlighting the eccentricities of the authors invariably quirky cast of characters…Kings chameleon voice and ease with accents make this a lively listening experience.” —Publishers Weekly
Review
"A madcap comic mystery--Jersey-girl style."--the
New York Times"A clever cast of good-hearted hoods and nutty family members rival The Sopranos."--People
"If you like your summer reads hot and sassy, try Seven Up."--Boston Herald
"Evanovich is the crown princess of detective fiction . . . Seven Up is brassy, comical, and light-hearted."--Bookpage
"[Seven Up] is funny, sexy, and scary."--Booklist
"Edgy romantic triangle, the loopy family relationships, or the bounty-hunting jobs that skate between absurdity and genuine tension."--Denver Post
"Expect a laugh per page . . . Bottom line: Plum Pick."--People
Synopsis
In this seventh Stephanie Plum adventure, the bounty hunter is dropped into a smorgasbord of murder, kidnapping, and extortion--a magnificent buffet of fast cars, fast men, and fast food. Stephanie's mind is on other matters, however, because she has two proposals to consider: vice cop Joe Morelli is proposing marriage and fellow bounty hunter Ranger is proposing a single perfect night.
Synopsis
The number one blockbuster bestselling phenomenon continues in the seventh Stephanie Plum adventure
Synopsis
Experience the bestselling phenomenon that is sweeping the nation!
#1 New York Times
#1 Wall Street Journal
#1 Entertainment Weekly
#1 Publishers Weekly
#1 Booksense
#1 Los Angeles Times
BLOWN UP
All New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has to do is bring in semi-retired bail jumper Eddie DeChooch. For an old man he's still got a knack for slipping out of sight--and raising hell. How else can Stephanie explain the bullet-riddled corpse in Eddie's garden? Who else would have a clue as to why two of Stephanie's friends suddenly vanished? For answers Stephanie has the devil to pay: her mentor, Ranger. The deal? He'll give Stephanie all the help she needs--if she gives him everything he wants . . .
MESSED UP
As if things weren't complicated enough, Stephanie's just discovered her Grandma Mazur's own unmentionable alliance with Eddie. Add a series of unnerving break-ins, not to mention the bombshell revelation leveled by Stephanie's estranged sister, and Stephanie's ready for some good news. Unfortunately, a marriage proposal from Joe Morelli, the love of her life, isn't quite cutting it. And now--murder, a randy paramour, a wily mobster, death threats, extortion, and a triplie kidnapping aside--Stephanie's really got the urge to run for her life . . .
SEVEN UP
Synopsis
Semiretired mob guy Eddie DeCooch is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeCooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding him and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeCooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn't afraid to use his gun. He's already shot Loretta Ricci, an innocent old lady, and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn't mind shooting Stephanie next.
Likeable losers (and Steph's former high school classmates) Walter "MoonMan" Dunphy and Dougie "The Dealer" Kruper have inadvertently become involved with DeCooch. They've gotten sucked into an operation that is much more than simple cigarette smuggling and holds risks far greater than anyone could have imagined.
When Dougie disappears, Steph goes into search mode. When Mooner disappears, she calls in the heavy artillery and asks master bounty hunter Ranger for help. Ranger's price for the job? One night with Stephanie, dusk to dawn. Not information she's want to share with her sometime live-in roommate, vice cop Joe Morelli,
A typical dilemma in the world of Plum.
And on the homefront, Stephanie's "perfect" sister, Valerie, has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell with her. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight--including the furniture.
Mud wrestling, motorcycles, fast cars, fast food, and fast men. It's Seven Up. Absolutely Janet Evanovich at her very best.
About the Author
Janet Evanovich is the author of the Stephanie Plum books, including One for the Money and Sizzling Sixteen, and the Diesel & Tucker series, including Wicked Appetite. Janet studied painting at Douglass College, but that art form never quite fit, and she soon moved on to writing stories. She didnt have instant success: she collected a big box of rejection letters. As she puts it, “When the box was full I burned the whole damn thing, crammed myself into pantyhose and went to work for a temp agency.” But after a few months of secretarial work, she managed to sell her first novel for $2,000. She immediately quit her job and started working full-time as a writer. After 12 romance novels, she switched to mystery, and created Stephanie Plum. The rest is history. Janets favorite exercise is shopping, and her drug of choice is Cheeze Doodles. She and her husband live in New Hampshire, in house with a view of the Connecticut River Valley.