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Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel
Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel
Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel
Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel

Written by Janet Evanovich

Narrated by Lorelei King

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

The #1 bestselling phenomenon continues in the eighth Stephanie Plum novel. The stakes get higher, the crimes get nastier, the chases get faster, and the men get hotter.

This time Stephanie, Morelli, Ranger. Lula, Valerie, and Grandma Mazur are strapped in for the ride of their lives. Stephanie is hired to find a missing child. But things aren't always as they seem and Stephanie must determine if she's working for the right side of the law. Plus, there's the Morelli question: can a Jersey girl keep her head on straight when more than just bullets are aimed for her heart? And with the Plum and Morelli relationship looking rocky, is it time for Ranger to move in for the kill? Janet Evanovich's latest thriller proves that Hard Eight will never be enough.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 1, 2003
ISBN9781593970659
Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel
Author

Janet Evanovich

Bestselling author Janet Evanovich is the winner of the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award and multiple Romantic Times awards, including Lifetime Achievement. She is also a long-standing member of RWA.

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Reviews for Hard Eight

Rating: 3.9360942319253978 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,823 ratings54 reviews

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I was so ready for this book to be over. It wasn’t put together well and I just couldn’t get into it or even like the characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The seventh book in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series shows the author at the top of her game. The laughs are on almost every page, the story is engrossing, and the characters very memorable.

    Evanovich's humor is never petty or mean. She finds the heart in her characters and invites us to laugh with them rather than at them.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Normal Stephanie Plum book. Funny and easy listening. Good!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I’m not that huge fan of Janet Evanovich. Some of her books I found better, some of them worse. This one is actually a pretty good one.

    I think I like this book more because Stephanie is not as silly as she used to be. At least most of the time. And Lula doesn’t annoy me as much as usual. The crime part is not very brilliant but it is quite interesting and from time to time pretty funny. I followed it with pleasure.

    I am most disappointed with the love part. The situation between Stephanie and Joe is getting more and more complicated. I have never liked love triangles and this one here is extremely annoying. This whole quarrel between Stephanie and Joe is so bizarre and totally unnecessary. Basically, it's only needed to warm up the feelings between Stephanie and Ranger. Completely pointless if you ask me.

    An additional plus for the "perfect" sister of Stephanie and her two devilish daughters. I will be happy to see them again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another great addition to the series. Well, Morelli and Stephanie are getting married or aren't getting married.. Not so sure, with this on again off again relationship. I love the way Stephanie gets even with Joyce by allowing Bob the dog to do his business on her lawn. Boy did she ever have a hard time catching her Older FTA Eddie DeChooch in this one. And the heart incident.. What a hoot.. I don't know where she comes up with these stories but they sure do have a lot of twists and turns and funny too.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love it! Stephanie Plum always makes me laugh. Luka and her are always up to no good.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Another misadventure for Stephanie. She and Ranger get closer and wedding plans spiral beyond her control. Usual laughs.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was the longest it has ever taken me to actively read a Stephanie Plum novel, so I'm a little disappointed by that. However, the humor and antics were just as good as ever.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Stephanie is assigned a bounty for a senior citizen, Eddie DeChooch who is far more wily at getting away from her than anyone expected. However, while searching for DeChooch Stephanie stumbles on a body and unraveling the links between Eddie and the corpse and the disappearance of a few of Stephanie's acquaintance will take all of Stephanie's skills and luck.It's more of the same for this series and as long as I space these out it's comforting rather than irritating. There's more Morelli v. Ranger hemming and hawing from Stephanie, Grandma Mazur continues to say the most ridiculous things, and Stephanie somehow manages to solve the crime yet again. I most enjoyed the growth for Stephanie's mother and sister in this volume. If you like formulaic mystery series, this ain't bad although there are a few spots the book shows its age.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Our favorite bounty hunter is back.At the end of Hot Six, Stephanie found a body in Eddie DeCooch's shed. Eddie is a semi retired mobster, elderly, crazy, and just happens to be dating Grandma Mazur. With a murder charge, Eddie goes FTA. Stephanie is charged with locating him and bringing him back for trial. With a marriage proposal from Joe and a sex involving deal with Ranger, Stephanie finds it hard to concentrate on the job.Full of fun and excitement. so very entertaining.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Has this ever happen to you - you read a book so fast with as little thought as possible and by the time you finish it, you have no idea what you read? Here's what I remember: Stephanie's newest collar is a retired old mobster in his seventies who has a hard time getting an erection. Despite Eddie DeChooch's advanced age, Stephanie can't bring him in no matter how easy it seems to be. DeChooch is elusive even when she has help. He is only wanted for stealing cigarettes, but something seems amiss. Two members of the mafia are also looking for him. Here's where the plot takes a twist: when Stephanie tries to apprehend DeChooch, she finds a dead body in his shed. Of course she does. Stephanie is notorious for finding dead bodies all over Trenton. As a side plot, Stephanie's friend Mooner goes missing, and when his roommate also disappears, Stephanie can't help but think they are involved in the mafia hunt for DeChooch. Of course all of the usual suspects are in the plot: grandmother Mazur, Lula, Ranger, Joe, and Rex, the hamster. New to the scene is Stephanie's sister, Valerie. She comes to visit Trenton with her two kids after her husband left her for the babysitter. If you are keeping track of Stephanie's relationship with Joe, they are engaged and she has "bought" a wedding dress. If you are keeping track of the cars Staphanie kills, two: a Honda and a Cadillac.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have read all of the Stephanie Plum novels so far and I just love these books. They are a very easy read and are something to read when you just wanna relax after a long day. They are just so humorous and I love all the characters, especially Grandma Mazur. It has a little bit of everything thrown in, while still being lighthearted.

