I have a confession to make. I live in New Jersey and I'm not Italian nor do I know any hit men. I have driven in and am familiar with Stephanie Plum's New Jersey of Janet Evanovich's TO THE NINES.

In this installment of the ongoing adventures of Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, she must track down a person who has skipped town on a visa bond. The manufacturing company posted a bond saying that this person would leave the country when his visa expired. This was new territory for Stephanie's cousin and when the person goes missing he assigned her the case--along with Ranger, her usual partner and sometime lover.

Still in the picture was Joe Morelli, Trenton Detective and sometime main squeeze for Stephanie. She's confused about her feelings for both men which complicated the story since she ended up dealing with both of them.

Seems someone was trying to kill Stephanie. The would-be murderer kept leaving her flowers and notes. She felt safe when the case took her to Las Vegas, but that feeling was short-lived.

Ms. Evanovich has done it again. She has taken a familiar character and allowed her to grow. Stephanie Plum is funny and likeable. Unlike in her previous books, Stephanie does not destroy any cars, but what Ms. Evanovich has done instead is even more amusing. Ms. Evanovich takes humorous points of New Jersey and makes them universally entertaining.

Run, don't walk to find this book and read it.

Reviewed By: Chris Redding
© July 2004