Plum Lucky

Audio books make the commute fly by on most occasions and Janet Evanovich's Plum Lucky, a Between-the-Numbers novel, is no exception. My husband and I seem to be hooked on these Between-the Numbers novels because they are humorous, ridiculous in some instances, and fast-paced.

Stephanie Plum and Diesel are back on the hunt, but not for Sandy Claws this time--Snuggy O'Connor who thinks he's a leprechaun. This little person not only thinks he's a leprechaun, but that he can disappear from sight on a whim to steal from mobsters and others. Oh, he also thinks he can talk to animals, like horses.

This reader would have snorted coffee through her nose if she were drinking any when Snuggy talks to a doberman at a mobster's home and the dog show more convinces him to merely take his clothes off to disappear in front of everyone's eyes. Can you say the emperor's new clothes?

Grandma Mazur returns and finds a bag of money on the sidewalk, which happens to be stolen from a mobster by Snuggy. Grandma doesn't know, heads off to Atlantic City, and is in gambler's paradise before disaster strikes and she's kidnapped by a mobster, Delvina. Snuggy wants to pay off Delvina to get his horse, Doug, back from the mobster and Stephanie and Diesel must team up with Snuggy to recoup the gambled money and pay off Delvina to get Grandma back.

From the snarky comments between Stephanie, Snuggy, Diesel, Grandma Mazur, Lula, and Connie to the details of Atlantic City and Daffy's casino, Evanovich paints a vivid scene with an eclectic cast of characters. Ranger even makes an appearance in this one, along with Morelli.

This made the commute fly by, and I am looking forward to the next Between-the Numbers novel on audio. show less

This is one of the "between-the-numbers" books in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. These are part of the series' continuity (to the extent that that actually matters), but are distinct from the regular series installments in that they're shorter, are set around a holiday (in this case, St. Patrick's Day), involve some supernatural elements, and feature a character with the ridiculous name of Diesel, who I believe is a crossover character from a different Evanovich series.

The other thing they usually have in common is that I find them annoying. The supernatural stuff feels badly out of place to me, the plots are usually dumb in a bad way (as opposed to the silly, fun sort of way one hopes for from this series), and Diesel is show more hideously skeevy even by Evanovich standards.

So I was happy to discover that this one actually didn't annoy me. I still don't like Diesel, but I found myself at least able to tolerate him. And the main guest character, a guy with a less-useful-than-it-sounds gift of supernatural luck who believes he's a leprechaun, is actually surprisingly fun.

Mind you, the end result is ridiculous, forgettable, mildly amusing fluff, but that's pretty much what I'm looking for from this series. I don't think it's quite as good at being mildly amusing fluff as some of the regular installments, but I'm just relieved that it mostly worked for me. show less

Similar to the other between the numbers books with lots of humor and not a lot of mystery. Grandma and Diesel caused most of the humor. Adding to it was the hiding of a horse in her apartment and an RV, a little leprechaun man who thinks he is invisible when naked, and crazy mob guys. As usual there are her hunks to help her in odd ways.

I think the Stephanie Plum series works so well for me because I was born and raised in New Jersey. Even when the story gets a little repetitive (blown up car anyone?), Stephanie's always going somewhere I know. Janet Evanovich's descriptions of these places are so funnily (and occasionally sadly) accurate that I get sucked right into the story, sometimes despite the less than thrilling mystery.

In Plum Lucky, Stephanie heads down to Atlantic City on a hunt for the missing Grandma Mazur. The first half of this short book, set in Atlantic City, was wonderful. Grandma's doing the senior in a casino thing. Lula has a potential career as a plus sized model. Diesel is incredibly lucky, or just really good at cheating. Even Randy Briggs is show more back and doing pretty well with the ladies.

Once the gang returns to Trenton, the story starts to feel like same old, same old. Grandma Mazur is kidnapped (as opposed to it always being Stephanie) and the search for her lacks the humor we've come to expect from the Plum series. More and more often the situations Stephanie finds herself in are mob related. Perhaps this is the Sopranos effect, but not everyone in Jersey has an interest in or can relate to the mafia angle.

Stephanie doesn't have the kind of chemistry with Diesel that she does with Ranger and the scenes that should be hot feel forced. There is no will they or won't they possibility between them.

Plum Lucky is a good book, but I probably would have liked it more if the characters remained in Atlantic City the entire time. There's a limit to how much stuff you can blow up in Trenton and I think Stephanie may have finally hit it. show less

Not my favourite Stephanie Plum, but enjoyable nonetheless. Grandma Mazur goes AWOL to a casino with someone else's money, add to that the usual chaos of the life of Stephanie, Lula revealing all, a horse in Stephanie's lounge and the usual episode of firebombing cars, and welcome to the world of Stephenie Plum!

Digital audiobook narrated by Lorelei King
3***

A “between the numbers” addition to the popular Stephnie Plum series, this one is number 13.5. Grandma Mazur is featured, along with Lula and Connie. Instead of Ranger and Joe Morelli, Steph is assisted by the mysterious Diesel.

Randy Briggs returns for this adventure. A “little person,” Grandma hires Randy to chauffeur her to Atlantic City in the RV she just purchased with some of the loot she found in a duffel bag she literally tripped over. And then there’s Snuggy O’Connor, the guy that Diesel is hunting. Seems the duffel bag was Snuggy’s, but the reason Diesel is after him is because he stole a horse. Snuggy talks to animals and despite being born as Zigmond Kulakowski, he show more claims to be a leprechaun because he feels Irish.

If this sounds outlandish … well, it is. That’s the fun of this series. The characters are eccentric with a CAPITAL E. The scenarios are ridiculous, but also frequently hilariously funny.

Lorelei King does a great job performing the audio books in this series. She keeps the pace going at a good clip and I particularly love her interpretation of Grandma Mazur and Lula. show less

This book is a light-hearted romp about female bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum recovering her wandering, adventure-seeking Grandma Mazur.

Grandma finds a duffle full of cash, a million dollars, and fights with a "leprechaun" over ownership. Grandma hires a midget,...err umm, "little person," as a bodyguard, and steals away in the middle of the night, leaving just a note on the kitchen table. Stephanie finds Grandma in Atlantic City, playng video poker, but so has the "leprechaun" and the original owner of the money, mob boss Lou Delvina. With the help of Diesel, Connie and Lula, Stephanie manages to convince Grandma to go home, but before they can sneak her out, Delvina kidnaps Grandma Mazur in exchange for the bag... and Stephanie must show more find a way to recover the lost money. Will she get Grandma back alive?

This short novel is full of cracks and comedic scenes, slapstick, a naked "leprechaun" at a carwash, and an elevator that's possibly permanently stained with the scent of a horse fart. Plum Lucky is a fun and fast book to read in between the serious books. show less