Book review: Janet Evanovich, “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen”
From Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Book Review: “Finger Lickin’ ” not as tasty
Fiction: 15th novel in Stephanie Plum series entertains but fails to satisfy
Fans smacking their lips in anticipation of the new Stephanie Plum adventure will savor the familiar flavor but not the past-the-expiration-date aftertaste of Janet Evanovich’s “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen” (St. Martin’s Press, $27.95).
For better or worse, Evanovich is still cooking from the same recipe she used for the previous 14 installments. Despite her growing experience, Stephanie still blunders through her job as a bounty hunter, though lately her foibles seem more Murphy’s Law and less sheer ineptitude. Her cars keep exploding, she still attracts kooky characters, and she can never quite commit to a romance, though she chose long ago which of the series’ two alpha males was for her.
Still, “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen,” out Tuesday, offers a breezy summer read with just enough wackiness and mystery to keep fans entertained. Thankfully, there’s no sign of Stephanie’s grating sister, who nearly chased me away from the series a few books back.
Instead, “Fifteen” focuses on Stephanie’s colorful sidekick Lula, a former prostitute turned lazy file clerk who often rides shotgun for our heroine. When Lula witnesses the murder of TV food star Stanley Chipotle, she becomes the target of the killers, who soon prove dangerously inexpert. To his dismay, Stephanie’s cop ex-boyfriend Joe Morelli catches the case.
Lula wants to snare the murderers herself and collect the big reward. With the help of Stephanie’s quirky Grandma Mazur and a cross-dressing fireman, she enters the barbecue contest Chipotle was in town promoting in the hope of smoking out the killers.
For Stephanie’s part, her mentor/ex-lover Ranger recruits her to help solve a series of burglaries to clients of his Rangeman Security, inside jobs that have him distrusting his staff of toughs. As usual, the story heats up when Stephanie and Ranger work together.
Evanovich doesn’t use the food TV premise to its full potential. The madcap antics and zany characterizations are fun, but she’s used most of them before in previous books. The author seems unwilling to give her best-selling series the real shakeup it needs.
“Finger Lickin’ Fifteen” can’t compare to the tantalizing first six Plum novels, making the new book a tasty but not truly satisfying reading experience.
- BAM
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Comments
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who felt let down by number 15.
I know Stephanie’s life is a mess, but the lack of maturity in her relationship with Morelli is getting tiresome. And all the dodging Ranger’s sexual invitations is even more tiresome. Let them get it on for God’s sake! I think Ranger would make a much better partner for Stephanie. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen had it’s funny moments, but I wonder if Mrs. Evanovich is ever going to show some growth with Stephanie. Something needs to happen to keep the series fresh, it’s getting a little stale. There’s only so many fires, explosions one can take. And there were far too many in this book. After the second fire, it wasn’t even funny.
I really love the plum books but i have to admit this one seemed a little flat- i usually find myself laughing throughout the books but this one only seemed to contain the same humour sparingly. Please don’t get me wrong, janet is a great author and i will still continue to buy them but this one didn’t seem to be in the same league as her other books and with it costing £18.99-(UK) i found it very expensive.
I would have to agree. My family has always loved the Stephanie Plum series, but Fifteen was lacking in almost everything that made the other books funny. To me, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen seemed more like one of the Between the Numbers novels but without Diesel. I would also have to say that the development of Ranger was inadequate. With all of Ranger’s security skills, it seemed very unlikely that he would not have been able to solve the break-ins on his own. He would also never have asked Stephanie for help. I feel that Ranger’s Mystery Man persona was greatly diminished by his incompetency and admittance of defeat.
[...] Janet Evanovich’s newest Stephanie Plum novel, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (out today), the Oklahoman says fans of the series “will savor the familiar flavor but not the past-the-expiration-date [...]