Hot Six

fiction series - humor-filled bounty hunter escapades, working to apprehend criminals while juggling the attentions of two flirty men (in this book Stephanie is at the start of a sort of relationship with Morelli and we meet Bob the large, friendly, orange dog). As with many popular serial novels, this works fine as a standalone. (Published in June 2000.)

All of JE's books (i.e., the two that I've actually read) have a lot of tacky humor, which is part of the appeal (I did enjoy the scene where Stephanie and Lula "steal" a pile of dog poop for the purposes of their prank). Also, characters tend to be more caricatures than dimensional personalities, and said caricatures are frequently made fun of in an unkind way--not the type of humor show more that everyone will like, but again, I can see the appeal. Unfortunately, this volume features one bad guy henchman who is a Pakistani immigrant, who is casually referred to with negative racial slurs (by his co-henchman who is not a likeable character anyway), and who most unfortunately says horrifically unflattering things about his former job in Pakistan (Chapter 7, p. 149 in this edition). I get that it's "just meant as a joke" and not made in any kind of seriousness or malice (it's hard to take any of these characters seriously, in fact), but there are plenty of other ways to make people laugh without providing fodder for xenophobia and hate that persists as a serious problem in today's world.

I have a lot of respect for JE and I am certain that she can do better, so I'm really hoping that her more recent volumes (35 in this series to date, and counting) can still make her readers laugh without resorting to jokes at the expense of ethnic groups. I'm downgrading the rating for this book because of that, but I think the series overall, especially/hopefully the more recent ones, might be worth checking out.

picked up from a Little Free Library, part of my trying various popular authors I've never read before-- show less

Ranger has skipped out on his bail and is suspected in the murder of a local gun runner. While Stephanie won't take Ranger's case, everyone is convinced she knows where he is. And they're not really wrong as Ranger has Stephanie doing favours for him as he tries to figure out what's going on with the murder victim's clan. Meanwhile, Grandma Mazur has moved in with Stephanie, which puts a pretty big wrench in her plans to get together with Joe Morelli.

The Stephanie Plum mysteries might be forumlaic, but the formula is utterly comforting. The mystery is decent, Grandma Mazur continues to say ridiculous things that crack me up, and Stephanie has plenty of flirtation with both Joe and Ranger. I space out my reading of this series and show more dipping back into it is always enjoyable as a result. show less

I usually really like the Stephanie Plum books. They’re fun, quirky, fast reads that definitely don’t take themselves too seriously. This one fell somewhat flat for me, but I still really enjoyed revisiting Stephanie, her crazy friends and family, and all her familiar antics.

Although the plot wasn’t stellar, the characters, as always, are what make these books so much fun to read. Between Lula, Grandma Mazur, and whatever ridiculous characters Evanovich thinks up next, there are usually plenty of laughs. Toss in a giant dog that’ll eat anything - and I mean ANYTHING - a couple of inept (but still scary) thugs and two hot guys vying for Stephanie’s attention, and you’re guaranteed there isn’t going to be a dull moment in show more this book.

The key with Hot Six, as with all other Stephanie Plum novels, is not to expect too much. Suspend your disbelief, don’t expect realism - or even a whole lot of logic - and enjoy this novel for what it really is: a wild, fun ride. show less

I definitely enjoyed this one, probably because Ranger was wanted for murder (although I am reluctantly starting to like Ranger a little bit). This one seemed to be one of the funniest of the series. Between Stephanie's grandma moving in with her, two inept mob henchmen following her, and Stephanie ending up with a dog that eats everything I was constantly laughing. I loved the ending between Morelli and Stephanie and can't wait to see what happens between them next.

This is book number six in Evanovich's series about yet-to-master-her-job bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, and anyone who's read this far into the series will undoubtedly get precisely what they expect from this installment. There's a rather thin plot -- this time featuring Stephanie's bounty-hunting comrade and sometime lust object Ranger being suspected of a murder -- that's wrapped up pretty quickly at the end, but not before lots of wacky hijinks occur. They're mostly the same kinds of hijinks that always occur, but I find that, so far, at least, I'm not minding the formulaic nature of these books at all, because they're just so gosh-darned fun. Heck, the running joke about cars constantly being destroyed by, because of, or around show more Stephanie started out funny, got a bit old after a couple of volumes, and then just kept going until it got funny again.

