Hard Eight

By: Janet Evanovich

Narrated by: Lorelei King

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has a problem: 7-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared. Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, is not happy. He and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven wants the bond money to search for Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Agency wants to take possession of it.

Finding a kidnapped child is not Stephanie's thing. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and they're not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of the abduction.

Stephanie follows Annie and Evelyn's trail - and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with the very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiancé Joe Morelli, and Stephanie's mentor, Ranger, enter the scene, and because Stephanie needs Ranger's expertise, she accepts his help - even though it might mean paying some past debts.

Stephanie, Ranger, Lula, and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search becomes a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, and the Abruzzi crew. And did we mention there's a killer rabbit on the loose?

This program is produced for mature audiences.

Don't forget to download the rest of the Stephanie Plum series.

©2002 Evanovich Inc., (P)2002 Audio Renaissance, a Division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic Reviews

"The things Evanovich does so well - family angst, sweet eroticism, stealth shopping, that stunning mix of terror and hilarity - are done better than ever here." (Booklist, Starred Review)
"Evanovich does it again, delivering an even more suspenseful and more outrageous turn with the unstoppable Stephanie." (Publishers Weekly)

Bad Bear, Bad Rabbit

What did you love best about Hard Eight?

Just all that chaos, one oops and oh well after the other. Murphy's Law has nothing on Stephanie and Lula.

What about Lorelei King’s performance did you like?

The characters are seriously developed so as they can easily be recognized. Still don't like the way Ranger is portrayed. I thought he was Cuban American, key word American. He sounds like Scarface.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughing constantly. Between the funny and the stupid and just plain dumb, it had me in stitches.

Loved all but one thing...

Did Lorelei King do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Great narration and good job differentiating characters, but the voice of Ranger was so cheesy, it almost ruined the entire book for me.

Any additional comments?

Loved the book overall. So funny at times that I laughed out loud. I just struggled so much to get past the voice of Ranger. Even though the author depicts him to be such a masculine and sexy man of mystery, the voice that Lorelie King gives him made me barely like him.

Decent

enjoyed it well enough, but not too sure about the random music, but otherwise standard Stephanie Plum story.

AMUSING

It was my first Stephanie Plum book, and while it is far from the best audio book I have gotten, it certainly was amusing. I loved her character and especially Ranger. I will definitely check out more of her books, but would like to start with the first. I think you need to get to know Stephanie from the beginning.

Hard Eight

Highly entertaining......Action packed, hilarious adventures of Stephanie Plum the incredibly inept bounty hunter. During this tale you will feel at home with the characters and their family life. I actually laughed out loud. ENJOY

Substandard Narrator

After hearing CJ Critt narrate the first 6 books, Lorelei King leaves much to be desired. Still, the book as a whole is wildly entertaining. I love all Janet Evanovich novels!

Great read. Still getting used to the narrator

This story was the darkest one I've listened to so far, still full of laughs. Not big on the narrator as she sounds like a female James Bond, all sexy and sultry. For me, much of Stephanie Plum's appeal is that she's just a normal, average woman.

Little things annoy me.

I enjoyed the story, The performer was good. I was annoyed by the music as the chapters changed.

What's with the music?

I love the story and the narrators good, but the music is distracting and annoying to me.

Great!

Another fun story in the series. Same formula as the earlier books but fun none the less.