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METRO GIRL
by Janet Evanovich
HarperCollins, October 2004
304 pages
12.99GBP
ISBN: 000717621X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series are sure to enjoy METRO GIRL, a light-hearted fast-paced thriller set in Miami and the Florida Keys.

Alexandra Barnaby, a 30-year-old insurance executive, is woken one night by a phone call from her younger brother, Wild Bill, to say he is going into hiding for a while and not to worry -- a pronouncement rendered ineffective by a woman screaming as the line goes dead.

Not unused to Bill getting into scrapes, but worried that this is something more serious, Alex jumps on a plane to Florida to see what is going on. She finds his apartment has been trashed, and he has made off on a boat owned by his friend, attractive NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, who is not best pleased. Hooker's two week fishing holiday is impossible now, and so he decides to tag along with Alex to try to find Bill.

And so begins a madcap tale of kidnappings, chaotic trips in cars, boats and helicopters, shootouts, sunken treasures and Cuban political shenanigans. And all the while Sam, aka wisecracking NASCAR Guy, is attempting to get to know Alex rather better. They make a good combination -- he has a lot of useful contacts and she defies her daffy blond appearance with a good knowledge of engines, acquired working at her father's garage through her teens, and a brown belt in kickboxing. Unlike Stephanie Plum, Alex knows how to look after herself. Like Stephanie Plum, you don't want to lend her your car.

You wouldn't expect METRO GIRL to be a realistic gritty thriller, and it isn't. It's pure escapism, and a lot of fun. The same elements that make the Plum series successful are here, the humour, the zany characters and the love interest, but this is much faster-paced, and played out against more glamorous locations. It's almost outrageously unbelievable, and the bad guys are two-dimensional caricatures, but it doesn't matter -- this is quick-reading feelgood fiction, a guilty pleasure. Recommended.

Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, October 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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