Hard Eight

Wisecracking bounty hunter Stephanie Plum searches for a mother who has broken a child custody bond and fled with her young daughter. The child's grandmother secured the bond and is about to lose her home. When Plum encounters a businessman/gangster named Abruzzi, a frustrated military man who tortures and plays mind games to get what he wants, the war games begin--with Plum as hostage. Lorelei King excels with this multiplicity of characters, seamlessly flowing from Plum's take-command voice to Abruzzi's Jersey accent. King's screams of terror when poisonous snakes are let loose in Plum's apartment and tarantulas appear in her car are fearsome. This sassy story entertains to the end. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine