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One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) (Stephanie Plum Novels) Paperback – Bargain Price, June 13, 2006

by Janet Evanovich (Author)

4.4 15,556 ratings

Book 1 of 31: Stephanie Plum

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Read the Dynamite Blockbuster that Started It All!

Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.

Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.

Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Evanovich...is funny and ceaselessly inventive." -- -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Snappily written, fast paced and witty." -- --USA Today

"Comes roaring in like a blast of very fresh air."
--The Washington Post
"Evanovich's writing is smooth, clever and laugh-aloud. Her plot is ingenious and fresh, her dialogue breezy, bright, witty, and gutsy."
--Booklist (starred review)

From the Back Cover

Read the Dynamite Blockbuster that Started It All!

"Evanovich is funny and ceaselessly inventive."--Los Angeles Times Book Review"Snappily written, fast paced and witty."
--USA Today

Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.

Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.

Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man.

About the Author

Bestselling author Janet Evanovich is the recipient of the Crime Writers Association's John Creasy Memorial, Last Laugh, and Silver Dagger awards, as well as the Left Coast Crime's Lefty award, and is the two-time recipient of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's Dilys award. She lives in New Hampshire, and is at work on her next Stephanie Plum adventure.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER ONE

THERE ARE SOME MEN who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me -- not forever, but periodically.

Morelli and I were both born and raised in a blue-collar chunk of Trenton called the burg. Houses were attached and narrow. Yards were small. Cars were American. The people were mostly Italian descent, with enough Hungarians and Germans thrown into offset inbreeding. It was a good place to buy calzone or play the numbers. And. if you had to live in Trenton anyway, it was an okay place to raise a family.

When I was a kid I didn't ordinarily play with Joseph Morelli. He lived two blocks over and was two years older. "Stay away from those Morelli boys," my mother had warned me. "They're wild. I hear stories about the things they do to girls when they get them alone."

"What kind of things?" I'd eagerly asked.

"You don't want to know," my mother had answered. "Terrible things. Things that aren't nice."

From that point on, I viewed Joseph Morelli with a combination of terror and prurient curiosity that bordered on awe. Two weeks later, at the age of six, with quaking knees and a squishy stomach, I followed Morelli into his father's garage on the promise of learning a new game.

The Morelli garage hunkered detached and snubbed at the edge of their lot. It was a sorry affair, lit by a single shaft of light filtering through a grime-coated window. Its air was stagnant, smelling of corner must, discarded tires, and jugs of used motor oil. Never destined to house the Morelli cars, the garage served other purposes. Old man Morelli used the garage to take his belt to his sons, his sons used the garage to take their hands to themselves, and Joseph Morelli took me, Stephanie Plum, to the garage to play train.

"What's the name of this game?" I'd asked Joseph Morelli.

"Choo-choo," he'd said, down on his hands and knees, crawling between my legs, his head trapped under my short pink skirt. "You're the tunnel, and I'm the train."

I suppose this tells you something about my personality. That I'm not especially good at taking advice. Or that I was born with an overload of curiosity. Or maybe it's about rebellion or boredom or fate. At any rate, it was a one-shot deal and darn disappointing, since I'd only gotten to be the tunnel, and I'd really wanted to be the train.

Ten years later, Joe Morelli was still living two blocks over. He'd grown up big and bad, with eyes like black fire one minute and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate the next. He had an eagle tattooed on his chest, a tight-assed, narrow-hipped swagger, and a reputation for having fast hands and clever fingers.

My best friend, Mary Lou Molnar, said she heard Morelli had a tongue like a lizard.

"Holy cow," I'd answered, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"Just don't let him get you alone or you'll find out. Once he gets you alone...that's it. You're done for."

I hadn't seen much of Morelli since the train episode. I supposed he'd enlarged his repertoire of sexual exploitations. I opened my eyes wide and leaned closer to Mary Lou, hoping for the worst. "You aren't taking about rape, are you?"

