Game On

Game On: Tempting 28 is the 28th book in the popular Stephanie Plum series by American author, Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum's latest FTA is a celebrity computer hacker called Oswald Wednesday who has broken into a rental home and assaulted a cop. But she's not the only person seeking the notorious hacker: the enigmatic Diesel turns up at Stephanie's place, on a mission for an unstated employer who has been hacked by the elusive Wednesday.

Where better to get information on a hacker than another hacker? Stephanie and Lula seek out Melvin Schwartz, whom Vinnie Plum has bonded previously. But Melvin is a little reticent: he and his fellow hackers, the Baked Potatoes, have hacked OW and it seems he's not happy abut it.

Retribution for several BPs comes in the form of murder and mutilation, making Melvin very nervous: Stephanie has to stow him in a safe place while he works on digitally tracking OW down.

After a close encounter with bats in her hairdo and an unintentional dumpster-dive, Lula decides she has lost her mojo and has Stephanie's bad juju following her around. Further hairdo mishaps and being forced to wear an item of apparel that definitely doesn't suit her, cement that impression.

Meanwhile, Stephanie tries to keep Diesel out of her bed, goes to a luxury car show, has a potentially-fatal incident at the train station, and manages, as is mandatory in every book of the series, to destroy not one but two cars, necessitating use of Uncle Sandor's 1953 blur Buick (again!).

As usual, food, the getting of it, the eating of it and often, the accidental wearing of it, features on almost every page, and Stephanie's mom finds a new form of stress relief. Lula's antics are often LOL-worthy and Grandma Mazur's comments and opinions on every topic never fail to amuse. Entertaining, as always.

This unbiased review is from an unsolicited copy provided by Simon & Schuster Australia