Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14) Reviews

• Sláinte agus Saol Agat!

  
  By A37E6RW5BUX4U0 on 2008-06-18
  I'm not going to give a book synopsis. What I am going to do is say goodbye to one of my all time favorite series. The last couple of books have been horribly silly and ridiculous; this one was no exception.
  
  The characters I once loved and looked forward all year to hearing from are barely visible. The little quirks that used to make them unique and funny are now taking over their entire persona making them slightly moronic. The dialogue that used to be naturally witty seems forced and contrived. Jokes, gags and antics that once made me laugh have been recycled and reused so much, it's sad.
  
  No one in this series is growing or getting anywhere, they are all just going in circles. I want Stephanie to get better at the bounty hunter thing; I want her to grow up. I don't want her or Ranger or Joe to change, but after so many years you expect SOMETHING of substance to happen.
  
  I barely got through this book. Janet has provided hours of entertainment for me in the past with this series and for that I will always be grateful. But I can't for the life of me see myself shelling out the big bucks for these hardcover books filled with drivel anymore.
  
  I hope that Janet rethinks what she has been doing with this series lately and gives it a much needed overhaul. The last couple of books have seemed rushed and phoned in, a huge departure from the earlier books in the series.
  
  My days of rushing to the bookstore on release dates are over. When book 15 comes out I will wait to read reviews, first. If the reviews make the book look promising, maybe I will read it. But from where I sit now, I don't see me opening another `new' Plum adventure. I will reread the older and much better books in the series if I need a Plum fix.
  
  Cherise Everhard, June 2008
  
  
  

• Can I get my money back?

  
  By A3LWTCXO8GMD9N on 2008-06-17
  After plunking down some hard earned cash on this year's installment of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, I raced home to read.
  
  What the? Is there a book return policy? What a waste.
  
  If you love Plum for the edgy writing, great wit, fantastic plot, and wonderful characters, forget Fearless Fourteen. Plum has always been more than just a breezy, silly, summer read for me.
  
  I am invested in the lives of these characters. What I got this year is slapstick, unresolved sub plots, villains with no names, subject matter bordering on the distasteful, recycled plots and my favorite characters very out of character. I even recognized things said by one character in past books, now being uttered by a different character in this book. Bizzare.
  
  No sense rehashing the pitiful storyline. What storyline? This book reads like a major hit on all those that I have grown to love. Morelli's character takes a nosedive as a belching, inept detective with a dead body in his basement and he`s more concerned about the concrete floor or playing softball with his cronies. Stephanie is no longer the gutsy, edgy woman that she was in past books but rather either now babysitting some teenager or flouncing around Trenton in some idiotic reality Bounty Hunter fiasco. Grandma Mazur, dressed in Goth - a master gamer? Lula reduced to sneaky tricks and turning into Bridezilla? Tank fainting and babbling? Mrs. Plum downing a glass of whiskey? And where the heck was Ranger? Reduced to a mere side character?
  
  Speaking of unresolved, and there is a lot unresolved.....like, whose toes were they, anyway?
  
  This book reads like a bad episode of the Three Stooges. The World of Plum in the Twilight Zone. Unrecognizable. A bad dream.
  
  I should have saved my money. Waited to borrow the library copy. Or better yet, not have read it at all.
  
  Sadly, I think it is time to say goodbye to Janet Evanovich and Plum.
  
  Gee, I wish I could get my money back on this one. Are you sure there isn't a better return policy on a really bad book?
  
  
  

• Did I read the same book?

  
  By AUGI9RAYNFA1J on 2008-06-18
  I read this book last night, and laughed out loud several times.
  
  Unlike some of the reviewers who were disappointed in Morelli, my thoughts are (1)we all knew he was a tomcat; (2)he's mellowing as he matures; and (3)he's made no secret of the fact that he wants a domesticated Stephanie.
  
  Ranger is Ranger. He's hot, but he's not a keeper. Primarily because he doesn't want to be. I can't imagine the shrieks of outrage that would accompany the book if he suddenly proposed to Stephanie.
  
  And Steph? I am so thankful that she is finally learning from her mistakes! The series was getting old when she just kept doing the same stupid stuff over and over and over again. She, too, is maturing. Finally.
  
  I will agree - Grandma Mazur as a super-gamer is a stretch. On the other hand, she lives with gusto and she gives everything she does her all. I would rather see that than yet another viewing at one of the Burg's funeral homes.
  
  Lulu is Lulu. Her "engagement" sounded very in-character. Let's face it: she's not the first woman who tricked a man into marrying her.
  
  All in all, I enjoyed the book.
  
  

• Not her best...

  
  By A39ABKRS1MKFTW on 2008-06-18
  Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich is the latest in her Stephanie Plum series. I thought much of it was amusing and there was at least one good belly-laugh (where I had tears rolling down my cheeks). But overall, I think Fearless Fourteen is a bit of a stretch--even for Stephanie Plum.
  
