Product Description

Miami is still freakin' humid. The nights are even hotter. And there's a body on ice. And that's just the beginning of this adrenaline-rush of a hot-wired ride from phenomenal number one New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

A woman with a taste for speed and a talent for breaking the rules, Barney also knows a little too much about cheating. First there was Hooker and that salesclerk. Now she's convinced one of the competitors is up to no good on the track. Snooping to find evidence, Hooker and Barney "borrow" a NASCAR hauler. Turns out, the hauler is carrying two race cars and a dead guy. It looks like Barney and Hooker are facing multiple counts of grand theft auto and homicide.

So buckle up as Barney, Hooker, a 150-pound bundle of Saint Bernard love named Beans, and the Super Cigar Ladies Felicia and Rosa shift into gear on a wild race around South Florida and Concord, North Carolina.

Everything you always wanted to know about righteous indignation, stealing an eighteen-wheeler, and sex in the fast lane.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107214 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Released on: 2007-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060584054
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of this cool comedy thriller from bestseller Evanovich, her second novel to star Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby (after 2004's Metro Girl), Barney and her unfaithful NASCAR racing honey, Sam Hooker, find themselves in trouble after discovering the shrink-wrapped body of ruthless businessman Oscar Huevo in a rival racer's car hauler. The pair must pull together to protect a high-tech gizmo that can revolutionize racing-and save their lives. Evanovich burns some rubber and only hits the brakes a few times, thanks to her bright dialogue, race-track savvy and expert depiction of romantic mayhem. Though sometimes it seems as if she's still taking a test drive with this new cast of eccentrics, the pages fly by as the racy tension between Hooker and Barney adds heat to the fun. Action on the menu includes destruction of valuable race cars, a dognapping and a kidnapping. While Barney isn't likely to beat Stephanie Plum in a popularity contest, she's still a hoot.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby has a degree in engineering and a passion for the way cars work. Her passion for NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, for whom she works as a spotter and R & D person, has been put on hold since his one-night stand with a salesclerk made it onto the Internet. When Hooker loses a race and Barney thinks cheating is involved--the fancy, electronic kind--a wild ride commences, one that begins in Miami, then moves to the Carolinas and back again A corpse shows up along the way, and there's lots of NASCAR detail (fascinating even if you're not a devotee) and lots of doggy subplot (Hooker's St Bernard Beans eats a box of prunes that ends up having a great deal to do with the plot). Barney and Hooker find themselves in one outrageously hilarious situation after another: saved by tough granny Felicia and her myriad Cuban American family members; clocking a bad guy with a six-pack; disposing of corpses in some remarkably icky but entertaining ways. Evanovich, of Stephanie Plum fame, appears to have another winner on her hands: this one is every bit as lively as Metro Girl (2004), the first in the Barney series. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Bestselling author Janet Evanovich is the winner of the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award and multiple Romantic Times awards, including Lifetime Achievement. She is also a longstanding member of RWA.

Customer Reviews

Floundering Story
I was really looking forward to the release of this novel and had high expectations. Too bad they all fell flat. Alexa Barnaby, known as Barney, gave up her boring job in insurance to be a spotter for Nascar driver, Sam Hooker, after their first adventure. Barney and Hooker's personal relationship went south, however, after he cheated on her with a salesclerk. They team up to rescue their friend Gobbles when he gets locked in the car hauler of some shady characters, and find themselves framed for murder, as well as on the run from people who want to kill them.

It's obvious Evanovich is courting Nascar fans with this series, and while I am not a Nascar fan, I don't have any issue with that part of the story, which was actually somewhat interesting. What I do have a problem with is the way the book gets bogged down by silly pratfalls that fail to be funny. She relies on her old standby of a big, stupid dog, but people getting continually knocked to the ground by a drooling St. Bernard is just annoying, and not in the least bit funny. Toward the middle, I actually started to like the book as Barney and Sam were figuring things out, but then the story descended into a worn-out slapstick dog poop adventure we've seen way too many times now.

I really like Barney's character. How could I not like a woman with her skills? She's smart, fun, and capable, which just makes me wonder what she sees in Hooker, who is not so easy to like. First of all, he's a slut who cheated on Barney, and cheaters just aren't sexy. He's also not very smart, and his incessant horniness fails to be amusing. As for the dog, he's got to go. The very idea of him is worn out, and he's not funny, he's a menace.

I really think this series has potential, but I think Evanovich needs to put a little more effort into it. Sometimes it seems to have a unique flavor all its own, and then it seems as if the author didn't know what to do next, so she threw in some cheap slapstick. After all, it works with Stephanie Plum, right?

In all, I didn't hate this book, but I can't say I liked it all that much, either. I don't think I'll be all that excited when the next one comes out, but I'll probably read it just to see if the series is improving.

Awful
I don't know who wrote this book, but they should refrain from insulting us again. I really had to struggle to get through this book. I love the Plum series; I've read them all several times over, but I could barely get through this dreck.

Not as fun as Stephanie Plum
Ok, sorry about the rhyming in the title. This second book in Evanovich's new series featuring a NASCAR mechanic babe isn't as much fun as her Stephanie Plum series, as some have noted, primarily due to the lack of fun supporting characters a la Lula, Grandma Mazur, Sally Sweet, etc.. that populate Plum's universe. I enjoy this series but it does suffer in comparison to the world she's built in the Plum series. But let's give it some time. Stephanie Plum developed over time too.