E

• Don Ecker

  • Past Sins

  • Interview at Suite101.com

• Janet Evanovich

  • One for the Money

  • Two for the Dough

  • Three to Get Deadly

  • Four to Score

  • High Five

  • Hot Six

  • Seven Up

  • Hard Eight

  • To the Nines

  • Ten Big Ones

  • Eleven on Top

  • Metro Girl

Don Ecker

Past Sins
By Don Ecker
Published by Dark Realm Press
Copyright 2003
EBN: 29094-040310-103219-17
Genre / Subgenre: Supernatural Horror

The premise: Vampires exist. Back in the 1960's, the CIA managed to capture one, planning to use vampires as their new secret weapon, but it didn’t work out quite as they planned. Forty years later, one of the vampires escapes. Now there are vampires in L.A.. Kids are going missing, and then a body gets up off the morgue table and takes a bite out of the coroner. Suddenly the LAPD has got a major problem on its hands, even if no one wants to believe it is vampires.

Don Ecker’s vampires are evil, soulless creatures, whose humanity has been stripped from them. None of this mamby-pamby stuff we find so often in today’s vampire fiction. Despite that, they are creatures of purpose and reason, that is most of them. There are the revenants that are just plain eating machines, who get shot and keep on coming, again and again.

PAST SINS is very detailed. Sometimes too detailed. The author managed to include every vampire theory that I have ever heard of. On the other hand, the author used that same eye for detail to create some exceptionally vivid scenes that sucked me in and made me feel as though I was living them. The hill in Vietnam, the couple in the valley being chase by the revenant, the chaos at police headquarters.

While the writing is good, PAST SINS is plagued with problems and in need of a good and ruthless editor. There is an over use of flashbacks that leads to confusion and timeline problems, too many viewpoint characters leaving the reader not knowing who the story is actually about, and lots of extraneous details.

Despite the problems, PAST SINS is a must read for every true fan of vampire fiction. Don Ecker has truly added to the genre. He has taken the subject into the present day with haunting realism. What if vampires were real? What if they were truly a threat to our way of life, to our national security? What would the police do? What would our government do? What would we do? As a retired policeman, Don Ecker’s answers are thought provoking and the story’s ending disturbing. This is not a story for those who are looking for a romance or a light tale, but it is definitely worth reading.

Don Ecker’s homepage
http://home.comcast.net/%7edecker0726/

The book is available as an eBook in PDF, Palm, HTML, and Rocket from Dark Realm Press http://www.darkrealmpress.com

It is also available in a Trade Paperback edition from Dark Realm Press or Amazon.com. 

Janet Evanovich

One for the Money
By: Janet Evanovich
Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons
Copyright 1994
ISBN: #0-684-196395-5
SERIES: "Stephanie Plum #1"
Genre and Sub-Genre: Mystery

Stephanie Plum, out of work and desperate, takes a job as a Fugitive Recovery Agent (Bounty Hunter) for her bail-bondsman cousin Vinny. If she can bring in Joe Morelli, she will make $10,000. She grew up with Joe Morelli in the chunk of Trenton, New Jersey called the burg. Joe was always a wild boy, with a reputation of being one for the ladies, even when he was eight and she was six. Her mother warned her, but she didn’t listen and let him talked her into playing train out in his garage. When she was sixteen, Joe’s reputation and talent had grown and he had charmed her out of her virginity and then never called again. The next time she saw him was three years later and she had side-swiped him with her father’s car. Her history with Joe was a long one filled with ups and downs.

Joe, now a cop accused of killing an unarmed man, has jumped bail. When Stephanie gets lucky and manages to tracks Joe down right off, he merely laughs at her attempts to bring him in, which just makes her mad and more than ever determined to win, this time. Their conflict escalates when she steals his car and he retaliates by leaving her handcuffed naked in the shower. Then his car is blown up and it is only luck that Stephanie wasn’t in the driver’s seat. She and Joe join forces to find the mysterious missing witness and prove that Joe shot in self defense.

Although this isn’t a romance, it’s got sexual tension up the wauzoo (if you don’t know what that word means, lots and lots.) The sparks fly with each encounter between Stephanie and Joe and one can’t wait to find out where Stephanie and Joe’s prickly relationship is going to go in the next book.

Janet Evanovich has peopled her book with wonderfully zany characters and made Trenton New Jeresy sound as exotic and foreign as Monte Carlo or Las Vegas, although I suspect that Trentonites will find much familiar. Her characters are willing to laugh at themselves and her rye sense of humor makes One for the Money worth reading. It is a good thing that this is only the start of the series, it is a great book and leaves you wanting, no needing, more.

Reviewed By: Linda Suzane,  May 18, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

In her second outing, fledgling bounty hunter Stephanie Plum continues to fumble her way to the successful capture of her man. This time the fugitive is Joe Morelli’s cousin, Kenny Mancuso, but what looks like a simple fugitive pick-up turns complicated with murder, gun running, a shipment of missing coffins, amputated body parts, and a crazed pyscho after Stephanie’s Grandmother Mazur. When Joe Morelli offers to team up with her to find Kenny, she doesn’t trust Joe for a moment, but she agrees. When Joe starts showing up at her parents’ house for dinner and her mother begins to consider him as potential marriage material, Stephanie is sure it wasn’t a good idea.

Stephanie spends a lot of time in the burg’s funeral parlors with a gun-totting, feisty Grandma Mazur as a sidekick. Grandma Mazur is certainly a character.

Joe and Stephanie’s relationship heats up until it sizzles, going from bad to worse, when she manages to leave him bare-ass-ed, standing in the middle of the street. Evanovich’s deft handling of the relationship between Joe and Stephanie keeps the sexual tension high, the sparks flying, and leaves you wanting more. You know they are going to get together, but not this time. Maybe next time.

Janet Evanovich has written a humorous view of the Trenton, New Jersey burg, that is peopled with delightfully different and interesting characters. Her mystery is complex and takes the reader for a wild ride as this very amateur detective solves the crime and hunts down her man. In Joe’s opinion, she is a pretty poor excuse for a bounty hunter, but she is also the luckiest. Hang around her long enough, and something or someone is bound to drop in her lap.

I was thinking that this is one of those series you want to read in order, but I’m not sure it is necessary since Janet Evanovich does an excellent job of filling you in on background without bogging you down. But I’m sure that once you have read one book, you are going to want to read all of them and in order.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, June 7, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

Things are never quite what they appear in the burg. Uncle Mo, the long-time owner of the local candy store, is a failure to appear on the charge of carrying a concealed weapon. The whole burg is scandalized that Stephanie would harass such a good man as Uncle Mo. Stephanie is suspicious when she finds the candy store closed and the candy man missing. Then the bodies of dead drug dealers start turning up and Stephanie keeps stumbling across them. Joe Morelli is temporarily assigned to homicide so he ends up fielding all those bodies Stephanie’s tossing around including four buried in Mo’s basement. To make things worse there are a group of mask men threatening Stephanie if she doesn’t leave Mo alone, the highlights she was having put in her hair turn out to be the bright orange of Ronald McDonald’s wig when she jumps up to chase a fugitive, and for some unknown reason, Joe Morelli is no longer hitting on her. She solves that problem, but it is more coitus interruptus with her and Joe when Joe’s plan to get her drunk and seduce her backfires. Ranger, Lulu, Grandma Mazur and Vinnie, Stephanie’s sex pervert boss, are all back and it is another hilarious romp through the burg. Janet Evanovich just keeps getting better and funnier.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane,  June 16, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

Bounty Hunter, Stephanie Plum, is out to get her man, but in this case, it is a woman. Maxine Nowicki. It looks like a simple pick up, Maxine was accused of stealing her ex-boyfriend’s pickup truck. But Maxine has skipped town. When Stephanie meets Maxine’s ex-boyfriend, she agrees with Maxine leaving, the guy is a real jerk, but he does offer her a $1000 to find some love letters Maxine stole.

Stephanie questions Maxine’s friends and family, but they aren’t talking and they seem remarkably accident prone with one having a finger cut of and another scalped. It seems like something more is going on. Maxine leads her boyrfiend and Stephanie on a treasure hunt from hell. To make things worse, Vinnie has hired Joyce Barnhardt as a bounty hunter. Stephanie can’t stand Joyce, especially since Stephanie found her and Stephanie’s husband, now very ex-husband, bare-assed on her dining room table playing hide-the-salami. Now Joyce starts tailing Stephanie and trying to beat her to Maxine.

As with all her cases, there is more going on that meets the eye and with her usual luck Stephanie keeps stumbling right into the middle of it. There are always interesting characters, this time including a couple drag queen musicians.

Stephanie’s relationship with Joe Morelli heats up after her apartment is firebombed and she moves in with him. Yes, after four books, they finally get around to consummating the act, and boy do they consummate. Now Stephanie has real problems, as Joe’s mother and grandmother are inviting her to dinner and talking wedding plans and everyone in the burg thinks that Joe has gotten her pregnant.

