Customer Reviews

Motor Mouth (Alex Barnaby Series, No. 2)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I was really looking forward to the release of this novel and had high expectations. Too bad they all fell flat. Alexa Barnaby, known as Barney, gave up her boring job in insurance to be a spotter for Nascar driver, Sam Hooker, after their first adventure. Barney and Hooker's personal relationship went south, however, after he cheated on her with a salesclerk. They team up to rescue their friend Gobbles when he gets locked in the car hauler of some shady characters, and find themselves framed for murder, as well as on the run from people who want to kill them.

It's obvious Evanovich is courting Nascar fans with this series, and while I am not a Nascar fan, I don't have any issue with that part of the story, which was actually somewhat interesting. What I do have a problem with is the way the book gets bogged down by silly pratfalls that fail to be funny. She relies on her old standby of a big, stupid dog, but people getting continually knocked to the ground by a drooling St. Bernard is just annoying, and not in the least bit funny. Toward the middle, I actually started to like the book as Barney and Sam were figuring things out, but then the story descended into a worn-out slapstick dog poop adventure we've seen way too many times now.

I really like Barney's character. How could I not like a woman with her skills? She's smart, fun, and capable, which just makes me wonder what she sees in Hooker, who is not so easy to like. First of all, he's a slut who cheated on Barney, and cheaters just aren't sexy. He's also not very smart, and his incessant horniness fails to be amusing. As for the dog, he's got to go. The very idea of him is worn out, and he's not funny, he's a menace.

I really think this series has potential, but I think Evanovich needs to put a little more effort into it. Sometimes it seems to have a unique flavor all its own, and then it seems as if the author didn't know what to do next, so she threw in some cheap slapstick. After all, it works with Stephanie Plum, right?

In all, I didn't hate this book, but I can't say I liked it all that much, either. I don't think I'll be all that excited when the next one comes out, but I'll probably read it just to see if the series is improving.

I don't know who wrote this book, but they should refrain from insulting us again. I really had to struggle to get through this book. I love the Plum series; I've read them all several times over, but I could barely get through this dreck.

First I have to say that I am a HUGE Janet fan. I have all her books and have read and re-read them a zillion times. When Metro Girl came out I was excited... I was not thrilled with Metro Girl, but I liked it. I felt like it was a rushed book, not the greatest but good. Then she started Motor Mouth and kept pushing back the release date so I thought she was really taking her time with this one and it was going to be better. I was wrong! My sister and I bought the book on it's release date. My sister called me later that day to say she disliked it so much she wasn't even going to finish it. It usually takes me no longer than a day to read her books because I can't put them down. This one took several days because I had to put it down, several times. The plot is so unbeleivable and ridiculous and gets more so as it goes on. The dialogue and humor is forced... Everything seems to be recycled from her previous books, right down to the dog, another version of Bob from the Plum series. It is revealed early in the story that Hooker, the hero, has cheated on Alexandra, the heroine of the story. He is so nonchalant about the whole thing you want to deck him... But Alex is just as nonchalant... It just isn't realistic. I wont be rereading this one... And I wont be rushing out to buy the next in the series.

Ok, sorry about the rhyming in the title. This second book in Evanovich's new series featuring a NASCAR mechanic babe isn't as much fun as her Stephanie Plum series, as some have noted, primarily due to the lack of fun supporting characters a la Lula, Grandma Mazur, Sally Sweet, etc.. that populate Plum's universe. I enjoy this series but it does suffer in comparison to the world she's built in the Plum series. But let's give it some time. Stephanie Plum developed over time too.

I am a big Janet Evanovich fan and I have to say, I am very disappointed with this book. I was very excited last year when she created a new character in "Barney", a girl engineer with a gift for being a top notch auto mechanic. I thought she might really have a chance with a new series, so I was really looking forward to a new adventure It isn't surprising that she would use Nascar as a backdrop for the story since she created Hooker for the first book. I don't know much about racing, so I found it a little interesting, but she quickly veered away from the Nascar theme and took up a completely silly, not to be believed adventure for Barney and the testosterone crazy Hooker with his overwhelmingly silly Saint Bernard, Beans who incessantly drools and knocks people flat on their backs. The laughs were there at times but after ahwile got the slapstick joking got old and I was very disappointed when she abruptly ran out of steam and didn't even try to tie up any of the loose ends at the end of the silly adventure of rescuing Gobble, a friend in need who has accidently locked himslef in the back of an 18 wheeler. I took this book out of the library and I would have kicked myself if I had paid the steep price charged for this book. Maybe Janet needs someone to write with her if she is having a tough time creating her own stories. I feel bad not to be able to write a positive review for one of my favorite writers. Being a huge Stephanie Plum fan. I don't plan to read any more books in this series.

