FEARLESS FOURTEEN

FEARLESS FOURTEEN
By Janet Evanovich
St. Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
ISBN: 9780312349516
Hardback, 310 pages, $27.95

Number fourteen in the Stephanie Plum series finds Stephanie still embroiled in her triangular relationship with cop Joe Morelli and security expert/mystery-man Ranger. Morelli’s cousin, Dom Rizzi, has just been released from prison for robbing a bank with three other men, and escaping with nine million dollars. The money has never been found and rumor has it Rizzi hid the money and has returned to Trenton to claim it. Word gets out that Rizzi buried the money on Morelli’s property and people start digging up the yard and breaking in. Stephanie becomes involved when Rizzi’s sister, Loretta, misses her court date and Stephanie needs to take her in to be rebonded. But Loretta mysteriously disappears and Stephanie’s stuck with her son, Mario, who goes by the name Zook and is a serious gamer. One of Rizzi’s partners is holding Loretta hostage for the nine million dollars and it falls to Stephanie to try to find the money and rescue Loretta.

Two things this reader can always count on from Evanovich: humorous scenes and wacky characters. Fearless Fourteen does not disappoint in this regard. All those wonderful zany characters are back, including Lula, who manages to convince Tank he asked her to marry him and is now heavily involved in planning a June wedding. Stephanie continues to be unable to make up her mind between Morelli and Ranger, and Grandma Mazur is now one serious gamer when she isn’t going to viewings at the funeral home. The plot is fun and the humor comes at the reader fast and heavy, which makes the read all that more enjoyable.