  Plum is a bounty hunter from Trenton, NJ and as usual, her life is utter chaos. She ends up babysitting the teenaged son of a skip, Zook. Zook is addicted to an interactive Internet game called Minionfire. He also likes to spray paint everything. Ranger (a fellow bounty hunter and owner of a security firm) hires Stephanie to help babysit an aging singer, Brenda, who acts like a diva and is inclined to get into trouble. Plum also finds herself in the middle of a 10-year-old $9 million unsolved bank robbery, and it appears that the money might be somewhere in boyfriend Joe Morelli's house. Brenda decides to start a reality show and follows Plum around as she's trying to do her job. And when things couldn't get any worse, Lula is engaged to boyfriend, Tank, and is driving Plum crazy with wedding plans. All of these situations play out with the usual Evanovich zaniness. Unfortunately, I think there was just way too much going on here--especially toward the end.
  
  Evanovich is skillful at describing life in Trenton. Of a fast-food restaurant, she writes "Cluck-in-a-Bucket is a zoo on Sunday. It's the lunch of choice for the lazy, the fat, the salt-starved, the emotionally injured, the families on budgets, the cholesterol-deprived and the remaining ten percent of the population who just want a piece of chicken." My favorite character (next to Plum) is Lula, "former `ho, turned bonds office file clerk and wheelman. She's a plus-size black woman who likes to squash herself into too small clothes featuring animal print and spandex. Lula's cup runneth over from head to toe." I'm glad that Evanovich has turned Lula into a regular.
  
  Although I don't think this is Evanovich's best Plum book, I still enjoyed reading the exploits of Stephanie. When I need a break from serious female detectives and private investigators including Kinsey Millhone, Sharon McCone, Nevada Barr, Kathy Mallory and Temperance Brennan, reading about Stephanie and Lula is like watching "Lucy and Ethel" on television.
  
  
  

• New characters with the old

  
  By A3BH49ZKESHDID on 2008-06-17
  This book is a hoot. As in "Plum Lucky" (the last between-the-numbers novel), Evanovich introduces some new characters to the series to keep it vibrant. We have Zook, the teenage son of one of Morelli's cousins, who is a likable character whom I would hope to see pop up in future novels in the series. We also have Brenda, a 61-year old version of Briteny with the same bad girl habits. We see a lot more of Morelli's family in this novel, but still a little of the Plum family, including Grandma Mazur. Of course we also have Ranger, whom Stephi can call on for help if she needs a little B&E to gain entry to a building or a file of information on an individual. Every man has his uses. Of course there is Lula, and there is Bob (woof). Yes, there is a monkey that shows up in a couple scenes.
  
  Janet Evanovich may not win a Pulitzer, but she does provide some very good light entertainment. A member of an Internet Forum compared her to Carol Burnett. You can expect things to be blown up (usually at least one vehicle) or set on fire. Some reviewers complain that she reuses the same plot devices, but there are many ways to blow up a vehicle. She also introduces a few new things. In this novel you are introduced to the potato gun. Don't do this at home. More to the point, don't let your children do this at home.
  
  There is a plot in all this. There is the $7 million in loot missing after a robbery 10 years previously where one of Morelli's cousins was involved. There are people from the Burg and a couple dead bodies. And there is Brenda, an aging star looking for a new lease on life. The novel has earthy language and sex by reference.
  
  It has come to my attention that there is a small, vocal group of Ranger fans making an attempt to give this novel a bad rating. They are easily identified. The best you can do is ignore their squaking.
  
  As a side note, an interview with Janet Evanovich appears in "Speaking of Murder - Volume 2." She said her first novel (unpublished) was "this very strange book about a fairy who was living in this scary forest in Eastern Pennsylvania." She obviously has a creative mind when it comes to characters, and only she could come up with the ones used in the novels.
  
  If you are interested in characters created by a different author, I would recommend independent insurance investigator Fifi Cutter and her freeloading half-brother Bosco Dorff in "Murder...Suicide...Whatever," a novel by Gwen Freeman.
  
  For something different, you might also try PI Izzy Spellman in "The Spellman Files," the first novel in a fairly new series by Lisa Lutz.
  
  
• boring and incohesive
  By A29RRKGQGVC6RH on 2008-06-17
  The review below is my own, but cut and pasted from the DISCUSSION board that is on this site for Fearless Fourteen, as Amazon.com would not allow reviews before the release date. It is in response to a number of strident posts by other members of the discussion.
  
  Let me state that I have read the Advanced Reader Copy, not the published book yet. That said, I expect there to be nothing but minor corrections in spelling and grammar, not a wholesale clean up of the plot holes or the lazy, "why am I still writing about these people?" additude that permeates Miss Evanovich's latest entry.
  
