Customer Reviews

Lean Mean Thirteen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For my money, Lean Mean Thirteen is by far the best beach read of this summer. Although you could race through the book at high speed in a few hours, there is enough humor in here to keep you chuckling, guffawing, and rolling on the floor in tears from now until long past Labor Day. So another way to read this book is to stop every time you laugh out loud . . . and pick it up again the next day. I suspect that would be the best way to enjoy the book . . . but naturally, I didn't have that much self control. I did, however, keep track of where I laughed aloud when I read the book and the total exceeded 160 times!

To me, Stephanie Plum has emerged as one of the great comic heroines of crime literature. Could you love her any more? I doubt it.

Unlike some other books in the series, you'll probably enjoy Lean Mean Thirteen more if you've read at least One for the Money of the earlier books so you know the story of her former marriage to Dickie Orr before beginning this book.

Who will love this book? Anyone who cannot get enough of Stephanie Plum as bounty hunter, beloved of two sexy men, and granddaughter of Grandma Mazur.

Who will be disappointed in this book? Those who are looking for Stephanie to choose between Morelli and Ranger.

So what happens? A lot.

Let me tell you a tiny bit about how the book starts to get you in the mood. I'm reluctant to say very much because so much of the humor relies on surprises.

Ranger asks Stephanie to plant a bug on Dickie Orr, her ex-husband. In the process, Stephanie finds lots of reasons to be enraged at Dickie and the lawyer finds himself at risk of becoming a homicide victim at Stephanie's hands. Soon, Dickie has vanished and his girlfriend, the abominable Joyce Barnhardt, is out to punish Stephanie.

Nearly destitute, Stephanie is out trying to bring in bail jumpers . . . but without much success. Can she stave off starvation?

The bail jumpers are quite an unusual lot: One is a mild threat unless you light a fire around his house; another is most likely to be found robbing graves of those who are buried with jewels and clothes he can wear . . . when he's not playing with his 20 foot-long snake; and a third is a mild taxidermist with an unusual hobby who doesn't want to leave home because he's waiting for someone.

One of the delights of this book is that Janet Evanovich has taken off the handcuffs in bringing new weapons to the party that Stephanie can use to defend herself . . . and to threaten Stephanie's life.

Like all of the best Plum books, Lean Mean Thirteen is corpse-deep in ironies, unexpected turnabouts, and surprises. Don't miss it.

I must admit that I wanted to add another irony to the pile by reading the book on Friday the thirteenth. That added a final laugh for me. But don't wait until the next Friday the thirteenth.

Get your next laugh from this book today!

I read the first 2 negative reviews and had to chip in some positive: I love this series! It was hard to have a follow-up to 12 Sharp; that book was my favorite in the series so far. I thought Thirteen was funny and while the mystery wasn't as good as some have been in the past, it was still a good plot. I want to see the relationships between Steph and the love interests advance more (let's be real here: I want her to pick Ranger). I also wish the books came out more than once a year. You tend to forget the previous plot lines and have to go back and re-read and it takes away from the overall experience.

I'm a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series, but this one was a let down. The Morelli-Ranger dance is the same old tired lines, nothing exciting happens. After the rush of sexual tension with Ranger in the last two novels, you expect something new and dramatic to finally happen. But it still the same old "I'm with Morelli but I'm attracted to Ranger" thing, but without much sexual tension in this one. And it seems more and more unbelievable how passive Morelli is about the whole thing. The bad-tempered Italian stallion hasn't showed much spine lately, letting Stephanie flirt and co-habit with Ranger without barely batting an eyelash. Hey, something has to sizzle, we need some sparks here! Plus, in this one, Stephanie is all shaken up and weepy by the events happening to her, although those events seemed a lot less traumatic (in Stephanie land) than in previous books where she handled it much better... no consistency with the character developed in the series. It's still ok, but it really didn't do much for me.

Nothing stales the infinite variety of Janet Evanovich. We are back in the Burg, (aka Chambersburg) a decidedly ethnic area of Trenton, New Jersey. For the past thirteen novels the Burg has been the home of Stephanie Plum and her vast extended family. (At times Stephanie appears to be kinfolk to the Burg?s entire population. Well, the more or less law abiding folk anyway.) Among them are Stephanie?s grandmother, a pistol-packing septuagenarian with oddball enthusiasms in whose company life is never dull, and Stephanie?s long-suffering mother. Mom longs for her daughter to marry Morelli, a dangerously attractive cop, and stop playing around with the much more dangerous Ranger, ex-Special Forces, who operates a security company. She also wants Stephanie to retire from the perils of bounty hunting miscreants who have skipped bail on behalf of Cousin Vinnie?s bail bond business. Stephanie?s assistant Is Lula, ?a black woman with a Rubenesque body and a Vegas wardrobe that?s four sizes too small.? Lula is a sort of Grandma on steroids, and my favourite. The plot need not detain us long. Stephanie?s ex-husband, Dickie, has disappeared, assumed dead, and $40 million worth of ill-gotten assets have vanished with him. His weird law partners are turning up dead. Ranger is hot on the trail and Stephanie divides her time between working for him and being protected by him from the surviving partner, a murderous madman who wants the dough and believes Stephanie has the key to it. Read on.

