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Take a trip down the Jersey Turnpike to the irresistible world of Stephanie Plum-where America's favorite bounty hunter gets into more trouble than ever. This time, Stephanie, Lula, and Grandma have a Vegas-sized problem on their hands. The pursuit of a skip brings Stephanie to Las Vegas, and... read more

Summary edit see section history

Stephanie Plum's got rent to pay, people shooting at her, and psychos wanting her dead every day of the week (much to the dismay of her mother, her family, the men in her life, the guy who slices meat at the deli...oh, the list goes on). An ordinary person would cave under the pressure. But... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Stephanie Plum's got rent to pay, people shooting at her, and psychos wanting her dead every day of the week (much to the dismay of her mother, her family, the men in her life, the guy who slices meat at the deli...oh, the list goes on). An ordinary person would cave under the pressure. But hey, she's from Jersey. Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she's pretty darn good at turning bad situations her way...and she always gets her man. In To The Nines, her cousin Vinnie (who's also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, an immigrant who becomes an illegal alien by violating his Visa and extending his stay in the United States. When the elusive Mr. Singh goes missing, Stephanie is on the case. But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give new meaning to the word "hunter..." In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life.

Characters edit see section history

  • Stephanie Plum: Bounty Hunter working for Vinnie Plum and heroine of the novels. Not the greatest in the world, admits that a lot of her captures are more due to luck than anything else. Lives with her hamster Rex. Has an on again off again relationship with Joe Morelli. Describes herself as being 5'7, having blue eyes and curly brown hair. Is infamous for destroying cars, and not always her car either. Described as the Bounty Hunter from Hell by cops.
  • Joe Morelli: Trenton PD vice cop and Stephanie's on again off again boyfriend. Has a Ducati and later on a big orange dog named Bob. Described as being 6 feet of hard lean Italian muscle with dark hair and dark eyes and in the words of Stephanie "Yum". Would like to marry Stephanie, on the provision that she quit being a bounty hunter. Calls Stephanie Cupcake.
  • Ranger: Bounty Hunter who works for Vinnie, and also owner of his own security consulting firm in later novels. And also later a romantic interest for Stephanie. Formerly Special Forces. Two months older than Stephanie and described as being 6 feet or a few inches under or over. Cuban American with skin the color of a mocha latte, dark hair and dark eyes, always dresses in black, very muscular with no extra fat on him and also Yum. Say he loves Stephanie in his own way. Always drives very expensive black cars. Full name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Got the nickname Ranger in Special Forces. Calls Stephanie Babe.
  • Vincent "Vinnie" Plum: Owner of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. Stephanie more or less black mails him into giving her a job. He's Stephanie cousin. Said to have had a romantic relationship with a duck at one time. Described as looking like a weasel.
  • Lula: File clerk for Vinnie Plum, though how much filing she does is pretty debatable. Used to be a Hooker and still dresses like it. Is described as being short, plus size with a propensity for spandex. Has a talent for jamming her size sixteen body into size ten clothes. Changes her hair color on a regular basis.
  • Samuel Singh: person who disappeared after Vinnie paid his Visa bond. Stephanie's must find him.
  • Connie Rosolli: Office manager for plum Bond Bails. Italian with big hair, red nails, lots of make up and very well endowed. Sometimes has a moustache when she doesn't wax.
  • Valerie Plum: Stephanie's sister. The 'good sister."
  • Howie: works at Macdonalds.
  • Mrs. Apusenja: Landlord of Singh
  • Clyde Cone: One of the Cone brothers. Owners of TriBro. Weird collector of things. Doesn't seem to have a real role in the company.
  • Bob: Stephanie and Morelli's shared dog. He loves everyone and eats everything.
  • Grandma Bella: Joe Morelli's grandmother. Famous for her visions: scares people with threats to put the "evil eye" on them.
  • Uncle Mario: Bella's cousin
  • Albert Kloughn: Valerie's boyfriend. Very inexperiences lawyer.
  • Andrew Cone: Eldest brother and part owner of TriBro.
  • Bart Cone: Middle brother and part owner of TriBro.
  • Tom Jones: Vegas impersonator
  • Carl Rosen: Neighbor of murder victim Paressi
  • Susan Lu: Works in a casino in Vegas; acquaintance of Singh
  • Grandma Mazur: Stephanie's grandmother
  • Terry Gilman: Blond, elegant, has family gang ties, and was Morelli's high school sweetheart. She pushes Stephanie's jealous button.
  • Lillian Paressi: Murder victim, shot two years previously
  • Mary Elizabeth: Morelli's Great Aunt. Retired nun. Likes to drink cocktails and smoke.
  • Erik Salvatora: Private investigator and employee of RangeMan, working in Vegas
  • Nonnie: Mrs. Apusenja's daughter and unenthusiastic fiancee of Singh
  • Mary Alice: One of Valerie's daughters, believes she is a horse
  • Steven Klein: Add a description of this character.
  • Hamilton
  • Wayne
  • Edgar
  • Lou Califonte: Runs Vegas casino.
  • Tommy Galucci: Trenton Mob boss
  • Lisa: New baby born during the story
  • Bailey Scrugs
  • Mrs. Bestler: Sweet, little old lady in Stephanie's apartment building who likes to pretend she is an elevator operator in a fancy department store
