One for the Money

A Stephanie Plum Novel, Book 1

By: Janet Evanovich

Narrated by: C. J. Critt

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

You’ve lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car’s been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month’s rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?

If you’re Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie’s virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries - people who’d rather kill than lose.

The New York Times Book Review calls Stephanie Plum “a Jersey girl with Bette Middler’s mouth and Cher’s fashion sense.” In Stephanie Plum, Evanovich has created a resourceful and humorous character who stands apart from the pack of gritty female detectives.

Jersey girl: listen to more in the Stephanie Plum series.

©1994 Janet Evanovich (P)1995 Recorded Books, LLC

lousy narrator

What did you like best about One for the Money? What did you like least?

I love the story. I am hooked on the Stephanie Plum series but I did not like the narrator at all. You could hear every time she took a breath and she did not convey the "young" character that Stepanie is.

What did you like best about this story?

Janet writes a good mystery with lots of interesting characters but not too many that you can not keep track of them while listening

What didn’t you like about C. J. Critt’s performance?

She didn't have a "young" voice and you could hear her take a breath at every pause.

Was One for the Money worth the listening time?

yes

Yes...and NO

I love Stephanie's humor, but detest her childish insecurities, and jealousies. She is annoyingly thoughtless and impetuous. Good story plot, but Plum needs to GROW UP!!!!

This book was a well told story.

The authors first person narrative and the characters stream of thoughts were fun. Well worded in the colloquial style of New Jersey. Have fun read.

Janet Evanovich is a funny, and descriptive writer. I love her work.

I am originally from New Jersey I don’t live there anymore but reading these books brings back so many memories. When Janet writes about certain streets and areas I know exactly where she’s talking about. These books are hysterical. I have read all of this series, but when I like a book I’ll go back and read it more than once. Having them on audio allows me to do other things while I’m listening. I thoroughly enjoyed Janets writing style and stories. I’m glad to see they’re on audio now so I can listen to them anytime.

Best series - read it, don't listen to it.

Is there anything you would change about this book?.

What was one of the most memorable moments of One for the Money?
When I read the book there were so many delightful and funny moments that had me literally laughing out loud. Her narration makes the story dull and uninteresting. I actually started and turned this off many times.

How could the performance have been better?
The narrator of the "Full" series did a great job of having distinct voices for each character - male or female, young or old, Southern or Northern accents - AND it was a pleasant voice to boot. The producers should have kept her for this Plum series.

Any additional comments?
As much as I love the Stephanie Plum series and have read every one of them - several, many times - I will not waste my credits on any of these stories with this narrator. I recommend that if you are new to this series you READ the books and not spend your credits to listen to the flat renditions.

This series was introduced to me by a patient. Imagine working in the neuro-surgical unit where people have just had brain or spinal surgeries and you hear frequent laughter emanating from a particular room. Naturally I HAD to go in and see what had this patient laughing! She had a pile of books on her bedside table. I had never heard of Janet Evanovich and I actually disliked the romance genre. But she sold me on these stories! Her good friend had insisted she take her stash of books to read during recovery. Suffice it to say, she needed the least amount of pain meds and I discovered an utterly delightful heroine who is a feminine Pink Panther - outlandish scrapes, exploding cars, a couple of hunks that come and go in her life, real nasties as she bumbles in and out of mayhem, some spicy scenes.... Lots of fun. Read them all!

Great for a laugh

Great for a laugh. I liked the twists and turns. Some intense spots and great use of vocabulary.

Loved. . .

I've read this series before. Now that I've been working from home due to the pandemic; I needed something to fill in as background noise. The narrator was perfect for this and made the story fresh and entertaining. I can't wait to hear the rest of the series. Had this book fine in a day and 2 hours. A pleasant way to get through the work day.

First book

First book I've listened to and I love it! Heading on to book 2 and many more

I really enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed this book It caught my attention early on. It's actually the 1st of this his genre that I've read, and it came reccomended to me by a friend. I've decided I love this author And I love the narrator She did a really good job with the different voices. I'm off to read book 2.

It was ok

I have read some of the later Stephanie Plum books, and they were much better than this one, which was the first. Some of the things that happened were so unbelievable. The I am glad I read some of the later books, I would have not continued with the series based on this book