I wasn't super-thrilled with the one minor character who's a little bit of a wacky cultural stereotype. Or with the love triangle stuff, because, seriously, why does there always have to be a love triangle? But the former wasn't too bad, and the latter was mercifully low-key as such things go, and neither kept me from enjoying this for the ridiculous, thoroughly entertaining brain candy that it is. show less

Hot Six (like the name suggests) is the 6th book in the Stephanie Plum series. This time Ranger has gotten himself into a load of trouble and is a person of interest in a murder/arson case. Everybody, except Stephanie, wants her to bring Ranger in. She seems to have a higher than average level of hijinks happening and even more people than normal breaking into or staying in her apartment, on an almost nightly basis. We also get to meet Bob.

Once again, it's Stephanie Plum, does things without thinking or learning anything from previous encounters and doesn't ever seem to think someone might be willing to kill or maim since she could never do that. I have to say I've listened to too many of these to close together and now while still show more funny, I'm finding her more annoying and stupid than really amusing. I'll have to wait 4-6 months before trying another one so I can really enjoy it again. show less

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
I ran into a friend at the library who recommended this author saying her writing was funny. I had just finished a David Baldacci book, so I was ready for funny. I found this book laugh out loud, tears down my cheeks funny.
Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series are brilliant. Totally hilarious and worth its weight in gold.

Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude and an interesting fashion sense runs around with her sidekick Lula in attempt to catch and haul in criminals that have missed their court date.

Working for Vinnie, is interesting to say the least. Vinnie, His lifestyle and preference in partners although highly abnormal by society’s standards, I find intriguing and laughable. If you show more don’t understand something .. might as well poke and prod at it until it makes some kind of sense.

Living with herself is trouble enough, but out of the blue her Grandma Mazur moves in with her with the promise of finding her own apartment. This puts a serious crimp in her already struggling sex life.
Even so, Stephanie’s relationship with Ranger takes an interesting turn. The growing attraction between them leaves them rolling around on her apartment floor, knee-deep in kisses and his roaming hands .. at least until Mazur busts out of the bedroom. Saved by Grandma or damned for her life of living in sin?

Between Morelli, Grandma and Ranger, Stephanie really has her hands full in this book. Mobsters jumping into her car to escape the freak show of a family, to Star Trek riots, this book is filled with tons of funny scenes.

Enjoy this sample of a scene that had me laughing out l loud.
A “friend” has asked Stephanie to keep his “small” dog while he is on vacation. She later finds out he is not on vacation, rather he has been trying to unload this huge dog for a long time.
Stephanie, Lula and Bob in the car together.
“Maybe Bob needs breakfast.” Lula said.
“Bob already had breakfast.”
“Let me put it another wa,y Maybe Lula needs breakfast.”
“You have anything special in mind?”
“I guess one of those egg McMuffins. And a vanilla shake. And breakfast fries.”
(Stephanie’s driving)
I put the Buick in gear and headed for the drive-through.
“How’s it going?” the kid at the window said. “You still looking for a job?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
We got three of everything and parked on the edge of the lot to eat and regroup. Bob ate his egg McMuffin and breakfast fries in one chomp. He slurked down his milkshake and looked longingly out the window.
“Think Bob needs to stretch his legs?” Lula said.
I opened the door and let him out. “Don’t go far.”
Bob jumped out and started walking around in circles, occasionally sniffing the pavement.
“What’s he doing?” Lula wanted to know. “Why’s he walking in circles? Why he – uh-oh, this don’t look good. Looks to me like Bob’s taking a big poop in the middle of the parking lot. Holy cow, look at that! That’s a mountain of poop.”
Bob returned to the Buick and sat down, wagging his tail, smiling, waiting to be let back in.
I let him in and Lula and I slumped down low in our seats.
“Do you think anyone saw?” I asked Lula.
“I think everyone saw!”
“Damn.” I said. “I don’t have the pooper scooper with me.”
“Pooper scooper, hell, I wouldn’t go near that with a full contamination suit and a front-loader.”
“I can’t just leave it there.”
Maybe you could run over it. “ Lula said, “You know… flatten it out.”
I cranked the engine over, backed up, and pointed the Buick at the pile of poop.
“Better roll the windows up.” Lula said.
“Ready?”
Lula braced herself, “Ready.”
I stomped on the gas and took aim.
SQUISH!
We rolled the windows down and looked out.
“So what do you think? You think I should make another pass?”
“Wouldn’t hurt,” Lula said, “And I’d forget about getting a job here.”
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