  It does make me sad, honestly and truly. Because Miss Evanovich has in the first 12 installments made me laugh so hard it hurt. She had me re-reading lines over and over in awe of the amount of detail she put into such carefully crafted sentences. I am currently re-reading Twelve Sharp, and only pages into it I am awed at the tight dialogue, the witty, sharp descriptive ability. BUT that was THEN. This book does not have that at ALL.
  
  This book is a hodge podge of ideas. Thoughts about plots, hastily written on the back of napkins and somehow transcribed in their entirety into the finished book. She isn't true to even her main character, heroine Stephanie Plum, who in past novels always found herself knee deep in hilarious situations. Now, in Fearless Fourteen she seems mostly to be whining that her life sucks. She spends most of the novel complaining and doing little to change her situation. She is being DONE TO, not DOING anything spectacular.
  
  And the side characters, new and old are poor shadows of who they were or who they could be. All in all a total disappointment.
  
  THIS, BELOW, IS FROM THE DISCUSSION BOARD
  That is not what this discussion is supposed to be about. It's really not for the members of private groups to banter about and try to get a rise out of people in a forum where you aren't being moderated.
  
  This-Amazon---- is about discussing the merits of the BOOK. And as a writer, whether or not Miss Evanovich managed her task well.
  
  And while there may be huge opportunities for us to dissect what was said, the issues for the buying public will be these--- Is it worth the cost of 5 or more gallons of gas to purchase this novel? The short answer is no.
  
  Anyone who doesn't ALREADY read Plum is not going to become a fan of Stephanie, nor are they going to read 14 and become a life-long Morelli fan. They won't root for Ranger, either, as he is mostly absent.
  
  And while you all know I am not a Morelli fan, I am horrified and saddened by Miss Evanovich's utter destruction of his character. What was once light-hearted, `I'm a changed man' talk has now been replaced with CANON descriptions that he slept with so many women, in dark garages where they all look the same that he can't recall sleeping with someone??
  
  They will think Grandma is over the top, they will not understand why it's awful that Lula treats Tank with such disrespect. And they most certainly will not think they need to go read another 13 books by this author based on this new experience.
  
  So when I write here that my recommendation is that this book be passed up, believe me it has nothing to do with the fact Ranger isn't in the book more. Honestly, the way Steph treated Ranger does more to make me feel that Ranger doesn't DESERVE Steph.
  
  
  
  
• Plum for Dummies
  By A2OE5BEOWICYQV on 2008-06-18
  Before I say anything, I must let you know that I am a HUGE Janet Evanovich fan. I read the entire Stephanie Plum series and the Metro Girl books and even the rereleased romances which aren't as deep but are still fun. I bought Fearless Fourteen this morning and wanted to like it but didn't. Although her books are always light and funny and the mystery is filled with antics, every word of this book left me unsatisfied. There were no steamy scenes between Stephanie and Ranger. Ranger was hardly in the book at all, not even when Stephanie was in trouble, which doesn't ring true to his character. Morelli was the same as usual, but there was too much of him and I was bored and started skimming before I even hit the halfway point. There are no twists and turns in this book and the whole plot of Morelli maybe fathering his cousin's child is absurd and ridiculous and nasty. I thought this book was a waste of money and time and I'll think twice before buying any more of these books. I'm sad because I used to like them but this book felt dumbed down and the complex characters I've loved since I found the series in 1999 were gone. I won't be continuing this series unless Janet stops slacking off and returns the series to its original quick pace, sharp dialogue, smart humor instead of third grade jokes about feces and a mystery that my 2 yr old daughter can figure out on page nine.
  
  
  
• Rerun
  By A8J3VF7ZF7TU9 on 2008-06-17
  I've come to depend on Evanovich for summer laughs. I didn't get them. It wasn't that I hated this one, it was that I was bored by it. I kept putting it down to do other things...like bathe my dogs. Not much mystery, very little adventure, and scenes taken from previous books. I wish I could have those couple of hours back.
  
  
• Such a shame
  By A1UGIT5Z2681JG on 2008-06-17
  The Stephanie Plum series is one of my absolute favorites. Each year, I wait impatiently for the next installment. Janet Evanovich has created a cast of characters which resonate with each of her readers - some hilarious, some serious, all endearing. Except the creepy bad guys, of course!
  
  But probably my favorite part of this series is the sparks that fly in every direction as Stephanie tries to survive her job and the two men in her life.
  
  In Fearless Fourteen, those sparks have been largely snuffed out. What is left is an amusing tale of Stephanie attempting to unravel a case involving a skip who has disappeared, a 14 year old computer gamer, a ex-con with a grudge against Morelli, a has-been pop star with a need to be back on TV, and a monkey.
  
  There are some vaguely amusing moments, some creepy moments, and some sweet moments between Stephanie and Morelli. If you read the Plum series for the her relationship with Morelli, then you might enjoy Fearless Fourteen.
  
