Explosive Eighteen: A fiery and hilarious crime adventure (Stephanie Plum, #18)

by Janet Evanovich

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is used to danger and adventure; they follow her at every turn. But when international murder hits dangerously close to home, this could be more explosive than exciting...Once Stephanie steps on the plane from Hawaii to Newark, she hopes to put her hellish holiday behind her. But when her seatmate mysteriously disappears during the stopover in LA - to be found later in a garbage can - things are only going to get worse. Only one other person has seen the missing photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying - and it just so happens to be Stephanie Plum. Now she's the target, and she doesn't want to end up in a garbage can...More to the point, she still has to deal with the fallout from Hawaii. Both the men in her life refuse to talk about it and all Stephanie will say is...It's complicated.

• ISBN10: 0755384962
• ISBN13: 9780755384969
• Publish Date: 22 November 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 12 September 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Headline Review
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

I have read all of the Stephanie Plum novels so far and I just love these books. They are a very easy read and are something to read when you just wanna relax after a long day. They are just so humorous and I love all the characters, especially Grandma Mazur. It has a little bit of everything thrown in, while still being lighthearted.

I would recommend these books to anybody.

[ibeforem]

After a string of 4 or 5 lackluster books, I feel like Evanovich has managed to breathe at least a little bit of new life into this stale series. Some things haven’t changed – Stephanie’s still not the greatest bounty hunter, has horrible luck with cars, and can’t make up her mind about either Morelli OR Ranger. Though after her disastrous Hawaiian vacation, she’s not particularly anxious to be face-to-face with either of them.

Stephanie actually does a fairly good job of fending for herself in this one, fighting off fake FBI agents and apartment intruders with no outside help. Unfortunately, this also meant we didn’t see nearly enough of either guy. And I could do with a little bit less Lula. She’s actually managed to become a caricature of herself, all tight clothes and buckets of chicken.

As for the mystery of what’s in the photo, I found that part of the plot more than a little implausible. It felt like Evanovich was making a jump into technology that she really wasn’t prepared for.

I think it’s going to take a lot to get this series back to where it was at its peak, but this one was entertaining enough to keep me reading until the end. But maybe Stephanie can find some personal growth in the next one?

[MurderByDeath]

Well, I really liked it. It's exactly what I expect from the Stephanie Plum series. Laugh out loud moments, lots of mayhem and a few heart melting moments. I'm not sure I ever want Stephanie to choose between Morelli and Ranger - Evanovich does what almost no author has been able to do for me: make me enjoy the love triangle. I look forward to the next one.

[Cocktails and Books]

This book took me back to why I love this series. No, the Morelli vs. Ranger situation didn't get resolved (a bit of a let down but it was finally nice to see that Morelli can fight for what he wants), but this one took us back to those days in the middle of the series where Stephanie was truly knee deep in crap that she's accidentally fallen in. You know, where the whole storyline is about someone(s) trying to kill her. Those were the Stephanie Plum days that I loved. Plus, we get a whole lot of Lula being the sidekick that I truly wish I had...just for the comic relief.

So the story....

Stephanie is fleeing Hawaii, leaving behind a mess she doesn't want to deal with. When she gets home, she finds an envelope with a picture of a guy in it. She has no clue who the guy is so she throws it into the garbage with a protesting Grandma Mauzer watches in agony.

Turns out a lot of people want that picture. Stephanie soon has 2 hired goons pretending to be FBI trying to get it, the real FBI wanting their hands on it, crazy Razzle Dazzle attacking Stephanie to get it and finally crazy hair dresser Brenda hounding her for it. No one believes her when she says she doesn't have it, so following, chasing and attacking ensue. Classic Stephanie Plum.

Stephanie and Rex still need to eat, so she does need to continue on with her day job and try to catch her skips. This is when the Lula factor comes into play. She's just as outrageous and overtop as ever, which has you laughing at every third line that comes from her fictional mouth. If it's not that, it's the description of what she's wearing.

Let me set the stage...

Lula has decided she is going to channel her inner Ranger and dress in black just like him. Here's her first foray into Lula Ranger.
I glance at Lula. She was dressed in black. Black faux lizard-skin cowboy boots, black jeans that looked like they were painted on her, black tank top with an acre of boob squishing out. Pink hair.
My curiosity was raised. "What's with the black?" I wanted to know. "You never wear all black."
"I told you yesterday, I'm gettin' serious. I'm not takin' this job lightly no more. I'm channeling my inner Ranger, and I'm wearing black like him. I figure he's on to something with the black deal."

I laughed at this book more than I have the previous few. It was good to see the characters going back to what they used to be. I would really like to see the whole Ranger/Morelli thing finished (I love them both but how long can one woman be torn between two men???), but based on this ending I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Still a very entertaining read that will having you laughing out loud and wondering if a trip the Burg will net you some crazy friends like Stephanie's.