Well, my mom picked up this book in the middle of my Stephanie Plum obsession last year, and I read it basically because I was out of the numbers books to read. I really don't like (kind of despise) the whole NASCAR thing, so Miami and NASCAR weren't too much of a draw for me.

Unfortunately, two things are probably skewing this rating: 1) I read this book before Metro Girl so I missed some of the set up and 2) I read it while in the middle of a Stephanie Plum marathon... That being said the book was OK.

NASCAR, while relevant to the plot, didn't really bug me too much, but I just didn't find this book laugh out loud funny like the Plum novels. I chuckled in a few parts, but there was nothing that I highlighted for my mom. (We pass books back and forth so the first one to read highlights parts we thing are hysterical or noteworthy so we don't ruin it for the other person by telling them before they read.)

The plot has Barnaby and Hooker stealing a competitors NASCAR rig with one of their friends and a dead guy on board. The whole plot comes down to a high tech way of cheating during a race.

I like Barney, she's smart and sassy... Hooker is unremarkable in the fact that he is typical of JE's male counterparts for Plum... slightly dangerous and probably not good for you, but you have to love him anyway. The cast of sidekicks weren't as fun as Lulu and Grandma Mazur, and the ending quite frankly bugged me. I was disappointed that the cheating thing seemed to be OK.

Anyway, if you run out of Plum books, this one is ok... but in a competition - Stephanie wins hands down!