Lean Mean Thirteen

Lorelei King teams up with Evanovich for this newest laugh-out-loud Stephanie Plum novel. King is so Plum, perfectly catching the bounty hunter's sardonic view of life, love, and crime. King is also great at dramatizing two of Plum's least favorite people: Dickie Orr, her annoying ex-husband, to whom she was married for only 15 minutes, and his new girlfriend, Plum's arch-nemesis, the shapely, snotty Joyce Bernhardt, who's after Dickie's money. When Dickie goes missing with $40 million, Plum gets mixed up with a mess of wacky characters, all of whom King actualizes perfectly--from Lula the ex-prostitute to a taxidermist who plants bombs inside dead beavers. This CD includes an interview with the author. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 28, 2007
In her rollicking 13th Stephanie Plum adventure (after Twelve Sharp
), bestseller Evanovich is in top, quirky form. Plucky, bumbling New Jersey bounty hunter Plum is reunited with her two-timing lawyer ex-husband, Dickie Orr, while doing a favor for the mysterious, sexy Ranger. But when Dickie disappears from his house leaving behind only bloodstains and bullet holes, Plum becomes the prime suspect in his alleged murder. Determined to clear her name, Plum and her on-again off-again Trenton cop boyfriend, the irresistible Joe Morelli, uncover Dickie’s ties to a shady group of men involved in everything from money laundering to drug running. And when Dickie’s jilted business partners decide Stephanie holds the key to the $40 million they believe Dickie stole from them, she’s in for a wild ride. With the author’s usual cast of eccentric side characters—everything from a taxidermist with a penchant for bombs to a grave-robbing tax man—Evanovich proves once again that Stephanie Plum and her entourage are here to stay.

When bodacious bounty hunter Stephanie Plum goes to her ex-husband's apartment, she finds blood stains on the carpet and suspects he's either dead or kidnapped. She doesn't really care, but she knows the police will blame her because she's threatened to kill him before, so--with the help of her boyfriend-- she sets out to discover what happened. Lorelei King shows flexibility as she performs the cast of unpredictable characters that that make up Plum's world. King's performance gives the sense of multiple narrators. She delivers the comedic aspects of this mystery with expert vocal manipulation and produces a variety of believable accents. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine