2009 Book 7: Lean Mean Thirteen

Book #:	119
Book Title:	Lean Mean Thirteen
Author:	Janet Evanovich
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date:	2007
Pages:	310
Started:	February 2, 2009
Finished:	February 7, 2009
Time to Read:	5 Days
Back Cover / Inside Flap:	"Mistake #1: Dickie Orr Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her archnemesis, Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that, Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping never to see either one of them again. Mistake #2: Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (aka Ranger) Ranger needs Stephanie to meet with Dickie and find out if he's doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, Dickie's also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger's favors always come with a price... Mistake #3: Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office Now Dickie has disappeared and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can Stephanie Plum stay one step ahead in this new, dangerous game? Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, New Jersey, is also keeping Stephanie on her toes - and he may know more than he's saying about many things in Stephanie's life. It's a cat-and-mouse game for Stephanie Plum wherein the ultimate prize might be her life."
Stars:	**
Review:	I've long heard of Janet Evanovich - and I must say that I was expecting more than I go. This is meant to be an absurdist novel - an "everything that can go wrong, will" kind of story. And, really, it is. But it's not funny when it does; it's kind of sad, actually. I couldn't identify with Stephanie at all, I though Ranger and Dickie were both asses, and Joe Morelli was overrated. Not terribly impressed. Since this is the thirteenth novel about Stephanie's foibles, I kept going...and there were actually some scenes later in the book where I found myself chuckling, but overall a dud.

If you have read or are planning to read this book, please make sure to stop back by and leave me a comment to let me know your own thoughts!

From my library to yours,

Tiffany