The misleadingly titled Going Rogue (Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine) has so little of the zing that made millions fall in love with the Stephanie Plum series that I was forced to conclude it had been ghostwritten, perhaps by a work experience kid. Either that, or Janet Evanovich has run out of ideas and is just trying to cling on long enough to get to ‘Thank God It’s Thirty’ and bring the whole thing to a merciful close. The dialogue is flat and dull, beloved and familiar characters are pale and lifeless imitations of themselves, and the obligatory ‘whacky side characters’ are underused and under-painted (crazy grandma Bella finally gets centre stage and has a few good lines but is essentially a lazy sketch brought along for a few cheap gags, her charges - the premise upon which she is dragged into the story - left unresolved). Despite multiple members of the core crew being kidnapped and held by perpetrators who don’t make an appearance until almost the end, the pace is glacial, with next to no real tension and barely any sustained action. While Connie and Vinnie’s respective captivities stretch into days, a strangely two-dimensional Stephanie is doing her hair, eating doughnuts, tootling around on unrelated, largely boring captures and (as per usual) enjoying sexy date nights with Morelli while simultaneously trying to decide whether or not to bonk Ranger - apparently having been able to shrug and put the hostages out of her mind while waiting to hear from the kidnappers with their latest one line message that leads nowhere. There’s nothing new in her stagnant character arc, unless you count finally learning how to name the different parts of a gun (and even then…what was the point of that? There was barely any payoff to this waste of time scene). She’s touted in the blurb as Going Rogue like it’s some kind of brave departure but all she does is fail to tell Morelli a few details - hardly unusual in their half-hearted relationship. Unless you’re some kind of masochistic completist Plum fan (like me…barely hanging in there, it must be said), you won’t miss much if you skip this desultory episode. ( )

3.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on site).

I've read this series for a number of years. There was a lull in the series a while ago but the past few books in the series including this one are decent reads.

There's a lot of kidnappings in this book. Still the same Stephanie-Ranger-Morelli dynamic (no decision yet). Three nerdy guys find their fortune. Several things get burned or bombed.

Connie's always seemed to be the "tough" one of the office. It was a bit unnerving to see her shaken.

I wonder if Bella will soften toward Stephanie over time. ( )

Going Rogue is an odd story with odd characters. It is an odd story because it is about a bail bonds office. There are odd characters because even though there is a kidnapping, and a car and building blown up, the characters take it all in stride. Yes, they work to figure out what happened but they have a casual attitude about it. Four stars were given to the book in this review because it is not your ordinary kind of story or characters. It is different. ( )

Predictable and comforting! ( )

“Your grandma is almost as evil as my grandma.”

Evanovich at her finest! Stephanie and the ‘burg crew brought it in this installment of the series. Hilarious, face paced and so much Bella! The only thing that might top this is a Grandma Mazur and Bella on a case together. ( )