    I would recommend these books to anybody.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Stephanie is back at it again. I have not read many books in this series but after reading this one I am reminded of how much I enjoy Stephanie. I need to go back and read the books I have missed in this series. Yet, Stephanie is not the only one that brings the laughter as well. Her crazy family, her friends, the people she hunts, and the two love interests. Speaking of friends, though, I do have to give a shout out to Lulu. She brought the laughs with her "model diet". Although, when you read about it, it sounds like the "keto" diet of today. What with her meats that she carried around with her. Seeing Stephanie in action was entertaining. She had me along for the whole ride. When it comes to the love interests; both men have their good qualities. Not sure who I am rooting for more. All I know is that I can't get enough of Stephanie.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A fun, fluffy read :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was the longest it has ever taken me to actively read a Stephanie Plum novel, so I'm a little disappointed by that. However, the humor and antics were just as good as ever.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm not really a fan of chick-lit but I do like this series, it doesn't tend to do the fluffy boy meets girl stuff more the girl shoots bad guys and makes out with a couple of cute guys.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Book number seven in Janet Evanovich's über-popular series about still-not-very-good-at-her-job bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. This time, Stephanie goes after an elderly mobster while also dealing with two missing friends, a visit from her sister, and pressure from all sides about planning a wedding. Also, there's mud wrestling.The plot is entertainingly ridiculous, maybe even more so than usual, and there are some nicely funny moments. I also like the fact that Stephanie's family is getting a little more development, especially her mom. I am, however, losing patience with the love triangle thing. Not only is it a cliche, and one that shows every sign of being dragged out for the next umpteen volumes, but it's not doing any favors for the characters of the guys involved. I'm finding them both annoying now, and am especially disappointed by the fact that a character who was perfectly okay for the first few books has become downright skeevy now that he's a love interest. Or lust interest. Whatever.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Once again the wacky cast of endearing characters drew me in despite a plot that was a bit less interesting than some of the others.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I go into these books knowing that there is going to be romance, humor, and a lot of car crashes. This one was no different. Stephanie had to pick up Eddie DeChooch, an old man who missed his court date. Simple enough since he’s an old guy, but apparently not for Stephanie and Lula. I lost count of how many times they had him and lost him, but somewhere around 8 or 9.
    This book was hilarious with Grandma and Mooner hanging out (I didn’t see that coming but now that it happened it seems completely normal), a marriage proposal from Morelli, and Stephanie’s perfect sister in town. There were moments where I had to set the book down until I stopped laughing.
    Key points: Dialogue is on point throughout the whole book. Each character has their own voice and even though the book only comes from Stephanie’s POV, I can relate to every character in their own way. Perfect comedy, perfect romance, and perfect mystery. A book by an A author and an A book series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really liked the plot. The book deserves four stars for the plot.

    Stephanie, however, makes the book deserve two stars. Her ineptness made sense in the first couple of books, but by now she should have learned some things. Now she just seems stupid and incapable of learning. Here's a quote: "I pulled out a can of hair spray, but I couldn't find the pepper spray. I needed better organization. Probably I should put the pepper spray and the stun gun in the zipper compartment, but then I'd have to find another place for my gum and mints."

    And this was after she went to find a criminal she KNOWS is armed, and is willing to shoot at her. She went with NO weapons within reach (her gun is in the cookie jar in her kitchen, miles away, btw).

    That was cute the first couple of books, but now we have crossed into dingleling territory. Luckily for Stephanie, the author isn't willing to kill her off for being stupid - the villains are just as inept as Stephanie is.

