High Five

Uncle Fred is missing with pictures left behind on his desk of a bag with body parts and a cancelled check from the garbage company. She has a bookie named Bunchie following her around also looking for Uncle Fred. People from the garbage company are ending up at Silva's funeral home one by one and Stephanie is no closer to finding Uncle Fred or putting it all together than she was from the start. Ranger has given her two "company" cars to use that end up being blown up or stolen. Only Plums luck. With bounty hunter jobs on the low, Stephanie begins moonlighting for Ranger. Grandma Mazur is up to her shannigans as always at the Funeral Parlor and Stephanie's stun gun at the dining room table. On top of all this, both Ranger and Morelli are making their moves on Stephanie.
I liked it very much, but didn't feel it had as much of the humor as the previous books did and felt it was a more drawn out. I need to read the next one to see who said "Take off the dress" at the very end. Ranger, Morelli or Bunchie?

I bought the audiobook and was disappointed in both this being an abridged version and the narrator. The first four in the series were not abridged so I didn't expect this one to be. After checking, I see the next ones are also abridged. It's a shame as I was enjoying both the series and narrator. This narrator seems to be in a rush to get through the text and, most annoyingly of all, pronounces some of the characters and place names differently than the first narrator. She also is very monotone and fails to do the voice changes that I found hilarious in the first books. I will not be buying the rest of the series, especially since I see the narrator changes again in book seven.

In this high-powered action mystery, Stephanie Plum (bounty hunter extraordinaire) starts with her life at a low point. She is broke, she has no work to do, she has broken up with her policeman boy friend Joe Morelli, and she has an unwelcome unpaid investigative job to find her annoying cheapskate Uncle Fred. But life does improve by the end, and Stephanie saves the day!
If you have not yet read a Stephanie Plum novel, let me explain about her. She is one of the most endearing mystery characters ever developed. Fiercely independent, her attitude is always showing (although she may shake like a leaf afterwards). Tremendously attracted to aggressive men, she plays it coy as much as she possibly can. Prone to disasters, she keeps her chin up and keeps on trucking. Loyal to her family, she is often babysitting her Grandma Mazur when she and her Father are not hitting it off. And she makes her living by bring in people who are out of jail on bail and fail to appear in court. She gets 10 percent of the bail amount when she succeeds. It's a tough way to go for the former lingerie model, but it excites and challenges her to the core.
If you already know Stephanie, you will find her at her caring, jealous, lusting, nosy, sneaky, obtuse, hungry, and persistent best. She finds herself more and more attracted to Ranger (her bounty hunting mentor) and to Joe Morelli (her policeman exboy-friend). Yet she wants to be in charge, which sets up a great source of conflicts.
To give you a sense of how appealing I find her as a character, whenever she ignores an obvious clue I want to tell her to pay attention. With any other book, I find myself annoyed with the author for making the msytery too transparent. But you will want to read this book for Stephanie, not for the mystery (although it is a perfectly fine one).
Before the book is done, you will have experienced explosions, homicidal attacks, lots of gun play, Stephanie will go through a number of vehicles in typical Stephanie fashion, bail jumpers will be brought to justice, deaths will be avenged, Uncle Fred will be found, and you'll go to more viewings as a funeral home than you can imagine. The story is very fast paced and rewarding. Yet all of this is done with consistent humor and balance. So although there is a dark side, it is always overwhelmed by Stephanie's light.
The plot is very well developed. You have the main plot of finding Uncle Fred. To that are added important subplots of getting to know Joe Morelli better (even attending a family wedding with him), getting nonbounty-hunting jobs from Ranger, working on her diet, solving her financial problems, having an unwanted roommate, being stalked by a mystery man, and being hunted by a killer with revenge on his mind. Each of the subplots could make a whole novel if more fleshed out. The result is that you get a whole fabric of a life and her relationships here, moving forward and backward in time.
This book provides an unusually good balance of plot, character development, and humor. On the humor side, let me mention for those who have not read these books before that Stephanie is a very bawdy person in many ways, and the language and situations can have an overt sexual cast. So if you are offended easily by hearing about how a woman thinks about men sexually, you may not like the book. That's the only drawback I need to warn you about.
In fact, this book is so successful that is transcends the normal action mystery genre. Virtually everyone will find this book to be an engaging, uplifiting read. I liked it much better than Hot Six! (which I also recommend that you read) because the mystery, the plotting, and the character developments are much better done and balanced in this one.
Overcome your disbelief that women can't make it in a man's world! Let Stephanie save your day by providing you with a wonderful read!

