Audiobook Review: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

The following is a summary of One for the Money by Janet Evanovich from her website:

Watch out, world. Here comes Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case.

Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook.

Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli is also the irresistible macho pig who took Stephanie's virginity at age sixteen and then wrote the details on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop. There's still powerful chemistry between these two, so the chase should be interesting.

It could also be extremely dangerous, especially when Stephanie encounters a heavyweight title contender who likes to play rough. Benito Ramirez is known for his brutality to women. At the very least, his obsession with Stephanie complicates her manhunt and brings terror and uncertainty into her life. At the worst, it could lead to murder.

My Review:

Oh my goodness, I just loved this book! I'm sure that there was always something that made me laugh as I was listening to this in my car. Stephanie Plum is down on her luck, out of money and needs a job fast! She goes to see her cousin Vinny intending to get an office job as a file clerk, but somehow ends up starting a new career as a bounty hunter!

As Stephanie is so broke, many of her possesions have been repossessed, so she decides to start off by trying to apprehend a pretty high-profile suspect. Joe Morelli is a former cop and love interest of Stephanie's that she must bring in to earn the handsome fee of $10,000. Morelli is accused of murder, but as Stephanie continues her search for him, new evidence regarding the murder scene becomes revealed.

There are so many twists and turns in this novel that you start to wonder what could possibly happen to Stephanie next. At one point Stephanie decides to 'borrow' Morelli's car to help her finish her job. When Morelli realizes that she has stolen his car he breaks into her apartment while she is taking a shower and handcuffs her to a towel rack. This just had me laughing away on my drive to work. When someone else decides to steal Morelli's car from Stephanie, it is quite a shock when the car explodes right in front of her apartment building. At this point Stephanie has come to realize that there is probably more to the Morelli case than meets the eye.

As I usually do when reading a mystery, I found myself trying to figure out who could have committed the murder if Morelli didn't do it. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that I was surprised by who the culprit turned out to be. I am definitely looking forward to reading more books in this series.

In the genre of a comical, mystery, thriller I am going to rate this book:
5/5