I too am a big Janet fan.
I was hoping, as the second book into this series, that it would develop more of a personality of its own. I find Barney to be a poorly written first draft of Stephanie. I tried very hard during both books not to compare the two (I can with other authors) - but there are too many similarities to Stephanie. Even when Barney meets Simon, she tells him shes a lingerie buyer, Come on!!!
I will continue to support Janet w/ the Plum Series, but this one I give up on.

I'm a big Evanovich fan, or, I should say, a Stephanie Plum fan. However, the Barnaby/Hooker series is downright disappointing. After reading both books in the series, I still don't feel as if I know the main characters and at this point I'm not sure if I want to. I'm assuming Ms. Evanovich put Alex and Sam in the off-again" part of their relationship at the beginning of the book in order to create sexual tension throughout the book. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to make me want to continue reading. I almost quit several times. However, NASCAR information was interesting even though I'm not a fan. I didn't care for the disrespectful manner in which dead bodies were treated. It was obviously supposed to be silly and slapstick, but I found it distasteful. Didn't have any LOL moments while reading this book, but I guess the really good jokes have to be set aside for Stephanie and the gang. Still a JE fan, but won't be reading any more of this series.

I love many of Evanovich's books, but this one just wasn't very good. I love her dialogue, and the silly pranks throughout her stories, and this one had plenty of those. But the characters just aren't that interesting. And I agree that the NASCAR information was just over the top. A bit interesting if you're a fan, I'm sure, but I'm not. And, the characters are overly familiar as rewrites of characters from her other books. I'm sorry I bought this in hardcover -- I paid too much!

I love Janet Evanovich, so I was excited to read another of her books. But it was a disappointment. With the second book of the series I still have no sense of who Barney and Hooker are. Secondary characters ... Felicia and Rosa are more fleshed out. I simply didn't care if Barney and Hooker succeeded in their mission.

Rather than NASCAR being a backdrop to the story, the book feels more like a NASCAR documentary with a fiction story behind it. Too much information about the inner workings of NASCAR racing felt forced and not really part of the story.

I actually enjoyed Janet's released novels "Back to the Bedroom" and "Man Hunt" more.

I agree with reviewer, Cherise, the first book in the series seemed rushed and this one does too. I'm not ready to give up on the series, but I hope book three focuses more on character than NASCAR fun facts.

I read Metro Girl and wasn't thrilled with it, I thought it was just okay (and the phrase "NASCAR guy" got old fast.) Motor Mouth was the first time I was truly disappointed in an Evanovich book.

First, I really didn't get into the NASCAR part. We are NASCAR fans in our household, and while I don't really get into the races, I do know who the drivers are and have my own favorites. However, I just don't have any desire to read a novel set in the NASCAR scene. I know that NASCAR's fan base has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade or so, and a lot of those fans are women. This book would probably appeal to a lot of those fans. It just didn't appeal to me.

Some of the situations in the mystery were a little over the top, and towards the end I starting thinking, "Oh come on!" I know Janet's books can be a bit far fetched, that's what makes them fun, but this one was too much for me. And, I had the mystery solved before I was even half way through the book. There wasn't even that to keep me guessing.

The worst was that she had Hooker cheat on Barney. She overstepped the bounds there, in my honest opinion. There is already enough infidelity in this world wihtout adding it into a book that I read to try to escape the stresses of life. I couldn't believe she made him a cheater, then Barney took him back. Sorry, it doesn't work for me, and Hooker will always be a slime ball character to me from now on. I can't see myself reading any more of the books in this series. Janet lost me here.

I give this book two stars. One for the funny parts, as there were a few, and two, the NASCAR bits are well written. My husband read it and said that Janet obviously did her homework to write this book, so I need to give her credit for that.

I think I will stick with Stephanie Plum, and Janet's re-released romance novels. Those are more my style.