Explosive Eighteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel    by Janet Evanovich Order:  USA  Can Bantam, 2012 (2012) Hardcover, CD, e-Book Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth If this is starting out to be not one of your better days, obtain a copy of Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. Things will start looking up from the first page. Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter. She finds and captures bail skippers for a bail bond office. She is aided in her pursuit of the bad guys by Connie, who keeps the office running and does a good job; Lula, an ex 'ho as flamboyant as they come whose desire for fried chicken from Cluck-in-a-Bucket is legendary as is her flair for extraordinary colorful clothing; and Stephanie's cousin Vinnie, who owns the bail bond business and prefers doing anything except work. There have been a few problems in this eighteenth novel in the series. The office has gone up in smoke and the temporary home that has been found in a trailer also succumbs to flames. After they settle into a beat-up storefront until a new office can be built, an invasion of rats presents no small problem. Stephanie is under surveillance by the FBI. She sat next to a person of interest on a plane and now has a photo of a wanted man. Her love life is complicated – both Morelli, a cop, and Ranger, a security man, are in her life. Both are hunks and desirable. But she hesitates. Grandma Mazur is a blast. Outspoken, she drives Stephanie's father to distraction and her mother to drink. The travails of the main character never seem to end, mostly having her ride trashed. Whatever can go wrong does. Laughing out loud is encouraged when reading this gem of a mystery. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews