{"id":460,"date":"2011-07-12T09:31:41","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T16:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=460"},"modified":"2011-07-12T09:31:41","modified_gmt":"2011-07-12T16:31:41","slug":"listening-and-laughing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=460","title":{"rendered":"Listening and laughing"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an odd thing about audio books. I find that I can enjoy listening to books that I most likely would not read. That\u2019s been true of some pretty heavy nonfiction. And now I\u2019ve found it to be true of one of Janet Evanovich\u2019s Stephanie Plum books. I started to say \u201cmysteries\u201d or \u201cthrillers\u201d instead of \u201cbooks,\u201d but I\u2019m not sure exactly what genre aptly describes these books.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of mysteries, but I usually like the kind that\u2019s more the thoughtful, atmospheric type rather than those with fast and furious action and tough guys and gals. Some of the ones I like can be called \u201ccozy\u201d; others have their share of on-stage violence and suspense, but are nonetheless more psychological than rough and tumble.<\/p>\n

So, vaguely aware that Evanovich\u2019s Stephanie Plum was a bounty hunter, I had not been tempted to try the series.<\/p>\n

But I was offered a review audio book of the latest in the series at just the right moment. Having listened to several \u201cwomen\u2019s\u201d books that involved groups of women with various problems that generally turn out well, I was ready for a change of pace.<\/p>\n

I got it.<\/p>\n

By Linda C. Brinson<\/p>\n

SMOKIN\u2019 SEVENTEEN. By Janet Evanovich. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 6 \u00bd hours. 5 compact discs. $37. Also available in print from Bantam Books.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This book is hilarious. That was the biggest surprise of my first experience with a Stephanie Plum novel. What have I been missing? I was laughing out loud while driving around, listening to Stephanie recount her adventures and woes.<\/p>\n

Stephanie works as a bounty hunter for her Cousin Vinnie, who runs a bail bond business in Trenton, N.J. When somebody fails to show up in court or otherwise skips out on bail, Stephanie and her partner, Lula (a former \u201cho\u201d), track that person down, zap him or her with a stun gun if necessary, slap on handcuffs, and haul the miscreant back to jail. At least, that\u2019s what\u2019s supposed to happen. Often, it\u2019s not that simple.<\/p>\n

What if the guy who\u2019s jumped bail is convinced he\u2019s a vampire and won\u2019t come out during daytime? What if he tries to bite Lula\u2019s neck? What if the woman who couldn\u2019t be bothered to keep her court date vows to get revenge on Stephanie by running her over with her car \u2013 something she\u2019s proved she is all too willing and able to do? What if instead of using money, the accused secures his bond with his valuable dancing bear?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve missed all the Stephanie Plum novels that preceded this one, but that didn\u2019t matter. It doesn\u2019t take much to understand that Stephanie\u2019s a working-class girl whose college education hasn\u2019t done much to help her make a living. She likes the relative freedom of her job, likes that she can dress in jeans and a T-shirt when she goes to work.\u00a0 Meanwhile, her mom, who lives nearby, wants nothing more than to fix her daughter up with a nice husband. Grandma thinks that\u2019s a good plan, too, and Stephanie\u2019s dad mostly tries to stay out of the way.<\/p>\n

The matchmaking is complicated because Stephanie has two men in her life: Joe Morelli, a cop who\u2019s her longtime boyfriend and would probably make a decent husband, if he weren\u2019t afraid of commitment; and the rich, handsome, dangerous Ranger, who\u2019d make a terrible husband, but so what?<\/p>\n

Mom, figuring that neither Morelli nor Ranger is going to make Stephanie a bride, introduces a third prospect into the mix. Dave, who was a football star when he was in high school with Stephanie and Morelli, is back in town after his marriage broke up and his banking business ran into problems. He\u2019s from a nice family, and he\u2019s a great cook.<\/p>\n

As if life weren\u2019t complicated enough, bodies start turning up at the lot where Cousin Vinnie\u2019s bail bond business stood before it burned and the staff had to move into a bus owned by a guy who\u2019s stoned more often than not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to describe how funny all this as Stephanie narrates what\u2019s going on in her life. You just have to listen to it. There are adventures, danger and mysteries, too, but the fun predominates.<\/p>\n

Listening is all the better because Lorelei King, an actress, is the best audio book reader I\u2019ve ever heard. Whether it\u2019s Lula or the elderly vampire, King gets the voice just right, men as well as women. Her expressive reading adds to the hilarity.<\/p>\n

Most, but not all, of the Stephanie Plum books have a number in the title. If I counted right on Evanovich\u2019s website, 20 books came before Smokin\u2019 Seventeen<\/em>. I know what I\u2019m looking for the next time I need a listening change of pace \u2013 and a good laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an odd thing about audio books. I find that I can enjoy listening to books that I most likely would not read. That\u2019s been true of some pretty heavy nonfiction. And now I\u2019ve found it to be true of one of Janet Evanovich\u2019s Stephanie Plum books. I started to say \u201cmysteries\u201d or \u201cthrillers\u201d instead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5,14],"tags":[820,116,114,27,115],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-books","category-mysteries","category-thriller-suspense","tag-audio-books","tag-bounty-hunter","tag-evanovich","tag-mystery","tag-stephanie-plum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}