One for the Money Book Review

One for the Money (Movie Tie-in) (Stephanie Plum Novels) by Janet Evanovich was on my list of books to read since I saw the movie last year.  If you haven't seen the movie, make sure you read the book first.  I did it the other way around but I didn't know that it was a book until I saw the movie so I am glad that the movie opened up this great new book series for me.  Have you read the book or seen the movie?

 In the book, Stephanie Plum has lost her job and is trying to find something else to pay her bills.  She hasn't had a lot of luck in her New Jersey town and decides to try to work for her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company.  She has no experience and sets her sights on the most difficult first case, a local vice cop Joe Morelli.  They went to school together and have an interesting history growing up but now he is a wanted fugitive after jumping bail for his murder trial.  She is learning from another bounty hunter and a cop friend with the addition of a gun and spray, she is ready to get to work.  There are some very funny attempts at learning how to do her job as well as some serious threats in the process.  She has pawned most of the items that have value in her apartment and takes on a few smaller cases in order to buy some necessities while waiting for the big score of bringing in Morelli.

I loved the book and thought it was great but it was a lot like the movie so it was a little less interesting because I knew what was going to happen from watching the movie but don't think you know it all because there are a few parts that are different.  I can't wait to check out the second book in the series to see what happens next.  I also want to go back to watch the movie when the book is fresh in my mind.  I hope that you pick this up at your local library or bookstore to see how you like it.

Do you prefer to read the book first or see a movie?  My husband and I had a great debate after the first Harry Potter movie because I thought that there was no reason to change the parts that they did to make them different then the book but he hadn't read the book yet so he didn't understand my wild arguments and thought that I was being a little critical.  It was about the time that the third movie came out that he had finally caught the bug and read the books and finished right before we went to see the movie.  When we came out of the theater, he was on a rampage about the strange changes that they made from the book.  I laughed a little because he sounded a lot like me the first time around.  Although the movies and books are supposed to stand on their own, we always compare the two.  I prefer to read the book first before seeing the movie!