  However, if you love the other characters - Steph, Lula, Ranger, Tank, etc, - or for the scary adventure, then Fearless Fourteen is probably not for you. Gone is the sassy, spunky, straight-talking Stephanie, replaced instead by Morelli's gaga-eyed girlfriend who sings his praises and calmly obeys each of his orders. Gone is strong, survivor Lula, replaced by a simpering bridezilla. And Ranger is just....gone.
  
  To say I was disappointed with Fearless Fourteen would be an understatement. All the things that have made previous books stand out - the sexual tension, the strong characters - have been negated. I had been holding out hope that however Ms. Evanovich decided to resolve the love triangle, she would be able to do so while keeping all three characters strong and vibrant. Instead, Ranger has been relegated to a caricature present in less than 15 pages, and Morelli has even more of a disturbing past revealed. Before this book, I would have been happy with an end to the series that chose either man - I loved them both for different reasons. However, with the changes to Morelli's character and Ranger's character disappearing entirely, I find myself ambivalent about any ending at all. This is a series that I am sad to say I won't be keeping up with anymore.
  
  
• Five stars because it made me laugh out loud!!!
  By A32F8FBGFJ2X7M on 2008-06-18
  I am one of those Janet Evanovich fans who runs to the bookstore (or computer) to make sure I have her latest novel in my lap almost as soon as it is off the press. The Stephanie Plum series is without question her finest effort. It features the greatest lineup of kooky, lovable characters and wildly funny scenarios I have ever read. I don't know of any other books that make me laugh so hard.
  
  I agree with many of the reviewers who feel that "Fearless Fourteen" is not the best or brightest star in this series. It lacks the depth of plot and fast paced telling that many of the earlier novels had. But it ranks among Ms. Evanovich's best writing as far as I am concerned. She has an amazing gift for being able to paint a wonderful portrait of her characters wtih very few words. Just one small example, when encountering Lula for the first time in this novel, she is described as "a former 'ho turned bonds office file clerk and wheelman. She's a plus-size black woman who likes to squash herself into too small clothes featuring animal print and spandex. Lula's cup runneth over from head to toe." Now if that doesn't place a clear image of this bizarre character in your mind I don't know what will! This book, like all of the author's novels in the series, is replete with such fairly brief but wonderfully descriptive characterizations.
  
  This book is another wonderful romp through Stephanie's world of bail bondsmanship in Newark, New Jersey. While it may be short on mystery and suspense it is hysterically funny in its vivid portrayals of the bumbling yet somehow successful efforts of its protagonist. Some of the characters, like the unforgettable Grandma Mazur, may be that much more funny if you know them a bit (from prior novels of course!), but many of the new characters, like Zook and Moondog, and their video gaming nuttiness, had me rolling. I noted that some of the reviewers of this book were unhappy with some of the changes in some characters (e.g., Stephanie would never tolerate that!), but for my part I wholeheartedly enjoy these people, and if they have grown up a bit, well I guess we have to accept that in fiction as in real life! It didn't bother me at all that some of them have softened around the edges.
  
  Whatever you do don't skip this book because of some negative reviews. It is a hoot and a half in a fine tradition of darn funny comedy!
  
  
• Where is Stephanie Plum?
  By A8JEQN5ZGCYW8 on 2008-06-17
  I have been a fan of Ms. Evanovich since I discovered her shortly after the release of Eleven on Top (okay, I was a little slow). Needless to say I have been waiting for the release of Fourteen all year. Sadly, this book is not what I was hoping for. The characters are unrecognizable. Mooner is sober and acts like he hasn't seen her in years, Joe can't remember if he slept with his cousin and Lula has resorted to trickery. Not to mention Ranger has four lines. She has also used exact line that were in other books. There is a direct quote from 11 that she has used again.
  
  And Stephanie, she has been reduced to someone who cries and literally stutters when she finds a dead body. What's with that? She is very domestic in this book. Where is the smart, sassy, independent Steph that we fell in love with in the beginning of the series?
  
  It also appears that Ms. Evanovich has resolved the love triangle, which is perfectly fine with me, except she did it in such an abrupt manner without giving Ranger any props. He has simply been pushed into the friend category.
  
  I have not much hope for 15 if it is going to be like this book. I, personally, don't want to read about meek, housewife Steph. I want the sass back!
  
  
  
• Cupcakes Beware - and Babes, too
  By A3V3J6FOD6IBL9 on 2008-06-17
  This is billed as a Morelli book, but it's not the classic Janet that we've come to know and love. There are scenes stolen from previous books, but it seems like they're mostly Ranger's scenes that were redone to have Joe in them. We also find out more about Joe's past and it's not what I wanted to hear at all. I don't much think gross irresponsibility is funny. I wanted to see Joe in his own adventure, with an exciting plot and some dastardly villain. You won't find that in this book - it's not the usual exciting, can't-put-it-down book that is what we expect from Janet. She usually has some funny subplots that eventually tie in to the main story and make you LOL. Not here. The subplots kind of appear during the book, and peter out without fanfare or explanation. People turning blue, reality show journalism, frozen pizza premonitions - these all are around and just don't add anything to the book. I didn't even like the relationship between Joe and Steph - he ordered, she obeyed. Where was her spunk? There just wasn't much adventure inside these pages. This author is enormously talented, but this book doesn't show it - hopefully #15 will find her back on her game.
  
