5 stars for High Five (Stephanie Plum book 5) by Janet Evanovich.
The first thing I notice upon flipping open to read High Five is that the usual short outline before readers plunge head-on into the main body, is no longer there. Since I am one who do not revel in reading introduction which in my opinion, often present itself as spoiler, I am glad for its departure; hopefully it does not return in later instalments.
In this fifth book of the Plum series, our female lead, Stephanie hits a road block, more accurately, an obstruction to the continuous inflow of income in her role as a bounty hunter. Yes, being a bond enforcement officer in Trenton is no guarantee of income stability as Stephanie’s stipend very much depends on people who post bond with her agency, Vincent Plum bail Bonds, and then jump the bond. Where there is no bail jumper, there is none for Stephanie to apprehend and zilch income to be earned.
With no apprehending case on hand, Stephanie has no choice but to pursue a second profession to supplement her income. And that is where things start to get interesting. I totally enjoy and take delight in this unexpected twist to the Plum series. Ever since book 1, I have simply assumed that the whole series will be about Stephanie and her job solely as a fugitive apprehension agent. Never once in my mind did I imagine her to be doing anything else besides going after lawbreakers to collect her 10% cut on the bond posted. This side-track is a surprisingly welcoming and refreshing idea because essentially Stephanie is still a bounty hunter but moonlighting for rent and food money.
Then, there is this separate situation of a family problem, in this case, Uncle Fred, a relation to Stephanie in his seventies, who seems to have mysteriously disappeared into thin air. Perceived by her family as competent due to her profession in hunting for the Failure to Appear (FTA), Stephanie is roped in to help. As with previous jobs, this missing case hits my funny bone and I adore the manner the author creates something out of nothing and keeps everything hilariously under control.
Overall, I really love the way the author keeps throwing in surprises for the storyline and then branches out into peculiarly interesting subplots which keep me glued to the story. I also like the direction in which Stephanie’s relationships with the men in her life are heading, which says everything yet nothing. Most of all, the ending is a brilliant cliffhanger for the next book; I cannot wait to get my hands on book 6.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: 1 Apr 2010
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
Two hours later, Tank was comfortably slouched in his chair, arms crossed, eyes slitted but vigilant, watching the door. His metabolism had dropped to reptilian.
No rise and fall of his chest. No shifting of position—250 pounds of security in suspended animation.
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
And then what would I tell Joe? We sort of had an agreement. Except neither of us knew exactly what the agreement meant. In fact, now that I thought about it, maybe we didn't have an agreement at all. Actually, it was more like we were in agreement
negotiations.
~ High Five
Janet Evanovich
@}--->>--->>-----
Stephanie Plum’s Uncle Fred has disappeared without a trace. He’s left his ten-year-old Pontiac station wagon locked up nice and neat in the Grand Union parking lot, and his wife is at home, waiting for him to return with the bread, milk and olive loaf. Locked in the top drawer of Uncle Fred’s desk are photos of a body, dismembered and stuffed into a garbage bag. And locked away in the computer files of another average citizen are the clues that will lead Stephanie to Fred.
Finding Uncle Fred won’t put a paycheck in Stephanie’s pocket, though, and bond jumpers are at an all-time low. To make the rent, Stephanie will have to do something that won’t make vice cop, Joe Morelli, a happy man. She agrees to take a job with her entrepreneurial mentor Ranger, who runs a mostly morally correct and marginally legal operation.
*Blurb from author's website*
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