Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

I have been an Evanovich fan since discovering this series.  I found myself not able to read her books during advisory time at school.  It was too hard to explain why I was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face. 

The situations are crazy.  Stephanie Plum is a disaster of a modern day bounty hunger in New Jersey.  Her ugly apartment can't be destroyed, but she goes through cars (on the average 2-3 per book) regularly.  She only nabs the bad guys by dumb luck. 

The characters are unforgettable.  She has the gun toting Grandma in spandex, whose highlight of her days are funeral visitations.  (She's been known to open coffins at closed casket visitations.)  Another is Lulu, the former ho, who squeezes her large self into spandex mini skirts and plunging necklines.  Oh, and there are a couple of hot guys--always, the hot guys.

So, I am either tiring of the series, or it is time for Evanovich to step up her game.  I found Explosive Eighteen to be...ho hum.  Maybe it is time for some new characters without losing the old ones.  It seems like the same situations keep reappearing in each book.  The last time I found myself laughing hysterically was with Book Fifteen and the BBQ cook off.  That was a completely different crime situation and led to a lot of great laughs.  I think there is a lesson to be learned there, Ms. Evanovich.

If you've read the others, you can skip Explosive Eighteen. 

As for the movie that hit the big screen this year: ugh!  I love Katherine Heigel, but her Jersey accent was dreadful.  I almost couldn't enjoy the movie.