Book & Audio Review: Game On by Janet Evanovich

Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight
Author: Janet Evanovich
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: Stephanie Plum (Book 28)
Publication: Atria Books (November 2, 2021); Simon & Schuster Audio (November 2, 2021)
Length: 299 p,; 7 hours and 3 minutes

Description: Stephanie Plum returns to hunt down a new kind of criminal operating out of Trenton in the 28th book in the wildly popular series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

When Stephanie Plum is woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of footsteps in her apartment, she wishes she didn’t keep her gun in the cookie jar in her kitchen. And when she finds out the intruder is fellow apprehension agent Diesel, six feet of hard muscle and bad attitude who she hasn’t seen in more than two years, she still thinks the gun might come in handy.

Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Stephanie may not be the most technologically savvy sleuth, but she more than makes up for that with her dogged determination, her understanding of human nature, and her willingness to do just about anything to bring a fugitive to justice. Unsure if Diesel is her partner or her competition in this case, she’ll need to watch her back every step of the way as she sets the stage to draw Wednesday out from behind his computer and into the real world.

My Thoughts: The 28th novel in the Stephanie Plum series was another fun romp. Stephanie and her partner Lulu are busy tracking down bail bond jumpers. On her plate are a homeless man arrested for killing and eating ducks from a park, a man arrested for mooning an unwilling woman, and a guy who was arrested for breaking into a cop's house who claims he just entered the wrong house. Then there is the woman who shot up a bakery when they closed early so she couldn't get an eclair.

Meanwhile, Diesel has come back to visit and decides to break into Stephanie's apartment in the middle of the night. Diesel works for a mysterious organization and has been gone for two years. Now he's back and looking for a computer hacker who has a nefarious plot in mind. 

Stephanie gets involved when she realizes that her housebreaker and Diesel's hacker are the same guy. She needs to stick close to Diesel if she wants to get her fee. But the hacker/housebreaker has decided to add murderer to his resumé leaving Diesel and Stephanie to find some local hackers before the killer does. 

This has typical Stephanie sorts of activities. She has not one, but two cars, destroyed, and buys her newest from a shady dealer that Lulu recommends. She also has quite a juggling act between her boyfriend Morelli, the mysterious Diesel, and the even more mysterious Ranger. Throw in some Grandma Mazur antics and Stephanie's mom's newest stress relief - knitting, and you have a fun, chaotic story.

Fans of the series will enjoy this episode.

Favorite Quote:

The ritual of death was important in the Burg. It was your last chance to look good.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.