Waiting for the new Stephanie Plum book is an annual thing for me. It’s the treat I look forward to each year. Evanovich always manages to intrigue me, send me on a wild goose chase and make me laugh out loud, all in one novel. Hard Core Twenty Four is no exception to this. I know that some readers are finding the Plum novels are a little repetitive, are getting fed up of the ‘will she/won’t she’ with the Morelli/Ranger situation, but I think this is part of the charm. Yes I’d love Steph to decide, but at the same time, I kind of like the indecision! With some guaranteed chuckles from Grandma and Lula thrown into the mix, Hard Core Twenty Four is all you love about the Plum series. Four stars from purplebookstand.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for giving me this book to review.

More adventures in the crazy life of Bounty Hunter, Stephanie Plumb. Her latest misadventure involves trying to apprehend strange and unlikely FTA’s (failure to attend’s) and becoming involved with people who have taken a new street drug that turns them into, well, almost zombies. She is aided in this by her friend and colleague, Lula, and her dysfunctional family, including Grandma Mazur. She worries about her commitment to her boyfriend, Joe, has a fling with Ranger, and is almost led astray by a character who crops up occasionally in Stephanie Plum books, called Diesel.

The plot is slightly more complex than usual, however, the whole book is very light and easy to read, and provides many a smile, so long as you don’t take it too seriously. The humour is quite slapstick in nature, and there is always the opportunity to smile and marvel at the chaos that is Stephanie’s life. The characters in this book are, as usual, larger than life, and not always based in reality, but it’s fun! If you wanted realism, you would not choose to read this series of books.

Grandma Mazur was a little bit over the top this time, maybe a bit too silly. However, I did enjoy how Lula was in this book, still a bit silly, still full of attitude, but less of the crazy. I’m afraid I didn’t quite see the point of Diesel, he didn’t seem to add much to the plot, and came across less mysterious, more irritating.

I enjoyed Hardcore Twenty-four and would recommend it to people who have enjoyed other Janet Evanovitch novels, or those who like light comedy/crime novels.

I've read every single Stephanie Plum bun and I've always enjoyed them. However the series feels paused and that is very disappointing. The last few books feel like panto with overused worn out obvious jokes. Hopefully book 25, will actually contain something new, something fresh. Let Steph grow up a little.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hardcore Twenty-Four. Janet Evanovich has still got it – which is probably all you need to know, really.

The plot? Oh, come on! - the plot is bonkers, of course. It involves a giant boa constrictor and the apparent appearance of zombies in Trenton, among other things. In addition, Grandma Mazur is at the top of her eccentric game, Stephanie totals several cars which are duly replaced by Ranger and she has to choose which of three staggeringly sexy men she is going to sleep with. (Which as Lula complains, is not fair as "I'm depending on battery-operated devices.") No surprises there, then, which is just fine by me, because it's very funny and very readable.

After all these years and all these books, Evanovich is still coming up with great dialogue, well-painted (if somewhat implausible) characters and situations which are absurdly comic but just believable enough to make an engaging story. It's the dry wit which really keeps me reading, though. Little exchanges like this between Stephanie and Morelli, her cop boyfriend, for example:
"Do you have any leads on this?"
"Not a one," Morelli said.
"Lula thinks it's zombies."
"Okay, so now I have one lead. Does she have an address for the zombies?"
The whole book is littered with this kind of stuff which kept me smiling and quite often laughing out loud.

It's not Great Literature, but who cares? I had a great time reading this, and I can recommend it very warmly.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

Thank you Netgalley and Headline for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
The 24th outing for Stephanie Plum was an (as usual) enjoyable romp through the disaster of Stephanie's life. I loved the Zombies, Henry and the new and gross ways of killing of cars!

Has the series become a bit of a parody of itself - yes
Do you know exactly what to expect of a Stephanie Plum novel - Yes
Do those things make it less enjoyable? - No

Hardcore 24 provided some genuine laugh-out-loud moments and felt like the series had found its feet again after a bit of a flat 23rd outing (although Stephanie settling with Morreli and the new challenges that would bring would be fun to read sometime soon). I enjoyed this book and it provided a happy few hours of escapism. I will certainly be looking out for Stephanie's 25th appearance.

Another fabulous book from the amazing Ms Evanovich. I love this series and this does not disappoint. Lula with her flashy clothes, mother with her whisky, grandma with her wild ideas and best of all car wrecking Stephanie. Morelli, Ranger and Diesel appear in this book, tempting Miss Plum even more than usual. Throw in other memorable characters and a huge snake on the loose; you have a winner!! Unmissable.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Hardcore Twenty-Four, the twenty fourth novel to feature Bail bonds woman, Stephanie Plum of Trenton New Jersey.

As usual Stephanie is broke and out hunting fugitives to cover her living expenses, mostly takeaway as she can't cook, when she runs into some zombies. At first she doesn't link them to the spate of heads being stolen from local funeral homes but, as Lula points out, everyone knows zombies eat brains. After that it's mayhem and confusion as the headless corpses pile up, the zombies get braver and Stephanie totals another car.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hardcore Twenty-Four which had me laughing out loud from start to finish. Ms Evanovich writes to a formula where things happen to Stephanie that aren't really her fault (or so she believes) and the other characters have predictable behaviours, so the reader knows what to expect when picking up a Stephanie Plum novel. The joy of the novel is therefore, necessarily, in the detail and this is excellent until the ending which is a little lacklustre and seems tacked on.

The novel opens with Stephanie and Lula going to apprehend Digger, the local grave robber, on a failure to appear warrant only to find him and his boa constrictor, Ethel, hiding in a tree from the zombies he met in the graveyard. Digger goes to jail figuring he'll be safer there, leaving Stephanie in charge of feeding Ethel. I am in total awe of Ms Evanovich's imagination as this is not the last of the absurdities in the novel and probably not the funniest but it's an amazing introduction which hooks the reader immediately.

Stephanie is Stephanie, kooky, clumsy and always out of her depth but very lovable and to add to her woes the mysterious and extremely hot Diesel is in town wanting to share her bed. Oh no! She's semi committed to Morelli, fighting off Ranger and now Diesel is interested.

Hardcore Twenty-Four is a fun, laugh out loud read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for allowing me to read this Janet Evanovich novel subject to my honest review.

As a huge fan of the author this didn't disappoint. Her portrayal of all of the main characters is brilliant and this can be read without having read the other Stephanie Plum novels.

Recommended

So much fun as our favourite bounty-hunter tackles zombies (stick with it, it all makes sense in the end...), a giant snake, and not one, not two, but THREE hot guys! With Lula along for the ride and Granny Mazur almost involved in a pensioners' swingers club, I giggled inordinately throughout this. Oh, and for the record, I'm Team Ranger forever!