Book 8 of the Stephanie Plum series
Narrated by Lorelei King
Format: audiobook
Genre: crime fiction chicklit
About Hard Eight:
Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum has a big problem on her hands: Seven-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared.Source: Info in the About Hard Eight was taken from at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6425.Hard_Eight on 21/10/2012.
Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.
Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction.
Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur! So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelyn-- and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiance Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.
Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with Ranger), and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search turns out to be a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!
Strap on your helmet and get ready for the ride of your life. Hard Eight. The world of Plum has never been wilder.
I have to tip my metaphorical hat to Lorelei King! She's a true professional! Words are clear and distinct. Diction, pauses and enunciations perfect. I especially like the accents and voices she gives the characters! And I also agree with her interpretation of the book! I would listen and buy another Lorelei King audiobook again.
So I was a bit disappointed with the last book in this series so I stopped listening to Stephanie Plum for a while and picked up another audiobook. After sometime, I forgot my ire and re-listened to this audiobook again simply because it was already loaded into my Samsung phone. Eventually I finished the book... Stephanie's stupid factor increased tenfold in this book so much so that it is no longer believable, no matter one does, that a being this stupid could live. Not even with sheer dumb luck. Stephanie is just too stupid to live! So you go apprehend somebody, and you leave the key in the ignition?? Not once, but twice! And guess what? The FTA (failure to appear) drives away with your CRV... The stupidity is reaching new heights that it sank the believability factor down to the bottom of the ocean! If you are going to read/listen to this book, read it/listen to it for the humour, not for the story nor the story telling quality. Because otherwise you will be bitterly disappointed.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 2
Character development = 2
Story itself = 2
Ending = 3
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 1
Pace = N/A
Plot = 1.5
Narrator = 4
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries
Totally agree with you on the Lorelei and the writing. Lorelei King will forever be Stephanie Plum for me, so much so, that I really don't like her work as narrator for the Mercy Thompson series.
ReplyDeleteSqeee! Thanks for letting us know about Skin Game, must see if I can put a library hold on it for when it comes in.
Evanovich has been phoning in her work for years, it amazes me that she still sells so well for the same tripe being written over and over, 18 books and Stephanie hasn't grown at all professionally or personally. I have never bought an Evanovich book, but have gotten them from the library both in paper and audio form. Since they're so simple, the audio books are good for work since I don't have to focus that much to know what's going on, cause it's the same old, same old. I will give 19 a try, but after that, if no improvement, I'll give up. (Since it doesn't cost me anything and Stephanie is not finger nails on the blackboard to me, I still spend the 2-3 hours reading them, but it's becoming close to pointless.)
Anne - I couldn't get through book 9. I only got as far as halfway through and gave up. So this might be the last review I ever post in this series.
ReplyDelete