In HIGH FIVE, the fifth in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie hits a new high in dysfunctionality when it comes to men.
Plum is a klutzy bond enforcement agent, i.e. bounty hunter, working for bail bondsman and sleazy cousin, Vinnie, in Trenton, NJ. In this book, Stephanie's official assignment takes back seat to a family request to find Uncle Fred, who's disappeared. But what's with the photos Uncle Mabel found in Fred's desk of a plastic garbage bag containing a dismembered body? Photography wasn't Fred's hobby.
In HIGH FIVE, Plum is beset with Briggs, Bunchy, Ramirez, Morelli, and Ranger. And that's just for starters. Briggs is a midget that becomes Plum's unwelcome houseguest after the latter's zeal for fugitive apprehension results in an unfortunate incident. The mysterious Bunchy also wants to find Fred, and is following Stephanie around. Ramirez, a psycho rapist that Plum helped put away in book one, is now back on the streets and wants revenge.
But the real core of the novel is Stephanie's lack of a sex life - a condition that's now reaching the critical stage. Plum has prurient yearnings for Joe Morelli, a distant relative and Trenton undercover cop - that is, when she's not hating his guts for being totally exasperating in the way males often are. After all, twelve years ago he did take her virginity behind the eclair counter of the pastry shop in which she was working. Then there's Ranger, the Cuban-American, bounty hunter extraordinaire who's Stephanie's sometime mentor and now, to her distraction, the occasional stud muffin of her fevered dreams. Our heroine has a yen for Bad Boys, and both Morelli and Ranger can be that, especially when they dress in black.
As one would expect in a continuing series, the author must ratchet up the wackiness of Stephanie's life a notch with each succeeding volume. Through the first five books, she's managed to do this without stretching my credulity beyond the breaking point. Plum is just one of those girls with excruciatingly bad karma. I'm beginning to anticipate, though, a plot where Evanovich tries too hard. We'll see, because I intend to read all of the series - 5 more installments as of this review.
At the conclusion of HIGH FIVE, Stephanie succumbs to the need for a night of lovin', writes the names of Morelli and Ranger on separate pieces of paper, mixes them in a bowl, closes her eyes and picks one, summons the winner after showing his name to her pet hamster Rex, puts on a killer-sexy black dress, and waits for her man of the night to arrive. The reader won't know who got lucky until it's revealed in the prologue of HOT SIX. Rex and I know, but we're not telling.
If a Stephanie Plum book was to be made into a film, Sandra Bullock would be absolutely perfect in the title role.

After absolutely loving the wonderful first book in this series, _One for the Money,_ I found the others somewhat lacking; they were still entertaining for the most part, but they lacked the same spark and didn't draw me in as fully as the first book. _High Five_, however, is fantastic!
Stephanie's inner diaglogue is as entertaining as ever, and the plot pulled me along right to the end. There are very few dull moments in the book, and the heat between Morelli and Stephanie is back, with the pleasant addition of some romantic interest from Ranger as well. Morelli's jealousy of this is really charming.
Stephanie's luck with vehicles holds in _High Five_, although it's taken a different tack; rather than having her cars sputter and smoke to a painful death, they are blown up and stolen. She has an FTA take up resident in her apartment, Ramirez the homicidal boxer is back, and her mother frets in the kitchen as usual, as Stephanie agrees to some side jobs working for Ranger that put her in even more interesting situations than usual.
A very quick and entertaining read. I highly recommend _High Five_.

From a high of the first Stephanie mystery, the stories slowly became predictable and interchangeable with #3 the low point. But she is now back with perhaps the finest in the series and it does not even involve bounty hunting.
No, we are caught up in a search for a dottering uncle who has disappeared under increasingly mysterious circumstances. There is, of course, guest appearances by Grandma, the dinners with family, Lula and more ominously, a decided tilt toward the mysterious Ranger in matters not only business but also personal. Of course, Morelli is still around to excite and tease poor Stephanice.
Each novel brings one or two unique characters. FOUR brought the unforgettable transvestite and this one presents a midget (or "small person" as he prefers). He was an irrascible fugitive who somehow ended up staying with Stephanie. The evil Rodriguez is also back to threaten our heroine. The ending is a tour de force as the reader is left wondering who her romantic interest is for the night. (She draws a name out of a bowl!!)
Great effort, quick read - rush out and get your copy.

