Experience the bestselling phenomenon that is sweeping the nation! #1 "New York Times" #1 "Wall Street Journal" #1 "Entertainment Weekly" #1 "Publishers Weekly" #1 "Booksense" #1 "Los Angeles Times" BLOWN UP All New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has to do is bring in semi-retired bail jumper Eddie DeChooch. For an old man he's still got a knack for slipping out of sight--and raising hell. How else can Stephanie explain the bullet-riddled corpse in Eddie's garden? Who else would have a clue as to why two of Stephanie's friends suddenly vanished? For answers Stephanie has the devil to pay: her mentor, Ranger. The deal? He'll give Stephanie all the help she needs--if she gives him everything he wants . . . MESSED UP As if things weren't complicated enough, Stephanie's just discovered her Grandma Mazur's own unmentionable alliance with Eddie. Add a series of unnerving break-ins, not to mention the bombshell revelation leveled by Stephanie's estranged sister, and Stephanie's ready for some good news. Unfortunately, a marriage proposal from Joe Morelli, the love of her life, isn't quite cutting it. And now--murder, a randy paramour, a wily mobster, death threats, extortion, and a triplie kidnapping aside--Stephanie's really got the urge to run for her life . . . SEVEN UP

Reviews

Fans of Trenton, NJ, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum will find much to enjoy in this, her seventh outing. As usual, she is on the trail of some weird people who've not appeared in court, including a senior citizen involved with contraband cigarettes and a previously meek man who trashes his ex's wedding in some imaginative ways. Involved in all this is Joe Morelli, Trenton cop and Stephanie's lover, who's stressing her out by proposing; her grandmother; Lola, the former hooker who now works with Stephanie; and her sister, who's flown in from L.A. after her husband leaves her. Evanovich makes all this not only credible but funny and exciting to boot. Narrator Tanya Eby is able to make Stephanie and those who inhabit her world real, vital, quirky, and just as lively as Evanovich writes them. The vocalizations are appropriately urban, and her rendering of Grandma Mazur-catching the wavery quality of some elderly voices-is especially impressive. Recommended.-Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

"A madcap comic mystery--Jersey-girl style."--the "New York Times"

"A clever cast of good-hearted hoods and nutty family members rival "The Sopranos"."--"People"

"If you like your summer reads hot and sassy, try "Seven Up"."--"Boston Herald"

"Evanovich is the crown princess of detective fiction . . . "Seven Up" is brassy, comical, and light-hearted."--"Bookpage"

"["Seven Up"] is funny, sexy, and scary."--"Booklist"

"Edgy romantic triangle, the loopy family relationships, or the bounty-hunting jobs that skate between absurdity and genuine tension."--"Denver Post"

"Expect a laugh per page . . . Bottom line: Plum Pick."--"People"

It's always a treat to go out on a case with Stephanie Plum, the sassy, adventurous, but not always successful Trenton, N.J., bounty hunter. In her seventh outing (after 2000's Hot Six), Stephanie's employer, her bailbondsman cousin, Vinnie, gives her an easy job: pick up vicious senior citizen Eddie DeChooch, who is constantly sighted racing around Trenton in a borrowed white Cadillac, but whom no one can grab. While in Virginia picking up the cigarettes he's charged with smuggling into New Jersey, he stole the heart from the recently dead body of his enemy, Louis DeStephano. The heart's whereabouts define the darkly hilarious trajectory of the plot. The usual characters inhabit the novel: Steph's former high school buddies, the zonked-out Dougie and Mooner; and Evanovich's best creation, feisty Grandma Mazur. Stephanie's much-resented sister Valerie returns from California with her two daughters, her "perfect" marriage ended, and moves in with her parents, to their dismay. Steph and her lover Joe Morelli almost set a wedding date, but again she avoids commitment, still attracted to fellow bounty hunter Ranger. At times the plot meanders: Stephanie and pal Lula spend too much time running from house to house in the inbred Burg neighborhood, while two semi-retired crooks looking for DeChooch keep breaking into her apartment for little reason. All in all this is another zesty Evanovich read, but one that doesn't quite hit the high marks of her last two. (June 19) Forecast: Evanovich has developed a loyal following among mystery fans and her ascendancy to the bestseller lists has introduced her to a large new readership. Despite not being up to her usual standard, this will hit the lists, too, and hard. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.