October 25, 2008

One for the Money

Rating:
Awards:
Author: Janet Evanovich
Narrator: Lorelei King
Category: Fiction
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Release Date: 2007
Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
Abridged

An Overview:
In One for the Money you get to meet Stephanie Plum, former lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter through a series unfortunate, yet funny events.

This is the first book in the number series of books from Janet Evanovich. The main character, Stephanie Plum, is a new bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey. This is not a job she took on by choice. It came after she lost her job as a lingerie buyer.

No other job opened up for her so she turned to her cousin, Vinnie, who runs a bail-bond business. Reluctantly he takes on the woman who doesn't have a gun and has no idea how to bring a suspect in. The only reason he agreed is because she had a little blackmail to hold over his head.

To make matters worse, the man she is trying to bring in a man she knows well, Joe Morelli. Morelli is a cop accused of murder. Additionally, he is the man who took her virginity as a teenager and still can cause an emotional and sexual reaction from her.

The twists, turns and tough encounters she faces along the way are enough to keep you listening to find out just what happens.While it all sounds tense, there is also a lot of comic relief in the form of Stephanie's family and home life.

She lives in a severely under-furnished apartment with her hamster, but is often called over and guilted into, dinner at her parent's house. Her mother is a worry wart who thinks that all of the problems in the world can be solved by feeding people, so she is always trying to push food down Stephanie's throat.

The real comic relief comes from her Grandma Mazur. While she may be in the twilight years of her life, it seems no one let her know and she is always trying to live vicariously through Stephanie's adventures, not to mention wanting to help out to solve the case.

The Narration:
Lori Petty is the narrator for this book. She has the accent to suit this book's regional background, but it can be a little grating after a while if you are not used to New England accents.

Audiobook reviewed by Georgia Sparling