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FULL SPEED
by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes
Headline, November 2003
344 pages
6.99GBP
ISBN: 0755301978


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Janet Evanovich is the much lauded author of the Stephanie Plum books -- ONE FOR THE MONEY, TWO FOR THE DOUGH, THREE TO GET DEADLY through to TO THE NINES. While the series began as an hilarious romp, it gradually, for me at least, lost its humour as the same tired old situations and characters -- albeit under different names and guises -- were trotted out each year to the tune of the same formulaic melody.

I do include a caveat in that I have not yet read TO THE NINES. Possibly the formula changed for that outing. Prior to these chefs d'oeuvres, Evanovich penned romance stories one of which, dating to her youth, was a pornographic fairy tale.

Charlotte Hughes, a friend of Evanovich, despite writing many articles, did not produce her first book until 1986, after which time the romance genre was gladdened by a plethora of titles -- TOO MANY HUSBANDS, STRAIGHT SHOOTIN' LADY, TRAVELIN' MAN, SWEET MISERY, and NIGHT KILLS. She did not write her first psychological suspense thriller until 1995.

The first Hughes/Evanovich collaboration to be released, in 2002, was FULL HOUSE. This was a rehash of a work written by Evanovich many years previously and was distinctly unfunny and unengrossing. FULL TILT a work I did not read as I was out of the country when it was released, followed. Still carrying memories of my dislike of FULL HOUSE I was quite prepared to dislike FULL SPEED. I picked it up in reaction to a very dark and pessimistic novel I had just read and, to my utter amazement, it shone!

Newspaper owner, Jamie Swift, has taken a partner, Max Holt. Max is a very sexy, genius level, techno-wizard and a millionaire. He appeared in FULL HOUSE as a relatively minor teenage character but his development in the later books is very welcome. He has a self-aware artificial intelligence machine: the neurotic computer, Muffin. Max, aided (or hindered) by Jamie had been tracking baddies and discovered a wealthy television preacher, Harlan Rawlins, had mob connections and was partly responsible for an attack on Max. Jamie is determined to 'help' Max catch Rawlins and the other baddies but the book opens with Jamie attempting to hitchhike to Sweet Pea, Tennessee, the evangelist's home , since Max would not take her with him and she got out of his car, refusing to go home.

The authors recapped the previous plot nicely with a very funny dialogue between a novice assistant in a Lifeline type call centre. Having made history of the history of the tale, Hughes and Evanovich make Jamie the proud owner of a rusted truck from which a sorry bloodhound, Fleas, will not be parted. One can only assume that the success of Bob, the dog from the Plum series, was the cause of this animal's inclusion in this novel as Fleas is a spiritual clone of Bob. As a ploy, Fleas works admirably.

Jamie covers her blonde hair with a red wig and sets out to captivate Rawlins -- a very easy task - at one of his meetings. To her dismay, Max finds her there and is equally dismayed to find Jamie decked out as a tart. They do, however, rejoin forces and, naturally enough, Jamie places herself in dire danger both moral -- or immoral? -- from Rawlins and physical, from the Mafia.

Max Holt bears some of the hallmarks of a transplanted although less enigmatic, Ranger from the Plum series. Holt's assistant Dave, the hypochondriac, could be any one of a dozen characters lifted holus bolus from the afore-mentioned oeuvres. Nonetheless, the mix of fast action, bloodcurdling tension (minus overdone gore) and excellent humour, really works. I just hope the authors can resist the temptation to make the following books in the series reruns of this book. A little innovation is a good thing. I shall look forward to the next collaboration with a great deal of pleasure and hope.

Reviewed by Denise Wels Pickles, November 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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