Takedown Twenty is the twentieth full-length novel in the popular Stephanie Plum series by American author, Janet Evanovich. Stephanie’s after a skip worth big money, Salvatore Sunucchi. But there’s a problem. Sunucchi is Joe Morelli’s godfather, and Grandma Bella’s nephew. He may be accused of murder, but everybody likes him and no-one will give Stephanie a clue. Then there’s the giraffe that keeps galloping past, distracting Lula and Stephanie from their stake-out. And Ranger wants Stephanie to look into the murder of an old lady, a murder that proves to be the work of a serial killer who leaves bodies in dumpsters.

This instalment sees Stephanie going to two funeral home viewings, having a muffler incident that means resorting to Uncle Sandor’s big blue Buick, being shot at multiple times, falling down stairs under weighty people, breaking various body parts, thrown into the Delaware, kidnapped twice and trying to cook a meal. Someone resorts to a former occupation for the sake of a handbag; someone gets an ear shot off, at least one car is destroyed, much food is consumed and cement shoes are narrowly avoided.

By the twentieth instalment, Evanovich is relying on the various in-jokes: Stephanie’s ongoing dilemma of which man to choose; Lula’s appetite for food and fashion; Grandma Mazur’s zest for life; Grandma Bella’s putting the eye on Stephanie; the bizarre episodes trying to get skips to the police station; Stephanie’s uncanny ability to attract disaster; her mother’s reaction to all the stress (ironing). The snappy dialogue is a strong part of the series and, this time, the giraffe provides a bit of slapstick. A fun read.

I pretty much own every single Janet Evanovich book that has been released, and Takedown Twenty is no exemption. I think she is a brilliant author who writes exciting and evocative stories that I really like so I make sure to support all her works. When this came out, I was so excited to read Stephanie Plum's new adventures that it would be lying to say that I did not expect this book to be special. This is the twentieth title in her Stephanie Plum series and I was hoping that this book would be great compared to the earlier releases.

Takedown Twenty's plot is a continuation of the previous release. It could be quite difficult to grasp the whole story if you have not read the previous book but I was able to manage. Stephanie Plum also solved two cases in this book---one that involves Salvatore Sunnuchi also known as Uncle Sunny and the other one that involves a mysterious death. There are interesting and surprising plot twists in the novel that I truly enjoyed and I have to applaud Evanovich for that.

Overall, I think Takedown Twenty is a good read and I would recommend it for people who want to read a gripping novel.

I am a big Stephanie Plum fan, and Janet Evanovich's new one 'Takedown Twenty' was enjoyable but sadly I found it bit of a letdown in comparison to the earlier books.

We see New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum trying to catch Salvatore Sunuchi aka Uncle Sunny the mobster. What makes it hard for Stephanie to catch the bad guy this time is that no one wants to help her. Whats worse is that her almost fianc and Trentons hottest cop Joe Morelli is the mobsters godson. This should have been a good thing for Stephanie, but Joes Grandmother does her best to throw the bounty hunter off her track. After all, Uncle Sunny, it seems, is almost like family to the Morellis.

Our heroine also finds herself running after another criminal who has killed the mother of security specialist Rangers top client; the victim also happens to be a friend of Stephanies grand mum. Ranger, grandma, and Stephanie work together to avoid any more killings in Trenton. What a weird way to bond with your grandmother, right?

In this novel, we also see a giraffe running around town. Honestly, I dont really understand why strange animals seem to be a part of the Stephanie Plum series. Maybe its just me, but I think we can all do without those animals?

I also have to end this review by saying that; as much as I am a Stephanie Plum fan I really think that this should be last book to the series. The previous books werent as good as the first books in the series. Either that or I have just grown too accustomed to the them.