Takedown Twenty - Review

Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum, # 20)

By: Janet Evanovich

Published: November 19th 2013 by Bantam

320 pages

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Humor

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Goodreads description--Stephanie Plum has her sights set on catching a notorious mob boss. If she doesn’t take him down, he may take her out.

New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore “Uncle Sunny” Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it’s up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in—not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, has skin in the game, because—just Stephanie’s luck—the godfather is his actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.

It’s not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client’s mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she’s working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior center, trying to catch a killer on the loose—and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favor.

With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown.

The Stephanie Plum series is not a series of books that I take too seriously. I purposefully try NOT to overanalyze them. I almost feel like I’ve said everything there is to say about these books. They’re quick and fun reads. I don’t have to think too hard, predict what’s going to happen, or expect too much of them. And Takedown Twenty is no different.

As per usual, I listened to this one on audio at work. It had moments were I giggled a little and smiled a bit, but there were no laugh out loud moments. As with Notorious Nineteen, I felt like Takedown Twenty was a filler novel. Not much progress was made in the way of Stephanie making any major life decisions.

The narrator, Lorelai King, once again did a great job. She makes these novels even better. But even if I had to go back and read them myself, I think I would still hear each character in the voices that she’s done for them at this point. Janet Evanovich has done a great job of creating such memorable characters that have their own way of speaking, their own taglines, their own patterns, but Lorelai King brings all of those things to life even more.

Favorite quotes (these might not be accurately punctuated etc…I’m going off notes I took while listening to the audio version):

It goes good with my favorite color—leopard. – Lula

I’m just not ready to pay the price right now. – Ranger (you need the context, but that’s all I’m going to give you.)

Babe… – Ranger

No, she’ll poison you. She’s Sicilian. She’ll get you with a meatball. – Morelli.

I worry that someday I’m not going to be able to get to you in time. – Ranger

Lula & I are like Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz. Ranger is batman. – Stephanie

Your nose don’t look so good. It’s swollen up already and making a right hand turn. – Lula

You gotta admire a woman who takes her pay in porkchops. – Lula

Takedown Twenty gets 3 stars. Have you read Takedown Twenty? What did you think? Let me know