Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been a Janet Evanovich-junkie from the very beginning. Maybe it's because I'm from New Jersey and live less than 20 miles from The Burg. Maybe it's because Evanovich's bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum is funny, irreverent, outrageous and unpredictable. Even the books that weren't as good as her first efforts were still entertaining, with at least a few great belly-laughs. Well, I'm sorry to say that her latest, Sizzling Sixteen, could be called Stone-Cold Sixteen instead. This book is barely entertaining--and mostly stupid. I hate to admit this, but it's the truth. Stephanie works for a bonding agency run by her cousin Vinnie. Unfortunately, Vinnie has run up gambling debts with his bookie. The bookie has him kidnapped with the threat to kill if the money isn't forthcoming by Friday. Worried about losing their jobs, Stephanie, Lula and Connie decide that they must act. Their first goal is to find Vinnie. Afterward, they'll try to come up with the money. This plot is pretty lame, and if that isn't enough, it's filled with cows running through the streets of Trenton, a 6 foot alligator that guards drug money in a private home and a hobbit convention. There are enough donut and chicken stops to swear you off grease for the rest of your life. Some of the best parts of Sizzling Sixteen are Evanovich's descriptions. As for Trenton, The Burg "is a neighborhood of hardworking second-generation Americans. Families are extended and proudly dysfunctional. Although dysfunction in Jersey might be hard to measure." As for Plum's relationship issues with Joe Morelli and Ranger, "I was in a state because I had two men in my life, and I had no clue what to do with them....I was too traditional and Catholic to just enjoy them. How sick is that? I wasn't a practicing Catholic, but I had guilt." Unfortunately, Evanovich's characters have become stale, the antics are boring and the plots are dumb. It's definitely time for her to get back to her old-self or else, marry off Stephanie and end this series. I always look forward to a new Evanovich, but I'm sorry that I spent the money for this one.