  
• Forgettable Fourteen
  By A3OMFC80LNAMUS on 2008-06-17
  As a longstanding Plum fan for many years who buys the new book the instant it is released, I was incredibly disappointed by #14. I didn't feel the same exuberance, the same love of characters that the author normally shows. I felt the plot (a group of men steal money and hide it away) was very similar to an earlier book and there were many scenes that were directly copied from previous books.
  
  The characters seemed off, too - they were unrecognizable in their actions and Stephanie showed no gumption, none of her trademark liveliness and ingenuity. Ranger was noticeably absent - possibly the author was taking turns and having Morelli in a more starring role, but she didn't give him an exciting plot to work with, nor did she make him very interesting of a character. There is more to life than watching hockey and eating pizza on the couch. At least, in a book there should be. And we learned much more than necessary about his wild past.
  
  I found myself waiting for the expected laugh-out-loud moments, of which there were too many to count in previous books, but there were none in this book. Not one belly laugh. I have read in an author interview that the author had trouble writing this book, and to me, it shows. Janet Evanovich is an enormously talented author who has many blockbuster books behind her, but this isn't one of them, I'm incredibly sorry to say.
  
  
• Tedious, Joyless Mess
  By A3049JFV5RWKUV on 2008-06-21
  I don't expect the Great American Novel when I read a Stephanie Plum book. I expect an entertaining read, interesting characters, and a heroine who never gives up no matter what life throws at her. Sad to say, this book fails on all three fronts.
  
  Things happen in this book. And happen and happen and happen, and none if it is as funny as I'm sure I was supposed to think it was. There were a few amusing bits crammed in there, but without proper pacing, what little good stuff there is gets lost in the shuffle. Previously, I would read a Plum and come out of it feeling surprised - "It's done already???" Reading Fearless Fourteen, I found myself looking up at regular intervals wondering, "Is it over yet?"
  
  The characters are equally joyless. Lula's now bullying Bridezilla so desperate to get married that she gets Tank drunk and proposes to herself while he's passed out. Ranger is mostly MIA, and Morelli cares more about his softball games and his basement floor than he does about the dead guy in his basement and the fact that his cousin and her son (who might be his son) are in danger.
  
  Saddest of all is Stephanie. The heroine who wouldn't give up has given up and given in. She's not determined to solve the mystery; she's bored and inconvenienced and just wants it all to go away. If the main character doesn't even care about the story, why should we?
  
  If you've purchased previous Plum books, you're not missing anything by skipping this one. To get the same basic plot, only written well, re-read Eleven on Top and buy something else.
  
  
• First one of the Plums that I haven't picked a personal copy
  By A3AVJCB1ZD6ZY5 on 2008-06-24
  Stephanie, Lula and all her crew are back to their old hijinks. This time, Stephanie's babysitter to Loretta Rizzo's son, Zook, who looks an awful lot like Joe Morelli. Ranger's got a job for her babysitting a sixty-one-year-old singer with only one name who's bound for trouble. And Lula's ready to take the next step with her lovelife with Tank.
  
  It all sounds good, but I had the sad feeling of deja vu even as I was half-heartedly chuckling through some of the book's antics.
  
  Up til "Fearless Fourteen" I've been buying every single Plum novel when it first comes out. Initially, that started on the day of the book release, but as time moved along, I've gotten more lax as far as the time to purchase the books went. I'm not afraid to say I borrowed "Fearless Fourteen" to read it. I doubt I'll be buying any more of the Plum books.
  
  I still laughed in several places, but it was more the rueful head-shaking laughter than the out and out gut-busting wake the neighbors kind of laughter I used ot experience.
  
  After fourteen novels, I expected some kind of character growth from the crew and I've never really gotten any. I won't be buying whatever 15 is, nor will I borrow the book. It's time to leave the series on a mid-note.
  
  Rebecca Kyle, June 2008
  
  
  
  
• Caricature
  By AC9VR60WXA85N on 2008-06-18
  Fearless Fourteen is a caricature of the other Plum books. Evanovich has gotten so carried away with gimmicks and gizmos that her beloved main characters are almost an aside. Side characters and slapstick abound as she races from scene to scene, trying to fit in every plot contrivance she has used previously: Lulu's outrageous outfits, Grandma Mazur's antics, sexy innuendo with Ranger but no real action, dinner at her parents, quirky take-downs of bail jumpers. It's all there, but that's all. Stephanie doesn't add depth or range to her character, she and Joe don't take a step forward or backward in their relationship, and none of the new characters emerge as real people. This novel is almost comic book in its speed and simplicity. The real insult, however, is the big print of the books, the blank pages, and the WIDE, WIDE margins. This is inflation at its worst.
  
