Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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TEN BIG ONES by Janet Evanovich
This is bad. This is just plain bad. The writing is bad. The characters are awful. The dialogue and plot, the beginning and ending - the whole thing is simply bad. If I didn't know this author was on the New York Times bestseller list, I would think this was a poorly written attempt from a first time fiction writer in a beginning writers' workshop. It's that unbelievable.
What makes Ten Big Ones so bad? It's hard to put my finger on. The book is about a female bounty hunter named Stephanie Plum. Think of a really dumb, twenth-something, girl-next-door type who regularly eats a whole dozen donuts in one sitting, is a scaredy cat who confronts ruthless gang killers, who sleeps with one man but wants to sleep with another one. There's just very little to like, or believe, about this woman.
I felt like I ewas watching some seedy show on Fox, but it wasn't even that good. The book reminded me a little of the show "Married with Children" - lots of leopard print spandex - but that kind of thing watches better than it reads. The dialogue is crass. The characters are such stereotypes - the women are neurotic and eat Cheetos like there's no tomorrow and the men are pushy, macho, black T-shirt wearing, control freaks. Who are these people?
Save your money. If you want to feel sick to your stomach, buy the cheese doodles and eat them yourself instead of reading 300 pages of sleazy characters eating them for you. I give a thumbs down to Janet Evanovich's bestseller, Ten Big Ones. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio 1160, I'm Amanda Dickson.
