Janet Evanovich: Top Secret Twenty-One

Title:  Top Secret Twenty-One

Author:  Janet Evanovich

Publisher:  Random House Publishing Group

Pages:  352

Genre:  Fiction, mystery and crime

Setting:  Trenton, New Jersey

Where did you get it? I pre-ordered a signed copy from Barnes and Noble.

Why did you read it? I really enjoy this series. It's lighthearted, easy, fast-paced, and hilarious.

From the publisher:  Stephanie Plum is back in an all-new adventure from #1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich. This time Stephanie’s in deep. To get to the bottom of the mess, she’s going to have to keep things Top Secret. (This is a really sad blurb. It tells you nothing about the story.)

What did you think? In this installation of the Stephanie Plum series, Carlos Manoso, a.k.a. Ranger, has become the target of the bad guys. Seeing as how he is supposed to be the competent businessman (who used to be a bounty hunter and trained Stephanie, in case you didn't know) the fact that he's having a tough time handling this and needs Stephanie's help is quite the turn of events.

This book was funny, but not quite as funny as some previous books. I also thought the Stephanie/Grandma/Mom interaction was a bit limited and I find those to be pretty hilarious. I don't know if I'm just getting tired of this series, but I'm finding Lula's antics to be more annoying than funny and that's where Evanovich gets most of her comic relief. As for Stephanie's bounty hunting, it's always good for a laugh and she was even somewhat helpful to Ranger.

Overall, it was an enjoyable book and I'm not sorry that I got the signed pre-order. Still, it's definitely not up there with my favorite Stephanie Plum novels. This would make a perfect hammock on the beach kind of read, a definite 3.5 out of 5 stars.