| Evanovich’s Metro Girl provides an afternoon of pleasant and funny reading. I found myself laughing on the air plane. Metro Girl is the first in the Alex Barnaby series. Alexandria or Barney grew up working in her Dad’s garage while her brother Bill goofed off and got into trouble. Times have not changed and Barney must fly to Miami to rescue him.
In the process, she meets a number of interesting characters that come to her assistance. Bill has “borrowed” Sam Hooker’s, NASCAR Guy, boat. Hooker attaches himself to Barney in attempt to find his boat, and seduce her. After all Barney looks good in a thong and stiletto heels. Bill and Sam are drinking buddies, and besides his self interest in the boat and Barney, Sam worries about Bill’s safety. Hooker is also a famous NASCAR driver, and his fans flock around him.
A couple of pistol toting Cuban ladies also come to Barney’s aid. Rosa Florez and Felicia Iberra know how to take care of themselves, and aren’t afraid of nobody. After all, doesn’t everyone in Miami carry a gun and know how to use it. Having spent some time in Miami, Evanovich portrays the essence of Miami life.
What would be a story based in Miami and Coconut Grove without a couple of homosexuals. Jude (Judey) Corker and his friend, Todd, also come to Barney’s assistance. Todd is former work associate of Bill’s, and Jude went to high school with Barney. While the circumstances surrounding the association of oddball characters stretch the reader’s imagination, the characters’ chemistry works.
Bill has met a Cuban girl that knows the location of sunken treasure, and they have borrowed Sam’s boat to retrieve it from Cuban waters. Unfortunately, some really bad Cuban guys also know about the treasure, and wish to get it from Bill. This scenario sets the scene for a number of car chases, shoot-outs, fights, flights, and rescues.
A number of other reviews give this book a thumbs down, but I found the book highly entertaining and funny. It is not a sophisticated murder mystery, but it provided amble entertainment for the flight from Tampa to Minneapolis. Some other reviews stated this book was not as good as the Stephanie Plum series, but I am not sure why they may have felt that way. One reviewer stated, “Metro Girl less believable than Stephanie Plum.” I mean did the reviewer actually find Stephanie Plum believable? Evanovich’s books are meant for fun, light reading, and lots of laughs. Metro Girl delivers.
BGS 9/6/2008
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