Janet Evanovich’s sense of humor, her quirky characters, the improbable happenings, the wonderful sexual tension between Stephanie and Joe, all make FOUR TO SCORE a book not to be missed.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, June 18, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

Stephanie needs to pay the rent, only there are no FTAs (short for Failure to Appear), except one little one, really little one. Stephanie comes up against a guy who is vertically challenged who thumbs his nose at her and makes her blood boil. Then there is Stephanie’s Uncle Fred who has gone missing. Somewhere between picking up his laundry and visiting the garbage company, he just disappeared and her family expect Stephanie to find him. Stephanie begins to get a bad feeling when two employees of the garbage company turn up dead. Stephanie doggedly tries to find out what happened to Uncle Fred, while dodging a supposedly loan shark who claims Fred owed him money and who insists on following her around and breaking in her apartment. And then there is Ramirez who has gotten out of prison and is determined to finish what he started, which means putting Stephanie in a world of hurt. Life as usual for Stephanie Plum.

When she asks her mentor, Ranger, the super cool bounty hunter, about branching out, he begins throwing jobs her way, helping redecorate apartments, Ranger style, and driving over-sexed teenaged Sheiks. Then he starts giving her cars to drive, super cool black cars. The question is why is he being so helpful? Oh, yes there is the kiss. Yes, Stephanie is definitely looking at Ranger in a whole new light. Then her normal rocky relationship with Joe Morelli, gets really rocky when she sees him coming home late at night with the beautiful Terry Gilman.

Janet Evanovich continues to enchant and make you laugh with the zany adventures of Stephanie Plum and her relatives and friends. The sexual tension between Joe and Stephanie remains high, but added to the mix is now the zinging between Stephanie and the very sexy, very dangerous Ranger. WARNING: HIGH FIVE ends with a sexual cliff hanger that is going to send you running to the bookstore to get HOT SIX.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, June 20, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

Janet Evanovich left us dangling at the end of HIGH FIVE, wondering which of the two men in Stephanie Plum’s life she is going to choose. Which one did she invite over? Which one did she put on that slinky black number and who came to her door? Joe Morelli or Ranger? I’m not going to tell you. You will just have to read it yourself, but I will tell you that it isn’t the solution, there is no happily ever after in Stephanie’s life, although a wedding ring may loom in her future.

So who is Stephanie out to get? No other than Ranger. Ranger was caught carrying a concealed weapon by a rookie cop who didn’t know better, because everyone knows that Ranger carries concealed. He is after all the primer bounty hunter, Stephanie’s mentor, and a man of ultimate mystery and fantasies, especially Stephanie’s and Lulu’s. What starts out as a small problem turns into a big problem when Ranger fails to appear in court and Vinnie offers the case to Stephanie. Stephanie is too smart to accept, so Vinnie gives the capture to Joyce Barnhardt, Stephanie’s arch enemy. Stephanie isn’t worried, because no one, absolutely no one can find Ranger if he doesn’t want to be found, even the police who now want Ranger for murder of a mobster’s son. Surveillance tapes put Ranger and only Ranger at the scene just before the guy was fried to a crisp.

Stephanie doesn’t believe it for an instant and when Ranger shows up asking her for help, she readily gives it. She gets drawn in deeper and deeper into the case, stumbling along looking for clues. Following her are a couple of bad talking wise guys, a dog with an eating disorder, her grandmother who has moved in with her, a woman-hating homicidal manic out to commit vehicular manslaughter, suicidal housewife, Joe Morelli, and Joyce Barnhardt who is blackmailing Stephanie into giving her Ranger. To save a friend, Stephanie just might do it.

This is another great ride into Janet Evanovich’s zany world. It is hard to believe that she can pack so much fun into such a small book. As always an absolutely great mystery full of humor that keeps you laughing and enjoying.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, June 25, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, is led a merry chase by Eddie DeChooch, an old time hood who is half blind with cataracts and has prostrate trouble and is driving a white Cadillac, but still manages to elude Stephanie. Then Stephanie’s friend Dougie disappears and his friend MoonMan is shot at. Now everyone is looking for something that Dougie had, Eddie, Eddie’s friends, a mysterious woman with crazy eyes, and they start thinking that Stephanie might have it.

Stephanie turns to Ranger for help to find Dougie and catch Eddie, but Ranger’s help has a price, a night of absolute pleasure with him.

Moon Man disappears and in desperation Stephanie lets it be known that she has the you know what. And when she finally finds out what the you-know-what is, she can’t believe it. Can she bluff Eddie and get Moon Man back.

And what about Joe Morelli? Are there wedding bells in the future? Stephanie’s mother thinks so as she has Stephanie trying on wedding gowns and is busy renting the hall for the reception. It is all too much for Stephanie.

In what is becoming a trade mark of Janet Evanovich, she has left us with a sexual cliff hanger, when Ranger turns up demanding payment for his help on the case. Oh well, I’ll just have to read number eight.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, June 25, 2002

Available from Amazon.com

In Hard Eight, Mabel, Stephanie’s parent’s neighbor, asks Stephanie to find her missing daughter Evelyn and granddaughter Annie. Mabel put up her home as collateral for a custody bond and if her granddaughter goes missing, Mabel could lose her house. Not only is Stephanie looking, but so is Evelyn’s ex-husband and her landlord Arbuzzi. Arbuzzi is a real piece of work, a cruel, sadistic game player who begins to torment Stephanie, thinking she knows where Evelyn is and what it is all about. It seems that he has lost something and will do anything to get it back.