High Five is my first Janet Evanovich novel and, accordingly, my first to star the whacky-yet-lovable Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is a bounty hunter who gets into all sorts of trouble. Perhaps part of the reason is that she is a total babe, and men simply drool when she is near. The story, while not entirely believable, is plausible enough to sustain interest. Kudos to Janet Evanovich for writing such an enjoyable piece of fiction.
My only complaint with High Five is its cover. The hardback version here in the UK is some turquoise nonsense with a picture of some Stephanie Plum-like model. Most prospective male readers will probably then think its contents equates to nothing more than mindless 'chick lit', which is a shame really. Guys, this is really a good read where both guys and women are equally abused in a very humorous, readable fashion.
Bottom line: I cannot recommend High Five enough. It makes for wonderfully entertaining (albeit light) reading.
(PS - even though High Five is the fifth book in the series I think it is perfectly fine to start off with it. It worked for me.)

High Five is the best of the series. Janet Evanovich has kept Stephanie Plum true to her character throughout. Stephanie's life is ruled by Murphy's Law as does a lot of ours and her wit and tenacity help her through all her adventures - 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, the `little person', Grandma M, Lula or her many, many cars. High Five will leave you with your mouth open, wondering `how can she (the author) do this to us'. I cannot wait for #6 - PLEASE HURRY. It is not very often I get so wrapped up in a storyline and it is full of `mental smacks on the head'. I love it and have recommended her books to all of my friends and so far, we all agree - SHE IS WELL WORTH THE READ.

With cars blowing up around her, dead bodies appearing in everywhere, and a frustrated romance between a fellow bounty hunter OR a cop, and she can't decide which she wants- Stephanie Plum books are a riot. This is one of the funniest of the bunch.
Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter. Her grandmother is too much. Her grandmother is a bounty hunter wannabe. I love her grandmother, she wears wild clothes, carries a gun, and says the types of things we all want to say. Her mother is the worrier of the family and as one reads these books, it's easy to see why.
I woke my husband up laughing so hard. I lent this book to my mother and my dad decided to read it to find out what was so funny. What a great book.
I don't know how many cars Stephanie can blow up, I hope to find out as the series continues. As she searches for her missing Uncle Fred a host of funny things happen to Stephanie. She has an on and off romance with a cop, her incredibly sexy fellow bounty hunter seems to want to have a romance of some sort and a small person camps out at her house and won't leave. To top all of that off, everyone carries a gun, including her grandmother and Stephanie always manages to leave hers in the cookie jar.

This wonderful quirky series has passed the peak, and is sinking fast.

I thought Three to Get Deadly was the best. Four to Score was the start of the downhill journey. It did have a neat 'quirky-character-of-the-month' in Sally, and Stephanie's romantic resolution was good, but other than playing house it covered no new ground.

In High Five not only are we covering the same ground but it is done in a very pale and bloodless way. There is little time spent on any one thread, the result is all are uninteresting. I felt no sense of terror over the champ, no sense of jealousy over Terry, and no sense of anger over Joyce. I don't even care much about the ending, and being a Morrelli fan -- I should. Even this book's quirky character is a small and rather ordinary guy.

We can only do so many wakes with the sweet granny from hell, and so many family dinners before it becomes ho-hum. Even the exploding car bit, and big blue are getting tired. JE seemed like she was trying something new with Ranger and Stephanie 'working' for him -- but it just didn't jell, and the tone really didn't match. There is nothing funny or quirky about Ranger and what he does.

Both Stephanie as Vigilante, and Stephanie as woman who scorns Morrelli are neither believable nor interesting, let alone funny.

I hope that JE can bring a second wind to the series -- but until I see some evidence of change I will wait for the paperback from here on out.

This fifth book in the Stephanie Plum series is a winner, and I think the best so far in the series. In it we get to see more of our favourites - Stephanie herself, Grandma Mazur, Lula and of course the fabulous Ranger!. The sparks between Ranger and Stephanie light up the book in this one. I defy anyone to be able to put the book down once you start it. I know that I couldn't. In this book Stephanie's bounty hunting has reached a low point since there don't seem to be many bail jumpers, but she gets talked into trying to find her Uncle Fred who disappeared from a grocery store parking lot. Sounds easy, but in true Plum fashion she bites off way more than she can chew. I lost track of the number of vehicles that she wrecked. And did I mention Ranger? We see lots of him in this one and he's a peach! Dangerous as can be, but still a peach, and Steph finds herself losing her head a little over him. You'll have to read to see what happens between them. A Stunner of a book!

