One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

[**] ISBN: 9780312362089

I hope these get better. I got this title from the library because I read an interview with the author in Writer's Digest and liked her approach to writing. It also sounded like I might like her books. I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I stuck with it and read the whole thing through in only six evenings. I was fascinated by this brassy, klutzy character and her predicament. The characters and setting were vivid, the pace was (mostly) unrelenting and the thrills and mysteries kept piling up.

On the other hand, the coincidences kept piling up as well. I didn't like that. Just how likable is this dame that her new acquaintance Ranger would bail her out so many times? Isn't it amazing that her brother in law is a cop that can train her to use a gun? How did she ever survive so long in New Jersey by being so stupid and reckless? Why should anyone like a book where the mystery is solved by someone so stupid just happening to be in the right place at the right time? Hello? Stephanie Plum should have been staking out the butcher shop long before 40 pages from the end of the book.

No doubt Ms. Evanovich has figured this all out and her plots have improved. Otherwise, she wouldn't have the fan base she has. Even some of her loyal readers have made negative comments about how much more raw this first book feels. I will have to try another one on for size. And I'll keep busy figuring out how I would do it better.