Stephanie Plum faces the toughest puzzle of her career in the twenty-fifth entry in Janet Evanovich’s #1 New York Times-bestselling series. There’s nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, cole slaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each … earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that’s been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it’s a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they’d better figure out what’s going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.
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The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich is one of the funniest series I have read. Everyone seems to get funnier as the series proceeds but this last book didn’t have near the funny, ha ha moments that the prior books have had. Grandma Mazur is one of the funniest characters and you see very little of her in this book. Don’t get me wrong, the book is still a great read just not what I was expecting from the last 24 books.
Stephanie Plum, By the Numbers
At my age, I shouldn’t have to confess to guilty pleasures, but I have two in the literary realm. One of those is reading each new Stephanie Plum novel immediately upon publication. Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich is the latest.
I could say the Stephanie Plum novels are formulaic. Each features a predictable set of recurring core and supporting characters. In each novel, Evanovich manages to add a quirky collection of Trenton, NJ citizens who’ve run afoul of the law. They fail to appear for a scheduled court date in violation of their bail. Formally known as FTAs (Failure To Appear), Plum is assigned to hunt them down, deliver them to the Trenton PD, and Plum’s employer issues a new bond to guarantee future court appearances.
There are some things we know to be true of Ms. Plum.
First, despite her college education, she cannot secure conventional employment. She remains in the former industrial powerhouse that was once Trenton (“Trenton makes, the world takes”), where she is close to her family, the old neighborhood, and public school mates. Plum takes the unsteady work as a bond enforcement agent for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bond agency. The agency is bizarre central where the basic characters commune, eat donuts, cast aspersions on Vinnie’s many peccadillos, and occasionally provide her with the names and backgrounds of FTAs.
Second, like many of her age, Plum is divorced from an ex-husband who cheated on her with an unscrupulous rival. Thankfully, the rival does not make an appearance in Look Alive Twenty-Five, nor is any mention made of her ex. Just as well. We have grown to despise them.
Depending on your point of view concerning commitment, Plum is either lucky or not where the two men in her life are concerned. While she is engaged to Morelli, a homicide and/or major crimes cop, marriage does not appear imminent. Her will-she-or-won’t-she marry-her-beau attitude reflects the strong attraction she harbors for an ex-special force’s security contractor, Ranger, who is both alike, and yet unlike, Morelli. Neither gentleman appears to be the marrying kind.
Plum’s long-suffering mother finds her daughter’s work unbecoming bordering on the scandalous. Mom wants Stephanie married, like her sister, with her own unusual children, and a husband on the scene. I did mention Plum’s commitment issues. So it should come as no surprise that Plum is ambivalent about children as well.
Grandma Mazur finds her granddaughter’s work exciting and is often at the ready to assist in apprehensions, to ride shotgun in pursuit of FTAs, while carrying her own loaded handgun. Stephanie’s handgun is almost always without ammunition—by choice. I wish Grandma Mazur made a few more appearances in Look Alive Twenty-Five. Unfortunately, there are too few funerals, casket viewings, and free cookies at the favorite funeral home. Funerals are oxygen for Grandma Mazur while Grandma Mazur is not oxygen for the funeral home, the bereaved, and in general, law and order—and especially decorum.
Third, Plum has a most distinctive companion. Lula, a self-described former ‘ho, is a ten pound ball in a five pound package! There is at least two-to-three times as much Lula as textiles. Her choices in clothing, hair, nails, and shoes passed the state line of scandalous and can no longer be seen in the figurative rear view mirror. Her large, always loaded handgun befits her outsized personality and is always at the ready. And discharge it to no good effect she does.
Fourth, Ranger’s fascination with Plum is expressed in one word: Babe. She does good: Babe. Outrageous: Babe. Pathetic: Babe. In Look Alive Twenty-Five, Ranger has finally learned to keep Plum under constant surveillance rather than run to her aid when necessary—which is often. Need I mention that Ranger’s staff seldom fare well in these assignments.
Fifth, Plum and cars don’t mix. Stolen, demolished, burned, submerged—no car goes unpunished. Ranger lends Plum a seemingly unlimited number of expensive corporate vehicles. Most exit the scene on the back of a car hauler. The only surviving car is a dead relative’s aged, oversized land yacht whose fuel economy is measured in gallons per mile.
Sixth, Plum, Lula, Morelli, and her mother have horrible eating habits and make even worse dietary choices. There’s Pino’s pizza, Cluck in a Bucket, always the bakery and donut shops, and Cheerios for dinner when all else fails. Her mother’s meals evoke an earlier time in home cooking, a tsunami of fat, carbohydrates, and cholesterol, and a future heart attack made to order.
Seventh, each novel is structured around apprehending FTAs. Some apprehensions are simple, straightforward. Still others require multiple attempts, some chicanery and physical altercations designed to show Plum and Lula are far better suited for almost any other line of work than the one they’re in. Babe, as Ranger would say.
Finally, there is at least one, and sometimes two apprehensions per novel requiring the reader to suspend belief, suspend disbelief, and sometimes both. In the twenty-fourth novel it was zombies. In Look Alive Twenty-Five, it’s a small diner where managers disappear in the back alley while taking out the trash. I won’t spoil the ending by ratting out Evanovich with a list of managers who survive and those who don’t.
The diner has come into Vinnie’s possession when an FTA misses a court appearance having pledged the eatery as collateral for bail. Vinnie assigns Stephanie Plum to be the latest manager and Lula comes along as the infamous sous chef and sandwich maker extraordinaire.
Did I mention the local musician, rock star who only performs at an ersatz venue assembled out of derelict buildings and grounds in Trenton’s garden spot of garden spots: Stark Street? This troubled part of town may not be the end of the earth and civilization, but you can clearly see the end from there.
No review or reviewer can capture the masterful way in which Evanovich weaves this polyester tapestry. It’s all so unbelievable, and yet, if you’re like me, you’re hooked from the first page. You can see what’s coming. You know the characters emerge worse for the wear and tear, but you’ll still giggle, laugh, or guffaw.
No one can top Evanovich in the perils of Stephanie Plum.
Read it!
Babe.
Another entertaining read from Nora Roberts. Very realistic characters and emotions. Unpredictable ending.
I have read all of these Stephanie Plum books and enjoyed every one!
Funny as ever!
Like all the rest of the series. Great!
I love these books. Sometimes, you just need a fun mystery with a dose of hilarity.
Typical Stephanie Plum book; mental bubble gum, silly, frenetic plot, silly characters, but fun to read on an airplane.
I enjoyed this series as I like the characters and the humor in the stories, but each book since #20 has left me feeling cheated. Too much feels cut and paste from earlier books. As much as I’ve enjoyed the earlier books, it’s time for this series to end and start a new one.
A wonderful, funny book…normal for Janet Evanovich.
I love Stephanie Plum. Every book in this series has laugh out loud moments, this one being no exception. For those of you who have followed the bumbling bounty hunter, you will not be disappointed with the chaos she creates in this latest caper.
Janet never let’s me down!
This author never disappoints the reader. Another great read.
Just so so. Her books haven’t changed since her first and now it’s number 25.
I’ve read al the Stephanie Plum mysteries and this was a disappointment for me.
If you are a Plum fan, it’s more of the same BUT I can’t stop reading them!
I hate to miss one but they aren’t as funny as they used to be.
Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich was just okay for me. The usual characters were all there, and I had a few chuckles. But overall, you can tell that Evanovich doesn’t seem to have a passion for these characters anymore. Which is a shame, because I have loved this series over the years.
My advice, wait until it releases to your local library. Definitely not worthy of the price point.
3.5 Stars
Not her best but still entertaining
Classic Stephanie Plum! Perfect holiday reading – light with a giggle or two along the way. Nice twist at the end.