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Overview
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, where bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's life is about to implode in Janet Evanovich's wildest, hottest novel yet!
FIRST A STRANGER APPEARS
While chasing down the usual cast of miscreants and weirdos, Stephanie discovers that a crazed woman is stalking her.
THEN THE STRANGER REVEALS HER SECRETS
The woman dresses in black, carries a 9mm Glock, and has a bad attitude and a mysterious connection to dark and dangerous Carlos Manoso …street name, Ranger.
NEXT, SOMEBODY DIES
The action turns deadly serious, and Stephanie goes from hunting skips to hunting a murderer.
SOON, THE CHASE IS ON
Ranger needs Stephanie for more reasons than he can say. And now, the two are working together to find a killer, rescue a missing child, and stop a lunatic from raising the body count. When Stephanie Plum and Ranger get too close for comfort, vice cop Joe Morelli (her on-again, off-again boyfriend) steps in. Will the ticking clock stop at the stroke of twelve…or will a stranger in the wind find a way to stop Stephanie Plum…forever?
Synopsis
From the nationwide, instant #1 bestselling author comes Stephanie Plum’s twelfth adventure!
Publishers Weekly
The mixture of slapstick and gunplay that has put Evanovich's series about a sassy, less than competent New Jersey bounty hunter at the top of bestseller lists once again works its magic in Stephanie Plum's latest caper (after 2005's Eleven on Top). Stephanie, who freely admits her failings as a hunter of fugitives, faces a growing work backlog that threatens the continued existence of her job. Her clumsy efforts to clear some cases, along with the help of her outrageous colleague, Lula, result only in their adding another sad sack to the office payroll a forlorn shoe salesman who's talked off a ledge by Stephanie's offer of a position as file clerk. Stephanie's ambivalence toward the two men in her life becomes harder to maintain when one of them, the mysterious Ranger, is accused of kidnapping his own daughter. Countless over-the-top scenes, including one at a funeral parlor, will delight longtime fans. 1.25 million first printing; author tour. (One-day laydown June 20) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewThe 12th installment of Janet Evanovich's wildly popular mystery saga featuring the feisty and ever-endearing lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter Stephanie Plum pits the New Jersey bond enforcement agent against her most formidable foe yet: a completely deranged psycho obsessed with one of Plum's two longtime love interests. Twelve Sharp begins with Plum faced with the usual unsavory duties of a bounty hunter -- tracking down a bevy of criminals who have skipped out on their bail. Targets on her "skip" list include the aptly named Melvin Pickle, a self-proclaimed pervert who is eerily reminiscent of Pee-wee Herman; Mary Lee Truk, a menopausal housewife who stabbed her husband where the sun don't shine; and Caroline Scarzolli, a 72-year-old porn peddler. But Plum's hunt for wayward criminals is rudely interrupted by a crazed, gun-toting woman claiming to be the wife of Ricardo "Ranger" Manoso, the tall, dark, and handsome Cuban-American bounty hunter who, along with Trenton cop Joseph Morelli, make up Plum's love triangle -- one as steamy as it is dysfunctional. After Ranger's alleged wife turns up dead and his estranged daughter is kidnapped, Plum discovers that someone has stolen Ranger's identity and is slowly and systematically taking over his life. Next on the unhinged impostor's list is Ranger's hot girlfriend -- Plum herself. In an interview, Evanovich talked about giving her fans exactly what they want: "I don't want to go beyond their comfort zone…. I'm their feel-good read." In Twelve Sharp, she delivers the goods in a big way. Riotously entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, Evanovich's novel is, to steal a particularly perverse line from its pages, "hours of pleasure guaranteed." Paul Goat Allen
Publishers Weekly
The mixture of slapstick and gunplay that has put Evanovich's series about a sassy, less than competent New Jersey bounty hunter at the top of bestseller lists once again works its magic in Stephanie Plum's latest caper (after 2005's Eleven on Top). Stephanie, who freely admits her failings as a hunter of fugitives, faces a growing work backlog that threatens the continued existence of her job. Her clumsy efforts to clear some cases, along with the help of her outrageous colleague, Lula, result only in their adding another sad sack to the office payroll a forlorn shoe salesman who's talked off a ledge by Stephanie's offer of a position as file clerk. Stephanie's ambivalence toward the two men in her life becomes harder to maintain when one of them, the mysterious Ranger, is accused of kidnapping his own daughter. Countless over-the-top scenes, including one at a funeral parlor, will delight longtime fans. 1.25 million first printing; author tour. (One-day laydown June 20) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Library Journal
In her 12th outing, Stephanie Plum must contend with a female stalker and other crazies in Trenton, NJ. With a national tour. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
Trenton's most renowned bounty hunter (Eleven on Top, 2005, etc.) becomes the prey of a delusional stalker. Stephanie Plum, eternally unable to decide between the two men in her life, has long temporized by accepting the embraces of both. Joe Morelli, the high-school-heartthrob-turned-cop, has never been happy about this arrangement. But bounty hunter Ranger Manoso has eagerly accepted the challenge of muscling in on Morelli's turf. Now the delicate balance between wild and wilder romance is upset by the sudden appearance of one Carmen Manoso, who identifies herself as Ranger's wife and warns Stephanie off. Not to worry: She's soon found shot dead in her SUV outside the bond enforcement agency where Stephanie works. Meantime, however, there's been even more disturbing news: a report that Ranger has kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter from her mother and stepfather in Florida. Unlike Carmen's revelation, this story is neither true nor toothless. The kidnapper is a demented wannabe who wants Ranger's job, his kid and, of course, his woman. That would be Stephanie, who reacts with a predictable but highly entertaining blend of outrage, humor and proactive tactics of her own. Evanovich wisely soft-pedals the mystery, which has never been her strong suit, and finds exactly the right tone of danger-laden farce for Stephanie's duel with the false Ranger, spicing it with a million one-liners, aspiring bond enforcers and hapless criminals on the run.From the Publisher
Praise for the narrator:"Stephanie Plum, Evanovich's ditzy but delightful bounty hunter heroine, returns—this time to solve her own career crisis. Actress Lorelei King gives each character a distinct—and hilarious—voice."—People on Eleven on Top"Narrator King steps neatly into Stephanie's shoes, her agile voice conveying not only Stephanie's fear and frustration, but her plaintive, why-does-this-always-happen—to-me attitude. King also nails the manly, mysterious voice of gorgeous bounty hunter Ranger, Stephanie's sometime superhero… Her vocal stylings are generally as superb as Evanovich's zany characterizations."—Publishers Weekly on Ten Big Ones
"Narrator Lorelei King does a fabulous job, as each character is assigned a distinctive voice, thus milking the humor for every drop."—The Boston Globe on To the Nines
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels are: "As addictive as Fritos." —People"Hot and sassy." —Boston Herald"Stuning." —Booklist"Irresistible." —Houston Chronicle"Brilliantly evocative." —Denver Post"Dorothy Parker with a Jersey accent." —Time"Models of screwball artistry, fueled by inventive twists."—The New York Times