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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Janet Evanovich books are the greatest Nov 20, 2009
I have read just about every one of Janet's books and they are all terrific.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
I laughed out loud at least twice each chapter - thought this was as good as any in the series. Nov 19, 2009
In some ways, I feel sorry for popular authors, since I think readers come to expect something greater than anyone can deliver. In the case of Evanovich, I think some of the reviewers seem to be expecting great literature. Talking about Plum not "growing" as a character? Get a grip, this isn't Hamlet -- it's a funny romance, with a bit of mystery thrown in. Actually, I think Plum HAS "grown" as a character. She seems to be getting better at the bounty hunter stuff, she's clever (in this book, she solves a mystery that Ranger hasn't been able to), and she seems to have learned not to jump without thinking into the bed of a guy she's attracted to. She seems more self-confident and less pathetic (as she is in some of the early books -- less is made of her fear of guns, for example).
This book contains at least two plots: The first plot involves a murder witnessed by Lula, that leads to the killers trying to get rid of Lula and Lula, in response, entering a barbecue contest even though she really can't cook anything, let alone barbecue. The second plot involves breakins at houses and businesses protected by Ranger's security company -- how are they getting the codes to disarm the system?
Evanovich has such a knack for vivid descriptions deftly done with a few sentences, so that you can see everything as though you were watching a movie. It's hard to believe that these characters and settings don't really exist. She's also skilled at funny dialogue and situations. Finally, she creates some great characters -- Morelli and Ranger represent two types of guys women are attracted to: both sexy, but one is on the side of law and order and the other is a bit shady (although less so than in earlier books in this series).
I really needed cheering up when I read this book, and I'm grateful to Evanovich for providing me with some laugh-out-loud moments -- and it's not that easy to get me to laugh out loud.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Slopping it out Nov 18, 2009
"Just shoot me now" - Stephanie's Dad in FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN
I hear ya, Mr. Plum! I share your pain.
Ok, ok. I understand that author Janet Evanovich and her publisher have a cash cow in the continuing Plum saga. At worst, the series will gain new adherents at the same rate that old ones fall away disillusioned and the revenue stream will continue at a steady flow. But, does the slopping out of a new book any old way in the act of whoring for the consumers' dollars have to be so obvious? At some point, doesn't it become a cheeky affront to the fan base even as the author skips off to the bank to deposit the funds enticed out of the readers' piggy banks?
I used to be a big Stephanie enthusiast when the concept was fresh. But, after the fourteenth installment, I swore I wouldn't buy another - even a second-hand copy for pennies. And I didn't. FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN was a cast-off freebie tossed my way that I read in a single sitting in a jury pool assembly room waiting for the clarion call to exalted civic duty. I should have stuck with the tattered and dog-eared ancient copies of the National Geographic and People magazines, which at least had pictures to arrest my glazed-over eyesight.
FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN is a repetitive, unimaginative, stagnant rehash of every mental sight gag in the repertoires of Stephanie, Lula and Grandma Mazur. At times, I thought that Evanovich was trying to win a bet over how many of such she could cram between the covers. The continuing Plum-Ranger relationship, which the author presumably includes to supply her concept of sexual tension, has degenerated into complete nonsense; no police board of inquiry would fault Morelli for shooting both with his service revolver. And Lula has become an absurd caricature; she should return to her old day job. Only Rex retains my affection.
Hey, Janet! Has it crossed your mind to think outside the box? Perhaps an expanded role for the poor, otherwise almost invisible, sap - Stephanie's Dad. Or what if Steph was tasked with cross-country transporting a bail jumper to some faraway place, like Bakersfield? Think of the possibilities! Or maybe Plum could actually marry Morelli, who might then expect his new wife to morph into a submissive housewife. Who would kill whom first? How about if the Bad Guys abducted Rex? And oooh, what if Ranger got Stephanie (gasp!) pregnant?
Finally, the two whodunit subplots of FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN have the lamest endings that I can recall of any of the Plum novels, the author seemingly having put no effort into making them clever, funny, or intellectually engaging as solutions.
I honestly don't know how to rid myself of this book. Tossing it into the round file would eventually have it taking up valuable landfill space. Perhaps I'll just leave it out in a public area inviting someone to "steal" it.
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Fast, fast, fast! Nov 16, 2009
Wow, what a great job getting my book out so fast! I received it in 3-4 days and it was exactly what you promised. Thanks!
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
You know how when you laugh so hard... Nov 15, 2009
...you can't catch your breath and you can't see because tears are rolling down your face? And how you have to put the book down because you've got to get control of yourself before you can read on? And how you have to put it right back down again because the next line makes you laugh even harder? Well, that's what happened when I read "Fifteen."
Janet Evanovich is certainly in the pantheon of great comic writers. She creates word pictures that are so vividly funny that I wonder why her series hasn't been made into movies yet. (Probably just as well; Hollywood would probably butcher them!)
"Fifteen" is centered around a barbecue competition and the murder of a TV barbecue chef. So, there is a mystery, but I care about the mystery in Stephanie Plum books about as much as I care about the cases on "House." (which is to say, not too much.) The real treat is the barbecue part of the story, which allows the author to set up some wonderful plot jokes that are paid off to great effect, especially in the last three chapters.
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