  
• What is everyone's problem with this book?
  By A1FAZYA0S0SNGL on 2008-06-19
  I simply do not understand all the negative reviews here. This is a Stephanie Plum book, folks, not a Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Anyone familiar with the Plum series knows what they are getting into when they pick up one of these books. They are not meant to be taken as seriously as people are taking them here. What's with the deep analyses? This is light, fun reading at its best. The characters are goofy, but they are meant to be. This is escape reading, and people need to lighten up and enjoy it.
  
  
• Just disappointing
  By A2YSAMHI0L03CK on 2008-06-17
  This was just so disappointing on so many levels, I don't know where to start. Weak pretty much sums it up. Weak plot, weak mystery, weak bad guy, the list goes on and on. Who has less toes than when the book started? Why was Stephanie blue for almost the whole book? So many people want to make this about Joe or Ranger. It's not. It's about a well known author writing a sloppy and uninteresting book. I LOVE the Plum books. I love the characters, I didn't see them in this book. It just felt uninspired. If she can't come up with plot or mystery, take a year off. I would respect that alot more than writing crap and expecting me to buy just because she is who she is. From a top notch author, who can write a wonderful book, this was a disappointment all the way around.
  
  
• Too little
  By A3K61IEPKMLNNP on 2008-06-17
  This was probably my second least favorite book of the series. Without giving away too many details, I'm disappointed with the story line. It was very ho-hum. No excitement, no suspense, very little humor. I didn't really care who committed the crime or where the money was hidden. And it seems that the Plum books are developing a trademark of unresolved subplots. Too many ends were left loose in this story. I felt the same about Lean Mean Thirteen. At this point, I think I'll spend my book money elsewhere and wait for the next Plum book at the library.
  
  
• What a Let Down
  By AS1D77NND22CY on 2008-06-21
  I was off work for the month of January and during a two week period I read every Stephanie Plum book. I was beside myself waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out. I even pre-ordered it from Amazon. Janet's previous books made me laugh out loud and I could not put them down, sometimes reading two in one day.
  I have yet to finish Fearless Fourteen, it is that boring. I have about two more chapters to go and I can put it down and not pick it up. That is just sad. I was used to her books keeping me reading on the edge of my chair, just waiting for the next great adventure, the sexual tension between
  Ranger and Stephanie. There was none of that is this book, it was boring beyond belief. This will be my last Stephanie Plum novel, like someone else said I will wait to read the reviews on Fifteen before I spend any money buying it.
  What a shame, what a complete disappointment, what a waste of my time and money. Janet should be ashamed to put her name on this one.
  
  
• JANET: PLEASE read this--you need some help here, 14 is AWFUL
  By A1J2MOLMVGFK8H on 2008-06-22
  Fourteen. Thirteen, but worse by more than one. And I was so hoping that wasn't possible. Although my review says TWO STARS, that was a mistake (just like buying this book). It should be one star, and that only given so I could post a review.
  
  I don't know what's happening to Janet. Perhaps she just can't see her way out of the box she's built for her characters. Or maybe she is tied up in the batcave and didn't even write this book. I don't know. There must be some way to explain this 320 page crash test that even the dummies shouldn't have survived.
  
  Now I know that there are some people (not the majority, but some) out there who liked this book. I read one review that explained that lots of women trick men into marriage, so it was possible to believe Lula did that. Maybe lots of women do that, but it's so untrue to Lula's character to have Lula do that. Lula has pride. She's come thru too much. She was a ho who made it off the streets and into a life. Lula is too good for what Janet did to her; Janet pimped out one of her best, most endearing and hopeful characters for $15.37 (mho).
  
  And Stephanie. She started out inspiring us to pack some heat and get frisky with the Joe or Ranger of our choice. Now, well, she's becoming pathetic, not positive and fun.
  
  Joe. Let's not even get into that. Janet, hang your head low on what you did to Joe.
  
  And Grandma Mazur, a gamer? HELLO. You had so many ways to go with her, but nope. It seems you've written yourself into a corner, and can't find the way out.
  
  Well, I'm not a writer, but I can come up with several possible ways out of this box you're in, so here's a scenario for free. And if you don't like it, then do better. PLEASE DO BETTER. But before you criticize, remember, you didn't do better in 13 or 14, and I came up with this in the shower while washing my hair:
  
  Joe--we need a new twist here. This was a hot, intelligent, brave, sexy man before you threw him under the police car in the garage with his cousin. How about he joins the Feds? Travel, opportunity for sex even if he doesn't take it, and not to be taken for granted.
  
