Explosive Eighteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel (Stephanie Plum Novels) [Kindle Edition]

Janet Evanovich (Author)

Book Description

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg's The Heist.

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home, in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich.
 
Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.
 
Only one other person has seen the missing photo—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.
 
Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?
 
Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii.  And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Evanovich's series of New Jersey comedy thrillers are among the great joys of contemporary crime fiction...' -- GQ Magazine 'Packed with her familiar wicked ear for dialogue...Plum is not just a smart private eye but a heroine with a sense of humour' -- Daily Mail 'The mere fact that Evanovich has stuck at this formula for 18 books is extraordinary. All feature the hair-brained adventures of the inept but charming NY bounty hunter Stephanie Plum; a New Jersey gal with lots of pluck' -- Manly Daily

Review

'Evanovich's series of New Jersey comedy thrillers are among the great joys of contemporary crime fiction...' -- GQ Magazine 'Packed with her familiar wicked ear for dialogue...Plum is not just a smart private eye but a heroine with a sense of humour' -- Daily Mail 'The mere fact that Evanovich has stuck at this formula for 18 books is extraordinary. All feature the hair-brained adventures of the inept but charming NY bounty hunter Stephanie Plum; a New Jersey gal with lots of pluck' -- Manly Daily

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1099 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (November 22, 2011)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004UI0NVE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,318 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #17 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Mystery & Suspense > Mystery
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Humor
  • #23 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Humor

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

824 of 864 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars To quote Lula "I really expected a better story" (spoiler alert) November 22, 2011

By HappyMom

Format:Hardcover

Spoiler Alert!

After having given up on the series several books ago, I was persuaded to read #17 and thought that maybe things were back on track. Explosive Eighteen was a massive disappointment. After teasing the reader (for ages!) with hints about what happened in Hawaii, we get a brief (and unsatisfying) few lines to explain why the stagnant love triangle is still in place and then it's on to the rest of the convoluted storyline that seemed to drag on forever. In the past, even when I've been frustrated by the refusal to choose between Ranger & Joe, I've been able to appreciate the screwball comedy. This book lacked the laugh-out-loud moments that, for me, partially redeemed a few of the books beyond #9. In 18, I spent a lot of time feeling like I was waiting for a punchline that never arrived. Worse, still, is the fact that Joe & Ranger have been reduced to shadows of their former selves and neither one bears much resemblance to the alpha-types I knew and loved. They just seemed worn out and as tired of dealing with Stephanie as I am. I cannot for the life of me figure out what either man is supposed to find so irresistible about Stephanie that they would be willing to settle for whatever crumbs she's willing to give them. Even without being able to blame a "curse," Stephanie is still casually sleeping with both of them, willing to commit to neither of them and they just jump in and rescue her incompetent self over and over again. (IMO) It's not charming, it's not cute, it's not endearing and I spent most of the book being bored by the litany of junk food she consumes and wondering why she was so stupid that she allowed the same guy to steal her car over and over again....

Without totally giving away the ending, I will say that I thought it was a lame attempt to persuade readers that an actual choice might be in the making. I have made peace with the fact that as long as the books are selling, no choice will be made and the characters will continue to devolve until they just make an occasional appearance to yank her out of burning buildings with a "Babe!" or "Cupcake!" and not much else.

I don't think anyone expects literary genius from these books, but I sincerely miss the comedic spark, the genuinely funny situations, and the depth/heart that was present in the early books and lost along the way. Read more ›

349 of 376 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars I swear -- I'm really done with this series this time! November 22, 2011

By D. Strickland

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am the eternal optimist so, against my better judgment, I preordered the Kindle version of this book. First a little background -- When I first began this series I was in love with all the main characters and found the side characters amusing enough. Stephanie was quirky and a little flaky, but she was funny, too. I couldn't read the books fast enough. And there were those really sexy scenes in the first few books creating the triangle between Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger. There was some real tension there that made us fans come back for more. Then, after about book #10 or so, the books really became the same old thing over and over again. Stephanie's life was going nowhere. The Great Love Triangle, which was intriguing at first, was going nowhere. Stephanie's relationship with both men was shallow at best and, now (especially in this book), is both shallow and creepy. In fact, one has to wonder why two such gorgeous men would hang around so long putting up with the immature person Stephanie has become. Both men appear to just wait around to respond to some stupid request of Stephanie's without blinking an eye. The above notwithstanding, the last book gave me the impression (mistaken, as it turns out) that the series might get better. It didn't. I realized that I don't like any of these characters anymore. I've always appreciated both men in the stories, but I leaned heavily toward Ranger. I think I'll hang on to the image I have of Ranger in my own imagination from now on and forego any more of JE's books before she further emasculates him and turns him into a total stooge. So sad, I wish the series had ended before without leaving this bitter aftertaste.

