Janet E's Stephanie Plum series is one of my guilty reading pleasures. I brought Hard Eight with me on a six hour flight and it entertained me the entire way (wish I could same the same of the airline...). This particular offering doesn't really break any new ground - Stephanie is still the bad luck bounty hunter with an attraction for blown up cars and dangerous men. The regular cast of characters is out in full force - Lula, Grandma Mazur, Joe Morelli, Ranger, and Cousin Vinnie - as Stephanie tries to find a missing woman and child on the run from a mobster and capture a few bond hearing deadbeats (always amusing). The dialog is sarcastic and snappy, but in a few scenes it felt a bit overdone and contrived - no matter though, it's still an entertaining and fun read. I always wondered why they haven't turned any of these stories into a film or TV series - it could really be a great combination of comedy and action/adventure.