"I'm talking about lust! If he wants you, you're doomed. The guy is irresistible." Aside from being fingered at the age of six by you-know-who, I was untouched. I was saving myself for marriage, or at least for college. "I'm a virgin," I said, as if this was news. "I'm sure he doesn't mess with virgins."

"He specializes in virgins! The brush of his fingertips turns virgins into slobbering mush."

Two weeks later, Joe Morelli came into the bakery where I worked every day after school, Tasty Pastry, on Hamilton. He bought a chocolate-chip cannoli, told me he'd joined the navy, and charmed the pants off of me four minutes after closing, on the floor of Tasty Pastry, behind the case filled with chocolate eclairs.

The next time I saw him, I was three years older. I was on my way to the mall, driving my father's Buick when I spotted Morelli standing in front of Giovichinni"s Meat Market. I gunned the big V-8 engine, jumped the curb, and clipped Morelli from behind, bouncing him off the front right fender. I stopped the car and got out to asses the damage. "Anything broken?"

He was sprawled on the pavement, looking up my skirt. "My leg."

"Good," I said. Then I turned on my heel, got into the Buick, and drove to the mall.

I attribute the incident to temporary insanity, and in my own defense, I'd like to say I haven't run over anyone since.

Copyright © 1994 by Evanovich, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition (June 13, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312362080
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312362089
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.97 x 8.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #717,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,489 in Deals in Books
- #5,620 in Humorous Fiction
- #20,531 in Women Sleuths (Books)

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4.4 15,556 ratings

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Janet Evanovich

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Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the co-authored Fox and O’Hare series, the Knight and Moon series, and the Lizzy and Diesel series as well as twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, Troublemaker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author.

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Patto

Fun and action-filled

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2024

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Stephanie Plum is out of work, behind on the rent, and about to have her car repossessed. But she has a large extended family. So she gets a job as a Bounty Hunter from her sleazy cousin Vinnie.

The bail jumper she gets assigned to is Joe Morelli, ex-cop accused of murder. He seduced her in high school and dropped her. She can get a $10,000 reward if she can bring him in.

Stephanie has no martial arts training and is afraid of her gun. But she’s reckless and determined. The road to her goal is paved with blood and terror — with lots of shocks along the way. She is an engaging protagonist, and Morelli is a charming and devious target. Stephanie is also blessed with a sweet mother who is horrified by her job and wants to marry her off — and an outrageous grandma in spandex shorts who watches cop show on TV and loves Stephanie’s job.

I was delighted with this book and have ordered the next one.

2 people found this helpful

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Frank Donnelly

First Stephanie Plum Novel, Starts Slow, Picks Up At The End, Not As Mature As Sue Grafton

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2019

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"One for the Money" is a first of a series novel by Janet Evanovich. The protagonist is a female who has lost her traditional civilian type job and becomes a "bounty hunter" without any prior training or experience. The setting is Trenton, New Jersey. The style is modern conversational American and is an easily comprehended light read. The novel seemed to start slowly, but picked up the pace at the end. I liked it as an easy recreational style light reading experience.

Among my reading interests are the reading of early detective novels of various authors, past and present. One of my favorite modern American Detective Authors is Sue Grafton. This novel, and the protagonist, Stephanie Plum, reminds me somewhat of Sue Grafton and her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. In that this is only the first Stephanie Plum novel that I have read, I have a completely open mind on the following, but thus far I prefer Sue Grafton. I suppose I should also mention that Sue Grafton has passed away and I feel a certain amount of loyalty to her.

Comparing the two first novels, "One for the Money", with "A is for Alibi", both protagonists are younger, but not completely inexperienced females. One series is set in New Jersey, the other in California. Kinsey Millhone is a former police officer. Stephanie Plum has no similar experience. Accordingly, Stephanie Plum makes almost mind numbing mistakes compared to Kinsey Millhone. There is more popular style of humor in this novel. Sue Grafton's humor is more subtle. Sue Grafton seems more of a mature and sophisticated writer. There is almost no obscenity in Sue Grafton's novels that I have thus far read. (I have read "A" thru "H".). This novel has much more common street language. There is as much, or more, vulgarities in this novel as in all of the eight Sue Grafton
Novels that I have read, combined.

