Game On by Janet Evanovich

In the 28th outing for bail bonds enforcement agent Stephanie Plum, she finds herself chasing a computer hacker, Oswald Wednesday, with a taste for mischief and murder. Game On by Janet Evanovich sets Stephanie on the trail of the hacker only to find out that old friend Diesel is also looking for him. A local hacker group, the Baked Potatoes, managed to break into Oswald’s network. Now they are being picked off, one by one. Stephanie has to find and protect the remaining “Potatoes”, track down Oswald, figure out if she is cooperating or competing with Diesel, and depend on Morelli and Ranger to have her back. Easy peasy.

Evanovich writes such fun books. Stephanie is such a great character with a good heart and unbeatable determination. The supporting characters add a lot of humor to the proceedings, especially fellow bond agent with a colorful past Lula, and irascible and nosy Grandma Mazur. Grandma, “...has a body like a plucked soup chicken, but isn’t fat, and she makes the best of what she has.” These descriptions, and the antics Lula and Grandma each get up to vary from a chuckle to laugh out loud guffaws.

Evanovich uses humor to break up the action, seeing Stephanie doggedly pursue Oswald, as well as a few other skips along the way. She puts her own life on the line more than once, relying on her skills as well as some timely help from her friends to win the day. Oswald is colorfully and over the top evil, but the journey is so much fun that you likely won’t care. Game On is a blast and this series is still going strong. Series fans and novices alike will have a good time with this one!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.