"Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich: Book Review

"Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's, 309 pp., $27.99
Reviewed by David Marshall James


Take an alligator, homemade stink bombs, fire bombs, a bigamist (and his four wives), a toilet-paper thief, a flasher high (so to speak) on e.d. pharmaceuticals, a band of Hobbits (well, people who think they're Hobbits), and innumerable doughnuts (with lots o' sprinkles) and pieces of fried chicken (from Cluck-in-a-Bucket)--

And you have a few of the components of Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum opus.

It's a down-day for Vincent Plum's bail-bonds agency in Trenton, New Jersey, but Vinnie's brought it all on himself.

He's swimming in red ink, and his wife and wealthy father-in-law are refusing to bail him out, as Vinnie has just been caught with his pants down on Stark Street (seems apropos). Doing what, precisely, we'll leave to the author.

As a result of his loan-shark indebtedness, Vinnie has been abducted by his unscrupulous lender, and the clock's ticking out rapidly toward Vinnie's forced punching of his one-way ticket to Pervheaven, where he'll no doubt encounter ninety-nine ducks.

Although they really don't feel like it, Vinnie's employees-- niece and bounty-hunter Stephanie, office manager Connie, and ersatz filer, fashion-maven-in-her-own-mind, and well-armed former ho Lula-- believe it best to rescue him. After all, he is the raison d'etre for the business, such as it has become.

Meanwhile, Steph is taking a break from male admirers Joe Morrelli of the Trenton P.D. and Ranger of Rangeman Security.

Morrelli is closer to being suitable marriage material-- with a house and a lovable, eats-anything dog-- although he expects Steph to stay at home and channel June Cleaver when La Plum only owns one pot and set her stove on fire.

The most recent off-again fracas in the Plum/Morrelli relationship escalated over a dearth of bread for his morning toast. Hello, Heloise! That's why you keep an extra loaf in the freezer, Steph.

Evanovich might consider "Screamin' Seventeen" for her next title, wherein Morrelli's vision of a domestic goddess descends to Earth via Trenton, and Steph finds herself with some super serious competition for his affections.

So, she starts screamin'. (But Momma Plum-- a master of the pot roast, mashed potatoes, and pineapple upside-down cake-- comes to her aid. Not to mention Grandma Mazur, who has one of the funniest lines in this book.)

Oh, and Mooner's back here-- hoorazy-crazy, dudes and dudettes-- baking his deservedly world-famous brownies (go figure, that). He can join the "Domesticate Stephanie" brigade.

As for the sizzle at hand-- it's as fast-paced and funny (often guffaw-inducing) as any of Evanovich's other Plum adventures.

Grab some fried chicken, a bag of doughnuts, and dig in this plum.

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