Entertaining series. I can't tell you how many times I find myself laughing out loud at all the shenanigans that take place. As soon as I finish a book in this series, I am already diving headlong into the next one...compelled in a way that is not normal for me...great series.

Stephanie Plum seeks some different work to pay her bills, and goes to work for Ranger in some of his enterprizes. In the meantime she is looking for Uncle Fred who has disappeared. Fred is a tightwad who was disputing a bill from a trash collection company, and wants a $2 refund because they missed collecting one day. That sets off a chain of events resulting in various murders and an attempt of Stephanie's life. As usual with Stephanie, there are several plots intertwined including Ranger's enterprizes, her work as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie, her search for Uncle Fred, and her love life. It is a fast moving plot, and I found it more interesting than the previous novel in the series.

this is the fith book in the Stephine Plum series. i found this to not be as page turning as the first two...believe it or not...Stephine's Uncle Fred goes missing and she is hired by her family to find him, but the thing is she barley talks about the whole Fred missing thing, its more of a "Do i like Ranger or Joe" thing going on through the book.
i found the whole thing with Stephine liking Ranger,come out of left feild. i think Evanvoich just came with a deffernt direction with HIGH FIVE. i liked the whole questioning of what happened through her books but this one, i knew right away who the bad guy was. the ending was just, yeah, i knew that, why am i stell reading it?

Evanovich has done it again, great comic writing with unforgettable characters make this book a joy to read. This time bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is searching for her missing Uncle Fred. Elderly Uncle Fred went to run errands and never came home. Sounds pretty simple, Fred's probably just gone senile and shouldn't be too hard to track down. Right? If only. During her quest Stephanie manages to beat up a midget, have her car not only blown up but also crushed by a garbage truck and be stalked by the crazed boxer she jailed in a previous novel. Things heat up not only with Morelli, but also surprisingly with Ranger. Evanovich is really hitting her stride. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

This series is amazing filled packed with action, drama and laugh out loud moment's. I can't turn the pages fast enough. I about wet my pants with Grandma and the stun gun. This series is a must read for anybody who love action, mystery and comedy. Now on to book six I love this series.

Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum never fail to amuse. It's hard to believe that a book with multiple murders, a crazed rapist, and money laundering can be funny.However, when you add a reformed ho, a little person, Grandma Mazur. and Stephanie's legendary propensity for the worst case scenario, the result is a laugh-out-loud, explosion filled, crime-fighting ride through Trenton.

High Five by Janet Evanovich is as entertaining as the other novels in this series. The humor the author uses to tell the stories Stephanie gets involved is delicious. Fans of this series will like this the most

One of my favorite stephanie plum novels. Suspense, sexual tension, lots of peanut butter, and fumbling her way through life. Any woman can relate to her, and Lula is always throughout in some sort of snip for comedy!

I've read, so far, twelve of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. And I expect to read them all. Evanovich has captured the dialog and characters in her stories that make them unputdownable. Is that a word...what the heck, I'll leave it.

In her humorous style, Evanovich heroine Stephanie Plum, AKA bounty hunter, captures her man with help from sidekick Lula. Enter also the sexy males, Morelli and Ranger, with other quirky characters that keep the reader guessing and quickly turning pages. As always, mystery writer Janet Evanovich delivers a lighthearted, amusing read!

Liked the ending, it kept you wondering who she went with. Interesting. Some of the characters were funny like the neighbor in her apartment building. Might read another book by this author. Easy reading

Overall, I absolutely love the Stephanie Plum series, but I wasn't pleased with this particular one due to the fact that it's an abridged version and it was extremely unpleasant listening to Debbie Mazar narrating the story. My best advice is to get unabridged versions with C.J. Critt or Lorelei King. Heck, even the abridged versions with Lorelei King are much better than this one.

Janet Evanovich is an awsome writer! She makes me laugh, makes the story so real as if I'm standing right there with Stephanie and all the regular characters. I am so happy to have been introduced to her first book & I haven't stopped buying her books cuz I'm hooked!! Loved this book!

If you enjoy humor and some slapstick mixed in with mystery and romance than Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series. You don't need to read them in order or follow the background info. Have read all 19 in the series. Looking forward to the filler books.

Why would complaining about your bill to the garbage company cause you to disappear? Whose bones are in the bag? How do you get an angry midget out of your apartment? Why doesn't Stephanie go all out for that very sexy man? Will Grandma open the lid on the casket? Only in the Trenton of Janet Evanovich would such questions arise. Janet does it again with this laugh-out-loud mixture of mystery, mayhem, and masculine pulchritude.