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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FULL SCOOP = FULL LISTENING ENJOYMENT, May 22, 2006
Beaumont, South Carolina is a hot spot again - boiling and bubbling with romance, comedy, and mayhem. Is it something in the air, something in the water? No, simply the combined talents of Evanovich and Hughes who put their imaginations, wits, and abilities to write crackling dialogue to work and, presto - Full Scoop.
A bit zany? Yes. But thoroughly entertaining. What eye candy is for the orbs, this book is brain candy for the mind. Nothing deep, nothing disturbing, just mischief enough to entertain.
Lorelei King delivers the narrative with charm and a voice that makes for mighty pleasant listening.
Many will remember recently married Max Holt and Jamie-Swift Holt. They'd very much like to produce an heir or heiress but there's little privacy in their antebellum mansion which has workmen all but hanging from the ceilings. However, rather than a Max and Jamie story this plot primarily concerns Maggie Davenport, a pediatrician with problems.
A former boyfriend of Maggie's has just escaped from jail and pops back into her life after over a dozen years. There's quite a bit about her past that Maggie doesn't want everyone to know, but what to do?
Help is on the way with the entrance of FBI agent Zack Madden. Of course, there are a few secondary plots adding to the potpourri of goings-on in Beaumont, even the romantic yearnings of a hound dog called Fleas.
Relax and listen - you can't help but smile.
- Gail Cooke
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
There is no chemistry, August 11, 2006
I like Evanovich novels for a light read and a few laughs, and usually her hero and heroine are downright combustible - the Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli relationship, sustained through 12 books so far, being a case in point. But Full Scoop was actually a trial to get through. I could hear another voice in there which was distracting and interrupted Evanovich's comedic rhythm. The whole tone of the writing was down about five notches from what I have come to expect from Evanovich. The silly villains were either being too goofy or too violent, leaving us wondering were we supposed to be amused or frightened? The least forgivable of the sins committed in Full Scoop was the fact that there was absolutely no chemistry between Maggie and Zack. None at all. So it's hard to label the book: a sort of but not really romance, an almost but not much of a woman-in-danger.... maybe a new genre altogether - the slapstick thriller?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Superficial and full of holes, July 7, 2006
In all honesty, this book was severely lacking in just about every area. It wasn't horrible. I didn't mind reading it, but there were just so many problems with the story as a whole, so many poorly developed aspects that kept it from being a truly good read. The story was very two-dimensional, lacking development and depth. It was just very superficial.
The characters have very little depth or exploration. The authors give you some basic history, but fail to really explore them. They mention things but then never really tell you about them. An example is Maggie's pregnancy. You know that the antagonist got her pregnant at a young age, and you're told that there was some sort of cover-up to get her out of town so no one would know. But they never give you any details. You have no idea exactly how old she was, and you're not told anything at all about this cover-up. Where did she go? What did she do? How did she handle it all? Why did she make up a husband? It would have been nice to have these details and it would have given another dimension to Maggie's character.
Zack's was in a similar state. You know his FBI step-father was killed by the antagonist but you learn little else, other than that Zack was greatly affected by the slaying. I wanted to know how old Zack was when his mother married his step-father, what their relationship was like, how he dealt with the man's death, etc. Again, knowing all this would have made the character more full-bodied. The authors just failed to give these characters any depth at all.
The romance between them was poorly developed as well. It seemed extremely forced, with very little emotion involved. It was like, hey, let's kiss; hey, let's have sex; hey, I think I might have feelings for you. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between them at all. I had a really hard time believing that these two characters were in love.
There were also some minor areas where issues bothered me. One was that Zack, as an FBI Agent, was allowed to participate in the case at all. He was personally connected (his father being killed by the antagonist 14 years earlier). I had a hard time buying that that would be allowed. Also, Destiny, who had roles in the other books, is done a serious injustice in this book. She's paired off and engaged with hardly a whisper. A little more on that would have been nice.
As for the good points...well, I enjoyed the cameos of Max and Jamie. Fleas the hound dog and Butterbean the goat were great. And the actual plot wasn't too bad. But none of that could overcome the holes in the book. I was rather disappointed overall once I finished.
Rating: 2 / 5
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