Ten Big Ones [Hardcover]

The latest of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum adventures, Ten Big Ones places New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie in rather more jeopardy than usual. She has inconvenienced a local street gang and finds herself with a price on her head; the contract killer known as the Junkman has a taste for torture as well as murder, and she is the last victim on his list. As usual, she finds herself caught between her regular boyfriend, cop Morelli, and the dangerous and charming Ranger; as usual, the main plot goes on in the intervals between her regular rounds of catching up with bail defaulters and delivering them to court, and her involvement with her eccentric Hungarian and Italian relatives.

There are few surprises here--Janet Evanovich is good and funny on the subtle variations in New Jersey's suburbs and the differences between good and bad neighbourhoods, and she has always had the knack of constructing knockabout scenes of slapstick and farce. If at times she drifts towards the formulaic and stale, this is only really evident in retrospect. As one reads the book, she is as entertaining as always. --Roz Kaveney

‘Her latest offering will leave listeners with little doubt that she is a master of screwball comedy’ Publishers Weekly, 7/6/04 (Publishers Weekly ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Stephanie Plum is the lone witness to a gang executed robbery and cop shooting. There's a contract issued for her head and a California-based killer looking to fill that contract. The tenth Stephanie Plum novel is filled with Evanovich's trademark high stakes, high adventure, high wit, and sly comedy.

Janet Evanovich now lives in New Hampshire but, like Stephanie Plum, grew up in New Jersey. She has won major crime fiction awards for her Stephanie Plum novels: One For The Money was presented with the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award and the Dilys Award, Two For The Dough won the CWA Last Laugh Award and Three To Get Deadly was awarded the CWA Silver Dagger for 1997. Her web site address is www evanovich.com.