This was my first Stephanie Plum book but the irrepressible Ms. Plum captured my attention from the very first page and held me spellbound for the entire 317 pages that followed. I never knew Trenton, New Jersey could be this much fun.

In this fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's increasingly popular series, Stephanie's problems are many and varied. She's not making enough money picking up FTAs (Failures to Appear) for her cousin Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds; her red-hot love affair with Detective Joe Morelli has cooled off; and her giant extended family is no help at all. For instance, Uncle Fred the cheapskate has disappeared, leaving behind some suspicious photographs of body parts in garbage bags and links to some really dangerous people.

When Stephanie turns to her friend and mentor, Ranger, for financial advice, he gets her involved in a gang of toughs doing instant evictions for landlords. (She complains to Ranger about the job and its dangers, prompting one of the hired thugs to say, "Man, you don't like to get shot. You don't like to get arrested. You don't know how to have fun at all.")

In my opinion, High Five is the best of the series (so far). Stephanie's life is ruled by Murphy's Law, "if it can go wrong it will" but her tenacity helps her through all her misadventures - to use and add to another review - it is full of high fun, high drama, high hopes & hilarity. You will find yourself breaking out in laughter at the oddest moments as you remember an incident with Morelli, or the 'little person', Grandma M, Lula or her many, many cars. High Five will leave you with your mouth open, wondering how she (the author) can leave us "hanging" like this . I cannot wait to read HOT SIX -

RECOMMENDED