  • Mrs. Morelli: Joe's mom and Grandma Bella's daughter-in-law.
  • Rex: Hamster who is Stephanie's beloved if undemonstrative roommate
  • Vito Grecci
  • Angie: Stephanie's niece; the well-behaved one
  • Alexander Dubkowski
  • Julie Wisneski
  • Bobby V.
  • Black Bart
  • Aunt Rose
  • Junior: Another of Ranger's assistants
  • Mary Lou Molnar: Stephanie's best friend since cildhood
  • Sonji Kluchari
  • Jane Locarelli
  • Steven Wegan
  • Joyce Barnhardt
  • Tank: One of Ranger's principal assistants
  • Gus
  • Benito Ramirez: Boxer who refers to himself as "the champ."
  • Punky Balog: Exhibitionist and FTA
  • Miguel
  • Loretta Beeber
  • Roger Pitch: Another uncooperative FTA
  • Boo: Nonnie's dog who disappears when Singh does
  • Dolly Freedman
  • Bill Weber
  • Butchy Salazar
  • Blackie
  • Janet Evanovich
  • St. Francis
  • Robin Hood
Show all 66 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Morelli had the dart in a plastic evidence bag in his pocket. He held the bag out for me to see. "Looks to me to be more large dog size." "Oh great. I was shot with a dog dart. That doesn't even make good bar conversation."”
  • “"When I was a ho I used to keep myself from getting grossed out by pretending men's privates were Muppets" Lula said. "This guy looks like an anteater Muppet. See the little tuft of hair on the anteater head and then there's the thing the anteater snuffs up ants with....except ol' Funky here's gotta get real close to the ants on account of his snuffer isn't real big."”
    Lula
  • “The sky was murky above me and I felt the rasp of ozone in the back of my throat. As the day wore on cars, chemical plants, and backyard barbecues would make their contribution to the stew that cooked over Jersey. Fancy-pants wimps in L.A. rated their pollution and curtailed activity. In Jersey we just call it air and get on with life. If you're born in Jersey, you know how to rise to a challenge. Bring on the Mob. Bring on bad air. Bring on taxes and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and macaroni at every meal. Nothing defeats us in Jersey.”
    Stephanie Plum
  • “I could be wrong here, but I think you're dumb as a box of rocks”
    LuLa
  • “People are complicated and chock full of problems.”
    Stephanie Plum
  • “I never sleep on a plane. I have to be ready in case it crashes.”
    Stephanie Plum
  • “It isn't like I'm mentally retarded...I just screw up a lot”
    Clyde Cone
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s love and what’s only indigestion,”
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers
  • “It’s the twenty-first century,” I told Tank. “Women drive.” “Only in my bed,” Tank said. “Never in my car.”
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • “It’s the grin of a man who loves you, babe.”
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • Fancy-pants wimps in L.A. rated their pollution and curtailed activity. In Jersey we just call it air and get on with life. If you’re born in Jersey, you know how to rise to a challenge. Bring on the Mob. Bring on bad air. Bring on taxes and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and macaroni at every meal. Nothing defeats us in Jersey.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • Mostly we solve our problems with cake.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • And just like that, as of that instant, I wanted a baby. I didn’t care if it had to come out of my vagina.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • Okay, so I was acting like an idiot. At least I was an idiot with cake.
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • Kloughn bent to retrieve the plate and farted. “That wasn’t me,” he said. “Maybe it was me,” Grandma said. “Sometimes they sneak out. Did I fart?” she asked everyone.
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • “Cal has a flaming skull tattooed onto his forehead. And he has muscles in places muscles aren’t supposed to grow. Cal looks like . . . Steroidasaurus.” “Don’t underestimate him,” Ranger said. “He can spell his name. He’s not overly violent as long as he remembers to take his medication. And he gives good shade.”
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • Truth is, I did trust Morelli. But there’s a limit to trust. Even the most trusting woman who saw her boyfriend’s truck at a motel in the middle of the day, twice, would have doubts. There’s a difference between being trusting and being stupid.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
Show all 17 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Trenton New Jersey

First Sentence edit see section history

My name is Stephanie Plum and I was born and raised in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, where the top male activities are scarfing pastries and pork rinds and growing love handles.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Chapter 1-15

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 9 of 20 in Stephanie Plum by the Numbers. (standard series)

Preceded by Hard Eight, and followed by Ten Big Ones.

This is book 59 of 145 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Janet Evanovich (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Country: US
Publication Date: July 15, 2003
ISBN: 0312265867
Page Count: 320

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3555.V2126 T6 2003b FT MEADE
  • Dewey: 813.54

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • One for the Money
  • Two for the Dough
  • Three to Get Deadly
  • Four to Score
  • High Five
  • Hot Six
  • Seven Up
  • Hard Eight

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