High Five by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #5)

Synopsis:

In her fifth high-octane thriller, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum sets out to find her missing uncle-- and along the way smacks slam-bang into: a dead body, a nasty bookie, her stun-gun-toting grandmother, two very sexy men, an angry little man who won't leave her apartment, and a Mafia wedding...

Another book of witty conversations, unfortunate luck for Stephanie, and sexually charged encounters. Oh, and some crime on the side!

This book made me laugh out loud more than any of the previous books in the series. The way that Ranger and Morelli both just laugh when something unfortunate happens to Stephanie makes me laugh even harder.

If you need a pick-me-up, these are the books that you should read. There are plenty of interesting storylines with different crimes and mysteries, but there is also a lot of comedy. Whether it comes from Grandma Mazur, Lula, or Stephanie herself.

There is a good balance of funny and serious, and it keeps you interested the whole way through.

I was really annoyed with Briggs as a character when Lula and Stephanie were trying to catch him, but once she had to have constant communication with him, he really grew on me. I hope that he shows up in the following books. They had interesting banter back and forth, and I think he could be helpful to her.

I really wanted to just crack open the next book right after I finished this one. These characters are addicting.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Okay, so sometimes I wasn’t the world’s greatest bounty hunter. I wasn’t a fabulous cook. I didn’t have a boyfriend, much less a husband. And I wasn’t a big financial success. I could live with all those failings as long as I knew that once in awhile I looked really hot.”

“Stephanie Plum, master of diversion. If your hair is bad, shorten your skirt and ass extra mascara.”

“I really needed juice. And a Snickers bar. If I had juice and a snickers bar, I probably could forget about sex. In fact, I didn’t even need the juice anymore. Just the Snickers bar.”

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Cross Justice by James Patterson

Synopsis:

Alex Cross left his hometown, and some awful family tragedies, for a better life with Nana Mama in Washington, DC. He hasn't looked back.

Now his cousin Stefan has been accused of a horrible, unthinkable murder, and Cross drives south with Bree, Nana Mama, Jannie, and Ali to Starksville, North Carolina, for the first time in thirty-five years. Back home, he discovers a once proud community down on its luck, and local residents who don't welcome him with open arms. As Cross steps into his family home, the horrors of his childhood flood back--and he learns that they're not really over. He brings all his skill to finding out the truth about his cousin's case. But truth is hard to come by in a town where no one feels safe to speak.

Chasing his ghosts takes Cross all the way down to the sugarcane fields of Florida, where he gets pulled into a case that has local cops needing his kind of expertise: a string of socialite murders with ever more grisly settings. He's chasing too many loose ends--a brutal killer, the truth about his own past, and justice for his cousin--and any one of the answers might be fatal.

In Cross Justice, Alex Cross confronts the deadliest--and most personal--case of his career. It's a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that proves you can go home again--but it just might kill you.

This book was very different from the rest of the series. It was almost refreshing. We get to learn a lot more about Alex’s past than we have before and get to meet a lot of his family.

It took me awhile to get through this book, and I’m not even sure why. Perhaps because it was a lot different than the others, or maybe I am just in a reading slump. But, I would pick it up and only read a few chapters at a time. But than vanished when I was about halfway through the book. Once I hit that point, I could just not put it down!

I am still not really sure what the purpose of Coco as a villain was to this book. I know it helped to bring Alex together with a pretty significant character, but that was about it. I was waiting for that story to have a huge twist that made it integral to the book’s plot, and it really didn’t. It was interesting, but I didn’t think it was all that necessary.

My complaint is that there was almost no Sampson in this book, but it wouldn’t have made sense for him to be in it. I just like Alex and John’s interactions.

Overall, Cross Justice is a really solid book in the Alex Cross series. Maybe one of the best in awhile!

4/5 Stars

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Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

Synopsis:

Stephanie Plum, Trenton, New Jersey's favorite pistol-packing, condom-carrying bounty hunter, is back - and on the trail of a revenge-seeking waitress who's skipped bail. With the help of 73-year-old Grandma Mazur, ex-hooker Lula, a transvestite musician named Sally Sweet, and the all-too-hospitable, all-too-sexy Joe Morelli, Stephanie might just catch her woman. Then again, with more mishaps than there are exits on the Jersey Turnpike - including murders, firebombs, and Stephanie's arch-rival bounty hunter chasing after the same fugitive - Stephanie better watch her back big-time if she wants to live to crack this case.

This book had a lot of mystery in it. Stephanie’s main case doesn’t make much sense. There is a woman on the run while playing a clue game with her ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, the people around her are being cut and injured by someone.

In the middle of that case, someone starts terrorizing Stephanie causing her to lose her car and her apartment. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Morelli’s whole family is convinced that she is pregnant and they are getting married.

It was a strange book right from the start, but that is what made it so intriguing. I found it really hard to put down which was great.

I was right that the chapters don’t seem as long anymore now that I am used to their length. Reading too many James Patterson books had me used to 2-3 page chapters.

I haven’t hit a dull point in this series yet, and I hope that doesn’t happen.

I hope Sally remains a part of this series, but I have a feeling that he will be gone after this book.

5/5 Stars

Memorable quotes: “In my world, God and Santa Claus did not micromanage lives. Of course, that meant you couldn’t count on them to lose weight, either.”

“I like Lula a lot, but last time we worked together I gained seven pounds and almost got arrested for shooting a guy who was already dead.”

“Tonight my aloneness felt lonely, and maybe even a little frightening.”

“I loved my mother, but love only goes so far when you’re trying to explain how your grandmother ended up standing on a blackjack table in a packed casino.”

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