268 of 297 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Really Disappointing November 23, 2011

By AlyciainTX

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was really disappointed with this book. After my aunt persuaded me to read the first book in the series last year, I fell in love! I usually enjoy all the craziness Stephanie gets into, but this is getting old. The Morelli/Ranger/Stephanie love triangle has been played out waaaaay to long over the last 6 or 7 books, and we had no details about anything that happened in Hawaii except for half a paragraph. Stephanie used to be able to fumble her way through captures and it was fun to read, but now she just relies on Ranger and Morelli. I liked Lula before, but only as a SIDE character. It just seems like JE is churning out books, and it seems as if she has lost the IT factor the books had earlier.

I'm hoping to come to Amazon.com next week and see an update saying that JE forgot to attach the last 10 chapters to the book, so here's the rest of the story.

71 of 78 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Well, what did we expect? November 28, 2011

By Kaitlyn R.

Format:Hardcover

CONTAINS SPOILERS~

I think this pretty much sums up how I feel about the book: I just finished reading it a few hours ago and I can't really remember what happened. In fact, the entire series has become something that I don't really remember. The first books were so good, they drew me in, they made me read nonstop for days to catch up on the series. And now here we are at 18 and I almost had to MAKE myself sit down and read it. I probably wouldn't have finished it at all if I didn't have a friend that was waiting to talk about it with me. It was 300 pages of nothing, or more accurately, 300 pages of the SAME thing, just surprisingly more boring the 18th time around. More Stephanie being outsmarted by idiot criminals (that is one thing I do remember. She let that guy steal her car AT LEAST THREE TIMES, are you kidding me with this? Yes, please bring your bag to the door again, it's not like the purse snatcher is going to snatch it again), more flip-flopping between men (I have nothing against women taking charge of their sex lives and sleeping with who they want but when you're acting like you need to choose one, but continue to string along both? I don't know how they haven't both dumped her yet), even less character development than ever thought possible (although I'm surprised she actually managed to fend off that guy in the parking garage. I literally did not believe it when I first read it. Snaps for you, Ms. Plum) and none of that realness that drew me in in the beginning.

I know that I shouldn't expect literary masterpieces, but the beginning of this series was so good that it set high standards. Standards that are not being met anymore. How long does she honestly think she can drag these on for? I've come across very few positive reviews for the last few books.... I find myself wanting the series to end just so I can have some closure, because we all know Stephanie will never choose between Ranger and Morelli until the last book. The love triangle worked out really well for the first few books but it's now years later and it's getting old. I don't even understand how Stephanie has managed to string along these two guys for this long. What is it they see in her? I wish they'd both move on. This series should end with Stephanie alone because they finally came to their senses and moved on to women that wouldn't toy with them without choosing one of them to stick with for 18 years.

Which brings me to another problem I have with this book. There's no more passion. No more emotion. Everything went by so fast, yet somehow dragged on forever. They made such a big deal out of Hawaii and then she took one paragraph to finally explain it? The Hawaii story alone would have made a better book than this stupid photograph business. Sometimes I have to wonder if Janet is even writing these books anymore. My friend and I have more fun listing all the facts that are wrong in the book than we do reading it. In the first few books, Stephanie was so alive, so real. She could have been any one of us, any one of our friends. Now she feels dull, one-dimensional. The writer has disconnected from her and because of that, so has the reader. I guess this is what happens when the pay check is more important to the author than the characters are. Read more ›

More About the Author

Janet Evanovich is the #1 bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum novels, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and graphic novels, Wicked Appetite (the first book in the Lizzy and Diesel series,) and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#6 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#3 in Books > Romance

#4 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#4 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#4 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#3 in Books > Romance

#4 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#4 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#4 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance