Book Review: Hard Eight

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Hard Eight     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Janet Evanovich
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Humorous   Woman Main Character
Series: Stephanie Plum # 8
St. Martin’s, June 2002, $25.95, 320 pp.

Not everyone can work a job where the odds are that they will run across dead bodies, have their cars blown up or have to track down a person who doesn’t show up for their court date but Stephanie Plum can and does. Somehow, the idea of being a bounty hunter makes Stephanie feel good and if it means that her lover Joe Morelli doesn’t want to be with her because of it then that is his loss.

Stephanie promises her mother’s next door neighbor that she will find her missing daughter Evelyn and her two children. Evelyn had to take out a child custody bond using her mother’s house for collateral. If she fails to show up at the hearing, her mother will lose the house. In the course of the investigation Stephanie finds a dead body on her couch, is stalked by a killer rabbit, and is in danger of being killed from a powerful crime lord who want something Evelyn has.

Anybody and everybody who loves a hysterically funny crime thriller with plenty of chills, thrills and action must read HARD EIGHT. Janet Evanovich’s latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series is so over the top readers will want to finish this delightful work in one sitting. The author effectively uses the protagonist’s relationship with Morelli and sexual attraction to Ranger as a way of relieving some high level tension. This novel is guaranteed to be on the New York Times bestseller list before too long.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner