High Five

High Five by Janet Evanovich
Published by St. Martins
Grade: C+

Bail jumping in Trenton is down to small potatoes. Stephanie's only open case is a small bond for a small violation, committed by a small person who raises Stephanie's frustration level in big ways. So short of money and long on bills, Stephanie comes up with a plan --diversify! Signing on as an intern with entrepreneurial Super Bounty Hunter Ranger, Stephanie ventures into Ranger's mostly morally correct and marginally legal operations. None of this makes vice cop Joe Morelli a happy man. The cop in him can't help but wonder as to the
source of Stephanie's expensive new cars. And the rest of him, the man who's
been friend and lover to Stephanie, can't help but wonder if there's more to the
partnership than meets the eye.
The internship is downgraded to second
priority when Uncle Fred goes missing. Even though Grandma Mazur is sure he was
abducted by aliens, Stephanie sets out to look for Fred. He's a perfectly
average senior citizen, and he's disappeared without a trace while running
errands. He's left his ten-year-old Pontiac station wagon locked up nice and
neat in the Grand Union parking lot, the cleaning is carefully arranged on the
back seat, and his wife is at home, waiting for him to return with the bread and
the milk and the olive loaf bologna. Locked in the top drawer of his desk are
photos of a body, dismembered and stuffed into a garbage bag. And locked away in
the computer files of a another average citizen are the clues that will lead
Stephanie to Fred.

I wasn't as impressed with this fifth book in the series, as I was with the others. It was comical, but I skimmed some of it.

Stephanie is looking for a relative, Uncle Fred. There is some money laundering going on and she interviews a lot of people. Those are the parts I skimmed. They were kinda boring.

There were lots of Ranger scenes, and thats what kept me flipping the pages. I lurve Ranger.
He flirts with Stephanie a few times, and even those it;s subtle, you know what he wants. He also gives her a few cars. The first one gets blown up and the second one gets stolen. Ranger even kisses her. *swoon*. He tells her that the ball is in her court.
Take it Stephanie. TAKE THE BALL.

Grandma Mazur, Joe, and Lula are back. Granny is still visiting funeral homes and driving Stephanie's dad bonkers. Lula still has her job as a filing clerk at the bail bonds office. Her wit gets better with each book. Joe is once again trying to get Stephanie into bed. He says he loves her, but he isn't into marriage. Stephanie doesn't want a relationship that is just sex.

The crazy homicidal rapist from the first book is back in this one. He went and found Jesus when he was in prison, so now he is crazier than ever. He wants Stephanie to meet Jesus, but he plans to send her to Him in his own special way.

My favorite new character in the book is Randy. He is a littler person who Stephanie was supposed to take in. He ends up getting out on bail (again) and decides that he is going to stay with Stephanie. She broke his door down the first time she brought him in, so he thinks she owes him. He makes himself at home in her place.

Stephanie seems to have lost her backbone in this book. The laugh out loud scenes were not as plentiful as they were in previous books.

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike cliff hanger endings? I don't like them. Not at all.
At the end of this one, Stephanie decides she wants some loving between the sheets. She gets dressed up as sexy as can be and call one of the men to come over. We don't know if it's Joe or Ranger though. I want it to be Ranger. The way he talked in the last scene makes it sound like Ranger, so that means it's probably Joe.

I have book 6 sitting right in front of me, so I guess I'll find out soon enough.

You can read my reviews for the first four books here.