    Fortunately, the actual plot is entertaining and gripping. So, four stars for plot, two stars for Stephanie, therefore an average of three stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Funny! And on the homefront, Stephanie’s “perfect” sister Valerie has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight — including the furniture.

    Mud wrestling, motorcycles, fast cars, fast food, and fast men. It’s SEVEN UP. Absolutely Janet Evanovich at her very best.Semi-retired mob guy, Eddie DeChooch, is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeChooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding DeChooch and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeChooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn’t afraid to use his gun. He’s already shot Loretta Ricci and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn’t mind shooting Stephanie next.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seven Up has to be the craziest yet the most grounded in reality of the series I've read thus far. That is the one good thing about Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series: No matter how crazy things go, the reader will always believe it. There is a part of themselves that can see that happening. Or that it can only happen in the fictional setting of Chambersburg "The Burg", New Jersey.

    Seven Up starts out like all of the novels do: Stephanie has to pick up a Failure to Appear. In this case, it's Eddie DeChooch, an aging former mobster. It should be easy-peasy except that for an old guy, DeChooch is a slippery fellow. In trying to apprehend him Stephanie is drawn into a deeper mystery involving a deceased mobster's missing organ (hint: bidi, bidi, bom, bom), two missing stoner friends, a kidnapped grandmother, two insane old ladies, and one bullet ridden corpse found inside DeChooch's garden shed.

    Not only that, Stephanie must deal with her ever-changing personal life including her mother wanting to break out of the traditional housewife mold, a perfect older sister whose life isn't so perfect and being torn between two different men: Morelli, who she might or might not want to marry, and the mysterious Ranger, who she definitely wants to do more with than burn the midnight oil...

    I loved that even after multiple books, this series isn't stale. It is hilarious and always so ludicrous it keeps me wanting more. I really did enjoy it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Stephanie has to apprehend DeChooch who has missed court for illegally moving too many cigarettes across state lines. However, there are two gangsters looking for him, and the local stoners have disappeared. Morelli and Stephanie's families think they are engaged. Ranger places a price on helping Stephanie apprehend DeChooch.Love these books. They don't lack humor and sex appeal. Quick and fun reads. Every one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    All Stephanie had to do was bring in Eddie DeChooch. He is an old man who is basically blind, hard of hearing, and is so depressed he doesn't want to leave his house....so how hard can that task be right? Wrong! As always, Stephanie underestimates her catch and is left looking like an amateur bounty hunter. Soon she learns that her Grandma has a connection to Eddie and it's one that Stephanie wishes she would never have heard about. Too much information about sums it up. To top all that off DeChooch is now after Stephanie's friends and her, but why? Why would an elderly man want to see them all dead? What is it that he keeps asking for from them and why does he think they have whatever "it" is? Soon there are kidnappings, gun fights, murder, and all kinds of mayhem! Mixed in with all that work stuff, Stephanie has personal problems too, like her sister showing up on her parents' doorstep with her two kids with shocking news, Ranger giving Stephanie some help in this case....but with consequences, and her pending wedding to Joe Morelli causing way more fights than happy bliss. Will she survive trying to capture DeChooch long enough to even have to worry about those person problems on her plate? What's this old man have to hide?As always, I just loved this book! I just can't get enough of Stephanie Plum and all her troubles and predicaments she gets into. It seems as though every time things are going in the "green" for her she soon stumbles and goes right back into the "red". It really does remind me of my own life, in the respect of how you think you got things all figured out and then...BAM...a roadblock again. As much has I love Evanovich's writing and her Plum Series, I still find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop, and to run into a book that hits that series wall. You know the one, the one that makes you think, Oh boy...this is the same poop different book and time for the series to end. However, Evanovich keeps on surprising me by making sure this doesn't happen to her readers in this series. This is quite impressive, especially after being on book seven here! That takes quite the talented writer if you ask me. I love the way the action starts in this book on page one and doesn't let up until the last page, last word. Even at the end you are left awaiting the next read to see what will really happen to poor Stephanie next. I love the characters and I wouldn't think they could get much more developed after seven books, but they have and I'm sure they will be even more in the books to come. There is a reason Evanovich is on the bestseller lists all the time, she is GREAT that's why! Great author, fantastic characters, wonderful plot, and amazing book!!!! A MUST READ!!5/5 Stars!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Those who have yet to discover Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum and her weird relatives and relationships are missing a huge treat or living in a
    cave. I recommend beginning with the first in the series, One for the Money, but Seven Up stands alone quite well.

    Grandma Mazur has finally gotten her driver’s license, bought a red Corvette, and lost the driver’s license for too many speeding tickets,
    all in the space of five days. The scenes at the dinner table are always my favorite with Stephanie’s father trying not to choke on his
    food every time Grandma Mazur makes some outrageous statement or describes which funeral director does a better job at making up
    their clients and why. “ ‘I saw a television show the other week
    about a woman like that,’ Grandma said. ‘This woman was real sexy, and it turned out that one of the men she was flirting with was an alien
    from outer space. And the alien took the woman up to his spaceship and did all kinds of things to her.’

    “My father hunkered lower over his plateful of food and mumbled something indiscernible except for the words . . . Crazy old bat.
    “ ‘What about Loretta [recent murder victim found in Eddie’s garage:] and Eddie DeChooch?’ I asked. ‘Do you suppose they were seeing each
    other?’ “ ‘Not that I know of,’ Grandma said. ‘From what I know Loretta liked her men hot, and Eddie DeChooch couldn’t get it up. I went with
    him a couple of times, and that thing of his was dead as a doorknob. No matter what I did I couldn’t get a thing to happen.’
    “My father looked up at Grandma, and a piece of meat fell out of his mouth. “My mother was red-faced at the other end of the table. She sucked in some air and made the sign of the cross. ‘Mother of God,’ she said. “I fiddled with my fork. ‘If I left now I probably wouldn’t get any pineapple upside-down cake, right?’ “ ‘Not for the rest of your life,’ my mother said.

    It seems Eddie DeChooch, half-blind and really old, had decided to make a killing by smuggling some cigarettes. Unfortunately, Louie, his contact in Richmond, died of a heart attack, and when contacted, the family lawyer told Eddie to “bring the fart back.” Eddie’s hearing
    being substandard, he thought he heard the lawyer say heart. Arrested by the police on the way back from Richmond, Eddie had skipped
    bail and so Stephanie was assigned to go get him. Much easier said than done, because the heart has disappeared and the whole family,
    mob-connected, is determined to get it back, only no one knows where it is.

    Throw in two crazy old ladies, a Grandma Mazur kidnapping (she was thrilled and intended to keep talking about it for weeks), a wedding
    dress, another smashed-up Stephanie car, and Ranger giving Stephanie more than goose bumps, and you have another classic Evanovich.

    Light but lots of fun.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really like the Stephanie Plum series but I end up bored with them. This book was fine but it wasn’t anything extra special. It was Stephanie Plum. She spent the book making amateur mistakes and trying to decide whether she wants to marry Joe or sleep with Ranger.I listened to the audio book version and it was a different narrator than the one who did the previous books. I did NOT care for the new narrator at all. That made the book a bit tough to enjoy.This book did have some really good moments. Stephanie teams up with her cousin at one point to try to apprehend the FTA. Her cousin Vinnie is usually just a creep but seeing him as a bounty hunter showed another side of him and I liked that. I also liked the secondary mystery of what was stolen and what happened to it. It was really hilarious. I am getting a bit annoyed with Stephanie and Joe. She tells people she and he are engaged but they are not even close to being their in the relationship even though they have been together since book 1. That is 7 books together. It was just recently that Ranger actually became a threat to their relationship. In this book there are hints that he might become even more of a threat. I know the series is at least partially built on the sexual tension between Stephanie and her two hotties. But, I feel like there is too little going on regarding relationship building. With the way this book ended I am hoping that things will get more intense. And it is about time!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Another fun instalment with everyone's favourite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. Whilst there is plenty of light-hearted humour, a crazy-over-the-top plot and plenty of entertainment, I would not call this precisely required reading. Appealing and enjoyable, but I don't think I could read too many in a row.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is my second Stephanie Plum book and I can now definitely understand the appeal of these books. They are reliably funny (in a slapstick kind of way) and they are action packed. I think I would have liked this one more if I had spaced my reading of it out further from #6 than I did. It was good but a little too familiar on the heels of the last one. I am curious about how the relationships in the book will evolve. I will definitely read on but I will probably wait at least 6 months before reading the next one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book. It was probably my favorite of the series so far. I liked finally getting to meet Stephanie's sister, Valerie, and hope that she continues to be included in the rest of the series. I don't know if it is just me but it felt like Stephanie grew up a little towards the end. I am not a fan of Stephanie having a relationship with Ranger but am still interested in seeing how things work out between her and Ranger and her and Morelli.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Definitely the best Plum book I've read so far. I love the Steph/Joe relationship, but also very intrigued by Ranger. What girl isn't interested in the guy she can't figure out? And just so we're all clear...men really don't exist like Morelli and Ranger.