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Description edit
Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. The bail bonds office has burned to the ground, and bodies are turning up in the empty construction lot. To make matters worse, Stephanie is working out of a motor home she shares... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Break out a cold drink and slap on some sunscreen, this summer is sure to be a scorcher with Smokin' Seventeen. I liked it
Characters/People edit
- Stephanie Plum: New Jersey bounty hunter
- Lula: Stephanie's sidekick - can be found wearing spandex and carrying a bucket of chicken. A former 'ho who is now employed by the bail bonds office.
- Joseph "Joe" Anthony Morelli: Trenton police officer and Stephanie's on-again/off-again boyfriend
- Dave Brewer: former high school football star, returning home to get things cooking with Stephanie, enjoys cooking; left Atlanta after a short stint in jail for fraud. Divorced, everyone thinks he belongs with Stephanie.
- Vincent "Vinnie" Plum: Owner of the bail bonding company; Stephanie's cousin.
- Edna "Grandma" Mazur: Stephanie's spunky grandmother
- Mooner: Stephanie went to high school with Mooner, who is now often found stoned and is good for comic relief.
- Lou Dugan: Ran a topless titty bar downtown and was a ruthless business man. Is found dead at the beginning of the book.
- Nick Alpha: The brother of Jimmy Alpha who has recently been released from prison. He is out to get Stephanie for killing his brother.
- Ziggy Glitch: An elderly FTA that believes he is a vampire.
- Grandma Bella: Joe Morelli's grandmother - famous for putting the "eye" on her enemies.
- Carlos "Ranger" Manoso: Smokin' hot co-worker of Stephanie's and security expert
- Bobby Lucarelli: Dugan's lawyer
- Loretta Kucharski: Formerly vice-president of a bank that went belly up. Now works Tasty Pastry Bakery where Stephanie stops to get doughnuts.
- Regina Bugle: An FTA who threatens to run Stephanie down with her Lexus.
- Jeff: Bartender who was shot, allegedly by one of the FTAs Vinnie bonded out.
- Merlin Brown: A big FTA bonded out by Vinnie's bail bonds company. Arrested for armed robbery. Does not respond to stunning
- Harry the Hammer: Vinnie's father-in-law. He has also put money into the bail bonds business to keep it afloat.
- Emma Brewer: Dave's mother; friend of Stephanie's mother.
- Bruce: The dancing bear owned by Boris.
- Dillon Ruddick: Super of Stephanie's building.
- Terry Gilman: Related to Dugan; co-operating with Morelli on the investigation. Stephanie thinks Morelli might have a "thing" going with her.
- Boris Belman: An FTA who puts up a dancing bear as collateral for his bond. Accused of shooting the bartender at Bumpers.
- Juki Beck: Deceased, her body is dumped at the bail bonds site.
- Leonard Grinder: Owner of a house where Ziggy hides out.
- Sam Grip: Known associate of Dugan and other victims.
- Francie: One of Dave's cousins.
- Jimmy: Connie's cousin who does a makeover on Mooner's bus.
- Gordon Kulicki: a banker found dead in one of Rangeman's cars--a car that had been loaned to Stephanie.
- Ernie: Lula's cousin they borrow his SUV to go to Stark Street.
- Ronald Buzick: A butcher; Stephanie's mother once tried to set Stephanie up with him.
- Jimmy Alpha: Nick's brother, deceased.
- Eddie Gazarra: Previous FTA caught robbing a store by Lula and Stephanie.
- Joseph Anthony Morelli: Joe's brother. He and his wife are baby making machines.
- Herb Brewer: Dave's father.
- Mrs. Gooley: At Dugan's viewing. Stephanie went to school with her daughter, Grace.
- Mr. Mikowitz: Attends Dugan's viewing
- Albert Klaughn: Married to Stephanie's sister, Valerie. They have a total of 4 kids. Two of hers from her previous marriage and two of their own.
- Valerie Plum Klaughn: Stephanie's sister.
- Connie Rosoilli: Vinnie's office manager and is related to the Trenton mob.
- Lucille Ticker: Vinnie's wife that is currently keeping a tight leash on him.
- Maggie Mason: Owns the used book store next to Vincent Plum's Bail Bonds.
- Gina Giovichinni Lorenzo: The youngest of the Giovichinni girls. Even though she has been married for 10 years to Stanly Lorenzo she is still a Giovichinni Girl.
- Harry Brewer: Owns a moving and storage business that Dave works for. He is Dave's uncle.
- Terry Gilman: She is blonde and beautiful with mob connections. She is Dugan's niece and Stephanie is jealous of her when she is with Morelli.
- Bobby Lucarelli: Dugan's lawyer that goes missing about the same time as Dugan.
- Lionel Cracker: Merlin's brother-in-law. He works in a deli in a bad part of town.
- Melanie: A waitress at Bumpers.
- Uncle Black: Owns Black's Books, comic book store on Stark Street
- Boris Belmen: Add a description of this character.
- Stiva: Funeral director
- Rex: Stephanie's gerbil
- Ella: Ranger's housekeeper
- Jerry
- Myra Milner
- Leonard Ginder
- Joyce Barnhardt: Nemeses of Stephanie and sometimes bounty hunter
- Uncle Rocco
- Mooch Morelli
Quotes edit
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“My big move was to get out of my underpants without snagging my foot and falling on my face.”
Stephanie Plum -
“Go vordo!”
Stephanie Plum -
“Cupcake, complicated is your middle name. It's a good thing I'm Italian with a strong sex drive. A normal man would walk away from this.”
Joe Morelli -
“Physically she's a younger version of my Grandma Mazur, and physically I'm a younger version of my mother. Mentally and emotionally my mother is on her own. Lunacy seems to have skipped a generation and my mother is left to bear the burden fo maintaining standards of decorum for the family. My grandmother and I are the loose cannons.”
Stephanie Plum -
“Working at Rangeman is a high-stress job, and you're one of our few sources of comic relief. I give you a car and my men start a pool on how long it will take you to trash it. You're a line item in my budget under entertainment.”
Ranger -
“Call Vinnie and he'll have you out in no time. And if you save your flyer I'll autograph it for you.”
Lula -
“I'd like to count on that, but life is cruel, and I can't imagine you leaving us anytime in the near future.”
Funeral Director at Stiva's -
“We have a sick individual here. He's killing too many people. He might even be over the legal limit for Trenton.”
Lula -
“Going in would be a bad idea. There are men with guns and killer birds in there.”
Stephanie Plum -
“There was demon chickens all over the place, squawkin' and clawin' at each other. It was a chicken nightmare. I won't be able to sleep tonight thinkin' about them chickens. And now they're runnin' around loose, peckin' the eyes out of people. Course it's Stark Street so those chickens are gonna have to duke it out with the drugged-up nutcases and hungry people lookin' for chicken parts.”
Lula -
“I'd hate to list our specialties. Wreck cars, eat doughnuts, create mayhem.”
-
““Of course it’s a good idea. Just sit your skinny white hiney down. This is gonna be fun. I’m gonna be a good bus driver. I might even decide to take up bus driving professionally.””
Lula -
“"You did nicky nacky and now you got the vordo."”
Grandma Bella -
““People don’t use mail no more anyway. It’s all electronic. When was the last time you put a stamp on something? Remember when you had to lick them stamps? That was disgustin’.” I looked behind us for police. “We sort of left the scene of a lot of crimes.” “Yeah, but they weren’t big crimes. They didn’t hardly count. We could mail in those crimes, except we don’t mail anymore. But if we did mail shit that’s the way we’d take care of it.””
Lula and Steph after Lula took out a mailbox with the bus -
“By the time I retrieved my stun gun Merlin had knocked Lula on her ass adn was in his car, spinning his tires, leaving the lot. I was holding a lot of anger, and it was directed at the idiot who elbowed me aside. I casually sidled up to him and accidentally stun gunned him. He went down to the floor, wet his pants and I felt much better.”
Stephanie Plum -
“I guess the granny panties are no match for the vordo.”
Lula -
“We were standing in front of a small grocery store. The door crashed open, and a skinny guy in baggy clothes and too big shoes burst out and smashed into Lula. He had a gun in one hand and a fistful of money in the other. He knocked into her square in the chest, and BANG! she stapled him.”
Stephanie Plum -
“Lula hauled herself up off the floor and put her hand to her neck. "Do I got holes? Am I bleeding? Do I look like I'm turning into a vampire?" "No, no and no." I told her, "He doesn't have his teeth in. He was just gumming you." "That's disgustin'" Lula said, "I been gummed by an old vampire. I feel gross. My neck's all wet."”
Lula and Stephanie
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“Working at Rangeman is a high-stress job, and you’re one of our few sources of comic relief. I give you a car and my men start a pool on how long it will take you to trash it. You’re a line item in my budget under entertainment.”
Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers -
My big move was to get out of my underpants without snagging my foot and falling on my face.
Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers -
http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/17-255/Troublemaker
Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers -
What is it with men? They all think they’re great in bed and women want to see them naked. It’s like some genetic chromosome thing.
Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers -
What you need are granny panties. You put on a big ol’ pair of ugly granny panties and you won’t be dropping your drawers no more. And even if you forget in the heat of the moment, and you pull your skirt up over your head, you’re not gonna see no action on account granny panties have a deflating effect on a man. Your man’s gonna be going unh ah, no way am I getting busy with a woman wearing granny panties.”
Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers -
The entire Troublemaker story is now collected into one paperback volume, available August 9, 2011. Learn more about Troublemaker at:
Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers -
“I buy wine according to the bottle design,” Lula said. “After I get down the first glass it all tastes okay to me, so I figure you go for something classy to look at on the table.”
Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers -
I’d hate to list our specialties. Wreck cars, eat doughnuts, create mayhem.
Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers -
I had a college degree in liberal arts. That and a dollar could get me a soda.
Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers -
“How do you walk in those shoes for hours on end?” I asked her. “I can do it on account of I’m a balanced body type,” she said, hustling across the lot to my Escort. “I got perfect weight distribution between my boobs and my booty.”
Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Stark Street: Seedy section of Trenton; area where Nick Alpha owns some real estate.
- Trenton: The city in NJ where Stephanie and her parents live.
- Burg: The section of Trenton where Stephanie grew up.
- Thailand: A vacation destination where Dave would like to take Stephanie.
- Black's Books: A store that Stephanie and Mooner go to find out information on Nick Alpha.
- Giovichinni's Deli: 2nd only to the Stiva's to feeding the Burg gossip mill
- Stiva's Funeral Home: The most popular funeral home in the Burg.
- Kan Klean Dry Cleaners: Nick Alpha lives above the Cleaners. He also owns the building.
- Cluck-in-a-Bucket: A popular fast food eatery by Stephanie and Lula.
- Gimple's Moving and Storage: A Nick Alpha property
- Maronelli's Funeral Home: Owned by Manny, but he is in Florida most of the time and it is ran by his sons Georgie and Slavatore.
First Sentence edit
My Grandma Mazur called me early this morning.
Table of Contents edit
Chapters 1-39
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This is book 17 of 20 in Stephanie Plum by the Numbers. (standard series)
Preceded by Sizzling Sixteen, and followed by Explosive Eighteen.
This is book 59 of 145 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 4 of 10 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels in 2011. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Janet Evanovich (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Bantam
Country: USA
Publication Date: June 21 , 2011
ISBN: 978-0345527684
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Bantam
Country: USA
Publication Date: June 21 , 2011
ISBN: 978-0345527684
Page Count: 308
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
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