I have been a huge Stephanie Plum fan. The earlier books were very funny and kept your interest throughout. With the last two books, Janet Evanovich's style was waning. This last installment is the death of the series, in my opinion.

You can only rehash the same story points so many times, before a reader cries, "Enough!" Nothing happened in this book. The mystery was not interesting (it usually isn't, but you overlook that for the humour). Even the usual cast of characters seemed bored.

The advancement of the story dragged along. And the fact that JE had to resort to Stephanie getting her period, to stem off Ranger's advances was just sad. In fact, why is there still any debate between Morelli and Ranger? For 9 books, this problem seemed cute. Now, it just seems dumb.

I used to eagerly put JE's latest book on hold at the library, hoping to be the first to get it. Now, I sincerely doubt that I will put any future installments of the series on hold, let alone pick them up when they are available.

Rated 2 stars for very ho-hum.

After reading TWELVE SHARP, I had to write in about this latest tour-de-force from Evanovich. LEAN MEAN is the story of the quirky and wonderful Plum, the New Jersey bounty hunter who is now back together again with her distasteful ex-hustand, Dickie Orr. Filled with the usual Evanovich humor and aplomp, LEAN MEAN is second only to TWELVE SHARP in wit and substance. The key to this novel is that, while trying to do good, Plum becomes a suspect herself and has to clear her name. No mean feat. Joe Morelli makes an appearance again as the love interest, and the usual weirdos that Evanovich throws in makes this a fun romp. I'd also recommend the novels MIDDLESEX and HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE for those seeking something also good to read. Though nothing like this book, they very interesting as well.

Thanks to the prolific pen of Janet Evanovich everyone's favorite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, is back in her thirteenth battle with the bad guys. And, who narrates the latest travail filled tale starring this feisty gal? Of course, it has to be and is Lorelei King. This actress has been dubbed favorite reader by Evanovich and she is surely one of ours, too. When you listen to her opening line it's a bit like picking up the phone and hearing the voice of a friend - she's read so many of the Plum series that she has become Steph's one and only voice for many of us.

Thankfully, our trouble prone heroine hasn't changed a bit in that she's as spunky as ever. We hear: "I was about to do something I knew I shouldn't do. The signs were all there in front of me. Sick stomach. Feeling of impending disaster. Knowledge that it was illegal. And yet, I was going to forge ahead with the plan. Not that this was especially unusual. Truth is, I've been dealing with impending doom for as long as I can remember. Heck, when I was six years old I sprinkled sugar on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boy's bathroom at school. I mean you don't know the water's over your head until you jump in, right?"

Well, Steph is usually in water over her head and fans thoroughly enjoying jumping in with her. She can't say no to Ranger, even when asked to get together with her former spouse and ask him a few questions. Many will remember that their married life was very brief as husband Dickie had a roving eye that lit upon Janet Barnhardt. (As did his hands and body).

Nonetheless, Dickie is soon missing leaving behind only a few blood stains in his apartment and Steph is, of course, the prime suspect. Time to call on handsome Trenton top cop Joe Morelli for some help. The two of them discover that Dickie has been up to a great deal more than two-timing, all of which puts Steph's life on the line.

Another riotous romp from Janet Evanovich. Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

Although I still enjoy Janet Evanovich's books, I'm getting tired of the same old same old. The thirteenth book has the same premise of the twelve, which was the same as the eleventh, and so on. Stephanie is still doing her bounty huntering and can't get the easiest skips due to the same silliness that always seems to plague her. I did like how they brought her ex-husband, Dickie Orr, back into it and we learn more about them and thier relationsip, however it's still the same song and dance. Stephanie continues to do the same song and dance with Morelli and Ranger. Even though I like both men, I would like for Stephanie to finally make a decision. Janet Evanovich needs to spice things up a bit and actually make things interesting. Besides, how long do hamsters really live?? I think it's time for her to get a new hamseter....

By now Evanovich has got the formula down. Stephaniès crazy skips and what she has to do to catch them, the crazy case she gets to work on, the humor with grandma, and, of course, the good old rivalries with Morelli and Ranger.

While readable and enjoyable, there is little new here. The case she gets to work on, where, for a short time she is a murder suspect, is somewhat complex, and a good read for straight mystery fans. Her involvement with case is where the tension with Ranger and Morelli comes in, since Stephanie is put in danger and becomes a target for the real murderer.

But all in all, a mid pack effort.

I'm sorry to report that this novel only exists to make up a Bakers' dozen, so that the author can avoid the wrath of the publisher by coming up short. I'm not saying that it doesn't have its funny moments, or that it isn't well written, but nothing very much is added here to the Stephanie Plum life story, and at number thirteen, you would expect a couple of new twists or the beginning of the wrap-up.

As Brooke Valentine (featuring Dirt McGirt) once sang in "Blah, Blah, Blah"

Boi u kno i love ya
Boi u kno i love ya like
La la la la la la la
But u always talkin
Boi u always talkin sounds like
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Same old Stephanie, same old Joe, same old Ranger, Lula, Connie, parents, and Joyce - except this one brings back an ex-husband, and adds some crooked lawyers, a grave robber and a mad taxidermist.

Hardly any surprises, and lots of blah blah blah.

Amanda Richards