Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich

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Top Secret Twenty OneHave no fear, the days of Stephanie Plum reviews have come to an end…until November. Last fall when I originally picked up One for the Money, I had a hard time getting into the book and ultimately put it down. In an attempt to clear my GoodReads “currently reading” list I finally picked it back up in March. Knowing that there were 25 books total (up to Top Secret Twenty-One plus the four half books) I figured I would never actually read the entire series.

One thing lead to another, four months later here we are… Top Secret Twenty-One.

Rangeman is hit by a terrorist and Jimmy Poletti, a local car salesman, has gone missing after he skipped out on a court date. Randy Briggs is back in action as he took care of Poletti’s books. It turns out Poletti had a lot more to hide than just his affairs. Poletti is out to get Briggs so Briggs decides to move into Stephanie’s apartment after his is firebombed.

Unfortunately, hers is too.

She temporarily moves in with Morelli while Briggs inhabits her barely inhabitable apartment as a safe house. In the mean time she picks up a homeless FTA who has a litter of chihuahua’s who all wind up going home with Briggs.

While Morelli and the cops are sorting out murders (and firebombs) being linked to Poletti, Stephanie takes off to Atlantic City to help Ranger track down the Russian terrorist responsible for infecting Rangeman.

“Morelli turned to Ranger. “If anything happens to her, I’m holding you responsible.”
“Understood,” Ranger said.
“Excuse me?” I said. “I’m an adult. I make my own decisions. And I’m responsible for my well-being. Is that clear?”
“No,” both men said in unison.”
Janet Evanovich, Top Secret Twenty-One

Stephanie shows she’s learned a lot over the years but still in the end relies on Ranger’s uptight security to help. Between funky tattoos, bedazzled shirts & hotel suites covered in monkeys, the trip turns into a memorable Atlantic City trip.

As sad as I am to not know what happens next, this was definitely a good book to be “stuck” after. There were no cliffhangers at the end and it left you walking away okay with all situations.

One of the best parts about this book was Grandma’s “bucket list” in which she made a list of things she needed to accomplish before she dies. This includes “getting Grandma Bella” and “seeing Ranger naked.”

“Babe!” Ranger shouted from the bathroom. “Come get your grandmother.” Ranger was standing in the glass-enclosed shower with the door open, looking out at Grandma. He was dripping wet and seemed not especially concerned that he was naked. “It’s like she’s paralyzed,” he said.
“Amazing,” Grandma said, eyes wide, staring in unblinking stupefaction.
I yanked Grandma out and closed the bathroom door.
“It was mesmerizing,” Grandma said. “It was like staring into the eye of a cobra. I don’t care if I do anything else on the bucket list. This was awesome. It was like a biblical experience.”

I won’t lie, I was laughing out loud at that scene. Grandma never disappoints. Needless to say there was also a lot of pie in this book and it is safe to say it wasn’t at the dinner table.

While I never thought I would catch up on this series in time for Tricky Twenty-Two I really never thought I would finish before July. Did you pre-order your copy of Tricky Twenty-Two yet?

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