One for the Money

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Remember the good old days when you would curl up with a Nancy Drew novel and catch some bad guys? Well, here is Nancy for adults. Light and fluffy writing that masks the serious events taking place, and a heroine that can't quite manage to take care of herself.

First off please remember this book was written ages ago,1994 to be exact. And yet I don't feel like that justifies how many little things in the book bothered me. Spandex shorts were mentioned multiple times, glow-in-the dark cherry red lipstick, a macho sexist love interest, a twitterpated heroine, the list goes on and on. I did however find sections humorous, and I think that if you are looking for a series that you can pick up and read on vacation this may be for you.

Plot line - lets see. Stephanie is out of work and in desperate need of cash. In an effort to avoid her families assistance she makes a desperate move to become a bounty hunter. Real world? Stephanie dies tragically three days later. Book world? Through a series of mis-steps a crime is unraveled and solved.

Stephanie, as I have mentioned, is not a Clarisse, or a Ziva David, or even a Kinsey Millhone. She is just an out of work lady with an opportunity for a big payday if she can find an ex-boyfriend. The author is at least honest about her qualifications as it would be annoying for her to be a karate expert one week in, she reacts just as any completely unqualified person would react. Hopefully in the rest of the series she loses the dumb damsel in distress bit, that would make future books more appealing.

Honestly, I found the whole cavalier attitude about an 8 year old molesting a 6 year old, and her whole attraction to the "bad boy" off putting. Maybe it's a sign of the times but I feel like readers come away with the idea that it's all ok since they are friends now. NOT OK.

Long story short, would I read other books in the series? Probably. Am I in a hurry to find them any time soon? No.

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