Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #24)

I couldn’t wait for Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich to be released. As soon as the book was released, I bought it and started reading it. Afterall, reading the Janet Evanovich books in order is nothing short of a well-timed holiday away from real life.

I’ve been reading this series from the very first book, One for the Money and I still can’t get enough of Stephanie Plum even after all these years.

In Hardcore Twenty-Four, Stephanie is dealing with several cases which make her running all over the place. First, we meet Simon Diggery, a grave robber which is nothing short of a local celebrity. Stephanie has to bring him in, but while she finds him (eventually), the only way he agrees with going to prison (temporarily of course) is if Stephanie promises to take care of his pet. A huge boa constrictor snake which needs regular feeding.

The next case involves several headless corpses which pop up all over the town. Also at the local funeral home. And when someone sees a couple of zombies on the loose, Stephanie knows that she has to find the killer before all hell breaks loose (probably also the apocalypse).

As usual, the Stephanie Plum books are fun and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Stephanie herself is someone who stumbles through life half of the time not knowing what is going on around her. The one thing she always notices, however, is the forever increasing number of guys who are after her. Well, ok, they’re only three of them, but most of us, normal people, don’t even have one faithful guy after us, and she has three hot guys who look ready to shag her at the first moment they can.

First, we have Joe Morelli, who is her more or less steady boyfriend. Then we have Ranger, another hunk of a guy who can’t take his eyes of her even if it means losing car after car in the process (this was actually quite a fun part of the book). And, last but not least, we can’t forget about Diesel who appears and disappears without a sound, even when all doors and windows are locked, shut down and fully alarmed. He’s like a ghost who not only enters Stephanie’s house at will but also wants to enter some more.

There were several laugh-out-loud moments in the book,  but…there is a but. I’ve noticed that recently I’ve been laughing less when reading the Janet Evanovich books. Instead, I found myself chuckling more than usual. I’m not sure if it’s a case of the author losing her touch or me getting desensitized to Stephanie Plum.

It is still a darn good series, and the ditzy pony-tailed Stephanie is still funny to book, so I’m not quite sure why excitement (which was just mounting while waiting for the book to be released) just ebbed as I was reading through the latest story. Could it be that the author is slowly running out of steam?

Something that actually bugged me in Hardcore Twenty-Four was the fact that, if I understood correctly, Stephanie was for the first time unfaithful to Joe. This kind of hit me hard and I no longer look at Stephanie with the same eyes. She really doesn’t respect any of the guys she is surrounded by, and her relationship to Joe seems, after all this, very superficial.

Will I continue to read the Stephanie Plum series in the future? Definitely. The main characters (and even the secondary ones like Grandma Mazur and Lula (who is slowly becoming a main character in the series) are extremely funny. I especially enjoyed Grandma Mazur’s amorous escapade in this latest episode. She is old, but boy I’d love to be like her when I become old as well!

I just hope that I get back my lost fascination with the series the way I had it through the first 10 or so book. But still, if you haven’t read a Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich yet, start with the first one and work your way to the newer ones. They’re still well-worth reading.

Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum 24
Published by Bantam
Published 2017
Genres: Crime Mystery
Source: Purchased