As is common for me, I purchased the Kindle and the audiobook and read and listened simultaneously. The audiobook is completely faithful to the Kindle. The story was at times slow enough that I sped up the reading speed on the audiobook. I would then slow it down when there were any detailed narrative. I also read the climax of the story twice. Once at a rapid speed and then at a slower speed. I liked the way the ending of the story was structured.

In summary, I liked this first "Stephanie Plum" novel. I see potential for enjoying future novels in this series. Of all of the modern American female detective authors that I have thus far read, Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum puts me most in mind of Sue Grafton and Kinsey Millhone. I always take a break between novels of the same author. In a few months I look forward to reading "Two for the Dough". Thank You....

9 people found this helpful

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homer

Funny and entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024

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Around 20 yrs ago, the five women I worked with in a office started reading and this sharing this series. I can't remember who brought in the 1st book, but it was passed around. We would each take turns buying the next book in the Stephanie Plum series, also sharing it. You knew when one of us got to a funny part in a book, as the laughter could be heard down the hallway. Don't know what happened to all of the original books, as the business closed back in Dec. 2009. Being disabled & retired, I thought it would be refreshing to start reading the series again. So happy to be able to download it on my Kindle. I already have Two for the Dough.

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024

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An easy read , Very funny at times Good character descriptions. Feel good easy read perfect rainy day read.. Enjoyable!

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Carole Wooten

Not as good as I remember

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016

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I have a lot of mixed feelings about this series at this point. I used to absolutely love it. Stephanie Plum is what got me reading again after not picking up a book for several years when my kids where little. I devoured every book in the series that was available and when a new one was released, I would drive to my local Borders to get a copy. I pushed these books on my mom and anyone else that would listen.

Several years ago, I stopped caring about this series. I realized that I could give a summary of just about any book in the series even if I hadn't read it yet.....because they are all the same. Yes there are small differences but the similarities are overwhelming. I bought this audiobook years ago and decided to pull it out because I wanted to feel a little bit of the magic before Stephanie Plum became boring.

I have read this book at least two or three times before listening to the audiobook. I even watched that horrible movie - at a theater. I know the story and I know it well. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any kind of magic this time. The story was okay. It has its moments for sure if you are looking for a little bit of silly fun in book form. It is really a pretty simple story without a whole lot of complexity to the mystery.

I didn't love the narration. C.J. Critt did a good job with Stephanie which was really the bulk of the story. I really didn't care for the voices used for the other characters in the book. I guess that I have a definite idea about what Ranger, Morelli, and the rest the gang should sound like and the reality of this audiobook just didn't measure up. Benito voice was just odd. Some of the voices used seemed so wrong to me that I found myself being pulled out of the story. I don't think that any of my issues were the fault of the narrator. I just went into the book with definite ideas of what I wanted to hear and this was just different. Not wrong...just different. I would listen to another book narrated by C.J. Critt.

I do think that readers looking for a fun silly story will enjoy the Stephanie Plum series. I have a lot of fond memories of reading these books but I don't think that I will be reading this one again. I may try the next book in the series soon to see if it works better for me because I really want to find some of the magic I felt years ago.

6 people found this helpful

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Adela R Cuellar

Luv the Stephanie Plum Books

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024

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These books are so funny and entertaining. I’m still trying to collect the whole series

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Jo Leigh

One of my favorite books!

Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2024

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This story is a laugh out loud start to a great series!

Alessandra Quattrini

Divertente e ben scritto

Reviewed in Italy on January 24, 2023

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Non è alta letteratura, ma è divertente e la protagonista non è né la patetica imbranata né la donna cazzuta, ma una donna normale, con i suoi casini, che prova fare un lavoro pericoloso perché deve.

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Jan Edwards Dunn

A refreshing style of writing

Reviewed in Spain on January 15, 2023

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This was my first novel from this author - and I have since obtained Kindle versions of the second and third books in the series. I think that says it all, don't you?

Client d'Amazon

livre en bon état

Reviewed in France on May 15, 2020

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livre en bon état

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