  So Joe goes Fed, and then Vinnie dies. Maybe something duck-related. We like Vinnie, but none of us are going to mourn at his grave. And turns out Vinnie has been skimming off the top, not paying the insurance company that owns his business, and is going to close the office.
  
  That puts Steph, Lula, and Connie in high gear to kick some hiney and bring in the bad guy. Now I mean a really bad guy. Someone who was in Trenton on business of the sordid kind, and made bail, and left for San Francisco (Asian gang?), or LA (go Hollywood, predictable, but fun, always fun when done well. Think "GET SHORTY"). So Steph, and Lula, and Connie get on a plane, to get their man.
  
  And to add a twist, maybe Lula has finally lost some weight, and is looking hot on the strip. And she hooks up with some guy who's bad, bad, bad, and before you know it, the three of them are in deeper than ever. No one to save them but Grandma and their own ingenuity, but let Grandma have her day.
  
  So you've got the four of them really working together, Joe maybe working the case from another angle, Ranger out of range, and here, you made Grandma a supergamer, but I think it's more likely that she'd win the lottery. So let her.
  
  Grandma wins the lottery while in CA, saves Steph, Lula and Connie, and Grandma decides to stay in Hollywood, open a branch there, pay off the insurance company and Grandma becomes the new Vinnie in charge AND an Uber Cougar with the young (60s) Hollywood boys. Then you've got lots of room to move.
  
  You've got bi-coastal stories. Yeah, I know, you'd have to do some homework, instead of churning out the same old, same old, but who knows, it might be worth it. And you've got Joe a Fed, working the US, and Ranger can go anywhere, so they stay in the game, but all of the sudden EVERYONE has new choices. And Steph, Lula, and Connie are the Charlie's Angels from Hell. They keep the office in Trenton, they have a new setting as well. Lula can dress like an LA Ho and Grandma runs the tables on everything.
  
  Okay, it's a stupid idea. BUT it is still better than what you wrote in 13 & 14 and you need out of the box you're in, so take the free help and find a better way. I'll wait to read the reviews on 15 before I buy, see if you managed something readable.
  
  
• Dry Rot Sets In
  By A4TF33KP5GQ86 on 2008-06-17
  Janet Evanovich has never pretended she is Jane Austen, and it's got to be tough to write a long running series without a few bumps in the road. Maybe her daughter's recent wedding took too much out of her creative spirit and didn't leave much for Stephanie and friends. Whatever the reason, this year's offering seems listless, the plot uninteresting and the characters flat cardboard cut-outs of their usual sharp, funny selves. Maybe it's time for Evanovich to bring this story to an end. As a fan who owns both the paper and audio versions of the first thirteen, I feel like a member of the Plum family, and I'm disappointed - and glad this book was loaned to me and I can spend my money elsewhere this summer. Long time fans should skip this one and wait for next year.
  
  
• Grieves me to have to rate it so low
  By A1PPS91NLI7KEH on 2008-06-22
  Janet Evanovich was a wonderful author whose Stephanie Plum books could make me sit and read with a big smile on my face thru the whole book and then laugh and smile everytime I thought about the characters long after I finished the book. I think with this one I made it to page 50 something and gave it up as a hopeless waste of time. I didn't even care enough to finish reading it even though I had paid the cost of the hardback. I guess I will donate it to the library so other people can not have to waste money on it. It's not worth recommending at all. I wish I had not given in and bought it. Save your money, wait until it comes out in paperback and then you will be sure to find it in all of the Used Book stores. Maybe it's worth a dollar - but right now - I don't even think that.
  
  
• Not Janet's Best
  By A2QRLMPZ7B2IJH on 2008-06-17
  I've waited a whole year to read this book and am so disappointed! There are subplots left dangling, gags that feel forced, and characters that I don't even recognize. Stephanie is the worst, and I miss her. Lula seems way over the top and I'm embarrassed for the way she's portrayed. All in all, I'm of the opinion that Ms. Evanovich seems to have grown weary of her characters and is recycling old plots, hoping that her fans won't notice. Unfortunately, I noticed. If you enjoyed Twelve Sharp, you probably won't care for this one.
  
  
• Fearless Fourteen Fails to Sizzle
  By A3R9X003XW0LNR on 2008-06-18
  Much like other reviewers, I got the book and rushed to read it and was disappointed in the storyline. Why? I'm not really sure to be honest. The writing seemed flat in this book. It didn't have the zest that many of the earlier books had. The characters also seemed to be just going through the motions. Although the main characters were present, Morelli, Ranger, Lulu, Grandma, Stephanie etc., they didn't pop or come alive from the written words on the pages.
  
  The plot, if one can call the mess of sequences a plot, just didn't gel. Among the murders and kidnappings, there were some funny, funny laugh aloud moments, but for the most part. The book came off without the usual Evanovich fast-paced sizzle and humor. At one point I was rereading a few chapters trying to decide if Evanovich had a ghost writer or someone else had written portions of the book--it was that bad.
  