This is one of my least favorite books of the series because it is so dark. The attempts at humor fall short, maybe because there are so many, 3 cars are firebombed, including Ranger’s own, Stephanie keeps losing handcuffs while she tries to bring in a prep, being attacked by geese is just stupid, and being chase by a guy in a bunny suit isn’t particularly funny, especially when Stephanie’s mom runs down the rabbit who is trying to hurt Stephanie. Even the fact that Ranger claims his debt and he and Stephanie finally have their night together isn’t enough to lighten this story. Then there is the introduction of Klough as a character. He is just pitiful, especially when he gets himself stuck in a dryer at the Laundromat. Well, maybe that was funny.

Still the mystery is good and keeps you page turning. I can’t say it is a bad book. No, it is a very good book, but just not my favorite Stephanie Plum.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, April 20, 2005

Available from Amazon.com

Available from Amazon.com

Janet Evanovich has done it again! Stephanie and Lula happen to witness a robbery. Stephanie sees the man behind the mask and suddenly she is involved with the gangs that are invading Trenton and on a killer’s to-do list. When Joe’s house is decorated with gang graffiti, Stephanie moves out. It didn’t help that Joe is demanding that she play it safe, hid in his house. and do the housewife routine. Fleeing not only the bad guys but the idea of being a stay-at-home housewife, Stephanie looks for a safe place and finds it in Ranger’s apartment. No one knows she’s there, she’s safe, at least until Ranger comes back from his business trip, and then, well then she will be in danger of losing more than her life. The humor is fantastic. I start chuckling just thinking about some of the scenes like the humping dogs and Sweet in his red dress and Uzi and ... You have just got read it. And for the ongoing highly sexual tension between Stephanie, Joe, and Ranger, well we readers get an extra dose as Stephanie lives out fantasies about Ranger’s bath gel, clean sheets, and underwear or lack of same. Like I said, you just have to read it. TEN BIG ONES is a real winner, one of my favorites of the whole series.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, February 22, 2005

Available from Amazon.com

After ten books in the Stephanie Plum series, it was time for some changes. Stephanie is no longer a bounty hunter, fed up at getting shot at, having her car blown up, and ending up covered in food, she quits. But she still manages to get in trouble in that area as she tries to help out Lulu who has taken over her job. Finding a new job isn’t easy. Well, finding a new job is easy, but keeping one is hard as Stephanie goes through a series of humorous job situations, the kind that only Stephanie can find herself. Then there is the danger. Someone is sending her notes, warning her that he is back and she doesn’t have long to live. Someone she has tangled with before is out for revenge, but who? It begins to look serious when things start exploding, like cars and people. Finally Ranger offers her a job at Rangerman. She accepts. She should be safe at Rangerman, well except perhaps from Ranger. The romantic tension fairly sizzles. And on the home front, she is taking very good care of an injured Joe. For once, he is the one trying to back off. Like I said the romantic tension sizzles.

I said before that number 10 was my favorite, well number 11 is pretty good too! So far there certainly isn’t any sign of this series slowing down. It just keeps getting better and better. And my anticipation of the next one keeps growing because there have been some drastic changes not only in Stephanie’s life, but in the life of the Burg as well. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane August 12, 2005

METRO GIRL sure isn’t Stephanie Plum, but maybe that isn’t all bad. METRO GIRL is a romantic comedy thriller. Alexander "Barney" Barnaby comes to Florida after a suspicious phone call from her brother and finds him missing, his apartment ransacked. When she goes hunting for him, she meets Sam Hooker, who is also looking for him, because he stole Sam’s boat. Sam is a famous NASCAR driver, just the kind of adolescent male that Barney left her father’s garage to avoid, but he won’t let her avoid him. Together they go looking for her brother and get into lots of trouble.

I was commenting to my husband about how Janet Evanovich manages to pack so much sex into a book without even doing the deed, he laughed. He said it is Janet Evanovich never grew up, the dialogue is just like horny teenagers. And he’s right. Even more so in this book than in the Stephanie Plum series, but that isn’t all to the bad. I really enjoyed the humor, quick witted, ribald, teenage humor. And the quirky characters. Really quirky characters. The story moves along at a rapid clip. A great thriller, including saving the world from destruction.

Janet Evanovich has a real winner here. I liked METRO GIRL, it kept me laughing, even at the bad guys.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, April 25, 2005

Available from Amazon.com