Sunday, August 29, 2010

"One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich


"There are some men who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me -- not forever, but periodically."  Right from this opening line, you kinda can't help but feel for the tough, flawed and utterly charming Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum.  This quirky mystery, set against a backdrop of the connected and not-so-connected, introduces us to a character that was compelling enough to demand a series of novels...not to mention a film deal with Katherine Heigl playing the lead.

There's more character work and slightly less action that most thriller readers look for, but the humor added to the suspense of the mystery involved should keep all but the most hardcore thriller readers entertained.  Plus, let's face it, we all need to branch out from time to time, right?  This heroine is gutsy enough to impress the women and sexy enough to keep the men intrigued.  And while the characters practically reek of Jersey flair (replete with dialects), they don't keep the action from moving along.

For those not-so-much-with-the-thrillers readers out there, the heroine alone is enough to keep you going here.  Then there's the cast of just-off-the-sterotype toughs and Italian mothers and guys those mothers keep trying to set their daughters up with, which provides plenty of opportunities for off-beat humor that will make you laugh out loud.  Add to that a sexy ex-flame who may or may not be guilty but is certainly bad, and you've got a novel that'll keep you up to the wee hours of the morning.

This is a novel that definitely deserves a read, and since the film's due out next July, you've got plenty of time to build up your anticipation.

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