  We probably all realize it is hard to keep a series momentum going, especially when the writer is on book 14, but when you look forward to a book with eager anticipation only to be greeted by something this disorganized and bland--well it is a disappointment. I'll hope for better things with #15.
  
  
• Boring!
  By A1TI6JHXTLD1GX on 2008-06-17
  I found this addition to the series to be very boring. I could barely bring myself to finish it. Hopefully the next one will be better. Of course I said that to myself after book 13 also. I miss the sexual tension between Steph and her two guys. I miss the fights she used to have with Morelli and declaring war on him. But the thing that really turned me off of the whole story was the Lula/Tank story line. I just don't get what is funny about tricking a man into marrying you. I found it disgusting. Sure Tank could have called the whole thing off but it really made Lula look like sad and pathetic loser instead of a strong woman who has survived terrible things. If she wanted to get married she should have tried taliking to Tank about it instead of trying to take his decision away from him. I found it odd that Stephanie would go along with the scheme as well. How would she have felt if Joe tricked her into marriage. I don't know it just really turned me off of the whole book.
  
  
• Big disapointment
  By A1M6M8LTRH4L4G on 2008-06-17
  I really wanted this book to be great. I am a big series fan. Fearless Fourteen was a cobbled together mishmash of plots, gags and conversations from prior books. Whole scenes and conversations were lifted from earlier books, but the characters in the scenes were changed. If you are a Ranger fan, don't bother at all with this book. All his parts are in the chapters on the Evanovich site. Joe fans will be horrified. While he is all over the book, his portrayal isn't flattering. The excuse "hey it was dark in my parents' garage, I couldn't see for sure who I was messing with in there" And the hairy butt euwwwww.
  
  My suggestion: Get it from the library. Wow. I hate our tax money is wasted on this book by the library.....
  
  
• My least favorite Plum
  By AMRNGPXPKE63O on 2008-06-19
  I have been a fan of Stephanie Plum and all things Evanovich for years. That's why, when I didn't like last year's 13, I shrugged and moved on, hoping Fearless Fourteen would be better. It isn't. Frankly, it's a waste of money, get it from the library.
  I didn't laugh once. There are several subplots that not only lead nowhere, but are completly superfluous and left me thinking 'Why?'. There is a Cher-aged singer, Brenda, who has no purpose but to replace Joyce Barnhard. There is a stalker who serves no purpose at all. It isn't funny, it isn't mysterious and above all, it's not well written. And there are several characters whom I should know because they have the same names as characters I love, but i don't recognize them. Lula becomes bridezilla, my guess is in an effort to be funny. It made me cringe. Grandma Mazur plays online games, my guess is in an effort to be funny, same outcome. Not funny, not entertaining. Not recommended.
  
  
• Last Plum I'll ever read
  By A32521UDOXG3QA on 2008-06-19
  My wife hooked me on this series several years ago, with To The Nines. I have been a fan ever since. The triangle really doesn't interest me that much,(although I really don't get the part of Morelli being a "catch")but I'm a sucker for the comedy that Evanovich writes and I once thought Stephanie was a pretty spunky lady. I was terribly disappointed with this book. Not only was it not funny, it was down right boring. I couldn't follow the plot, and I gave up reading around the 5th chapter. The worst part of the whole book was the portrayal of the characters. Stephanie is boring, Joe is boring, hell even Grandma is boring. If this what the rest of the series holds, then this was it for me.
  
  
• Somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 stars .. uh, so 3 stars.
  By A3D1RYGOR76013 on 2008-06-20
  It was OK.
  
  That about sums it up. The fans looking for a resolution for the Steph-Morelli-Ranger triangle will be disappointed ... there was very little love-line interaction (a few conversations, a few smacks of the lips, but very little detail regarding the mindset of Ms. Plum.)
  
  The BIG mystery: the who-done-robbed the bank and hid the money 10 years ago, and now wants it mystery??? It was OK. Nothing exciting.
  
  The skips: uh ... what skips? There were very few of the usually laugh-inducing skip take-downs.
  
  The laughs: I chuckled a few times, but there was no laugh-until-I-cry episodes.
  
  The monkey: .. all I have to say is WHY? There was no reason to have a monkey as a gimmick for a plot point. There were a few comments about finding monkey poop, etc, but the monkey could have been left out of the story completely, and the book would have been better for it. It screamed gimmick to me.
  
  The side characters:
  Lula - gotta love that woman. She's a big hoot.
  Grandma - I didn't buy the big gamer g-ma, either. Although Grandma is 'hip', buying her as a hardcore gamer is an enormous stretch.
  Mooner - I loved seeing Mooner back :)
  
  So overall, if you are a fan, you may be glad you read it. It's Stephanie Plum, who is still entertaining .. but don't expect to find your new favorite of the series. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it .. but I'm still glad that I read it. 3 stars.
  
  

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