Customer Reviews

Motor Mouth (Alex Barnaby Series, No. 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Motor Mouth," the second in The Barnaby Series, is every bit as exciting and danger packed as the first, "MetroGirl" (2005). There's never a dull moment in the life of Alexandra Barnaby who spends her time at NASCAR races in Florida and North Carolina. There's also never a dull paragraph for listeners as this tale is spun by the very gifted C. J. Critt. One of Evanovich's favorite performers, and for good reason, Critt is well remembered for her narrations of "Back to the Bedroom," "Four to Score," and others.

She knows how to capture a listeners attention and she deftly does it when we hear these first words: "Sometimes there's a decision to be made between winning fairly and cheating for a good cause. And sometimes, in the heat of competition, I've slipped south of fair. So I understand the temptation. But here's the thing about cheating ...don't cheat me. I take it personally."

It's established early on that if Alex Barnaby takes anything personally - look out! The setting is Miami and the scene is the last race of the season. Alex, a spotter for NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, is on task - looking through her binoculars high above the infield. In this case, she's seeing things she may later wish she had not - sightings that soon involve her in mayhem and murders. Of course, Sam is right along with her and there's time for them to connect. (What's a good story without a touch of romance?)

Leave it to Evanovich to provide surprising plot twists including a purloined pooch, and over the top characters such as the redoubtable Felicia Ibarra. This author is a pro at combining humor and high jinks. Highly enjoyable listening!

- Gail Cooke

I bought this book on audio and Full Scoop on audio at the same time. Unlike the latest Full book, this book is a great example of why I buy Janet's books rather than go to the library for them. I will keep this audio book in my own library to enjoy over and over again. CJ Critt does a fantastic job with the voices, I laughed so hard when I heard her do Nascar Guy, Hooker. The story is original (if a little far fetched) and fun to listen to. If you are looking for something to make you smile, this is the book.

Janet, what were you thinking of??? It is so sad, to see an author who produced a book like One for the Money churning out this garbage.

If you like juvenile gags and the same lame jokes over and over, you get plenty of that in Motor Mouth. Anyone with a smigden of intelligence will want to put it through the shredder. I think Evanovich was aiming for madcap, but instead Motor Mouth was simply maddening. Weak characters, ridiculous storylines, hackneyed over-used childish pranks and pratfalls. I like animals in novels, particularly dogs such as the ones in Linda Lael Miller's books, but this dog, the badly behaved and out of control Beans, was really annoying. Beans was like a cartoon dog, knocking people completely flat all the time and also biting into a corpse for a snack. Totally disgusting.

Hooker, who was so annoying in Metro Girl, was even worse in this book. He actually cheated with on Barney with another woman on page 2, but improbable as it may seem for a woman supposedly as strong as Barney, she didn't drop him like a stone. The guy has no integrity, treated Barney like some track bimbo and she still goes ahead and hangs around and sleeps with him. What is it with Janet Evanovich and cheating? She had Stephanie Plum showing no remorse when trying to cheat on Joe in Twelve Sharp. Is she such a fan of infidelity she now considers it second nature?

This book didn't work on any level. The way Barney and Hooker could steal cars, locate microscopic chips and evade the baddies was completely off the credibility scale. The violence was over the top.

It was repetitive, non-stop garbage. The dog poop stuff, especially the bag of dog poop and corpse biting, was disgusting and anyone feeding their dog the diet fed to the poor Beans should be a target of the Humane Society. It is not funny, and I'd hate to think it would encourage anyone to do the same. It is as JE thinks her readership are 12 year boys who like vomit and poop.

The NASCAR stuff was boring. B O R I N G.

JE churns her books out too quickly, pushing out at least two books a year. This shows as the quality of her work has gone down as the quantity goes up. I would much rather she spend more time on her books like other authors. Let's hope she dumps the Alex Barnaby books and spends more time improving the Plum series, or starts a new series with Ranger.

I only finished this book because I had nothing else to read on a trip. I got this book out the library as I would never buy another Evanovich book after Metro Girl. I wouldn't read another in this series, even a library copy.

I have read nearly all Janet Evanovitch's books. This is one is just as much fun as the others. I would love to meet Janet, her sense of humor is exactly what I find hilarious about every day life! Motor Mouth is a great, relaxing read.

I'm a big fan of Janet Evanovich and the Plum novels. I also usually enjoy C.J. Critt as a reader, but this one failed to capture my attention. Critt's reading made Sam Hooker more lecherous creep than sexy, though flawed, hero.

I'm intrigued by the NASCAR concept and love that Barney is an engineer, but the formula isn't working. It seems like Evanovich did more research for Stephanie Plum's bounty hunter than she has on women in NASCAR, so it's harder to get into these books. There are also too many location changes, unlike the Plum novels, where Trenton, NJ almost becomes a character itself.

As a fan, I know Janet Evanovich can do much better than this. The family business needs to drop this product line and stick with what they know.

This book is very funny! The reader is perfect, and has all of the inflections nailed.

Janet never has any new twists. Looking forward to new story lines in the future.

This was the sequel to Metro Girl. I enjoyed listening to this book. It is about a Nascar Driver and his ex-girlfriend/mechanic/spotter for his races. The action picks up quickly and is basically non-stop! Some of the situations the characters get into are pretty hilarious. There is a little romance/history between Hooker and Barney, but that is not focused on too much. At first Hooker and his friend Gobbles voices annoyed me very much... but if you can get past that part... the book is actually very good! I don't follow Nascar and was still able to enjoy the story. Each of the characters was funny and different. The descriptions of Miami were awesome (made me wish I was there!) but the descriptions of the murdered people were a little too much... it is hard to be completely amused with a story while picturing some of the scenes. Overall, enjoyable story, fun and funny to listen to, and a good sequel to Metro Girl. If there is another book after this one, I'd love to read it or listen to it.