Hard Eight (novel)
2002 Paperback cover
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| Author | Janet Evanovich |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Stephanie Plum |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
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Publication date
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June 18, 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 49406167 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3555.V2126 H37 2002b |
| Preceded by | Seven Up |
| Followed by | Visions of Sugar Plums, To the Nines |
Hard Eight is the eighth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was written in 2002.
Hard Eight revolves around a child custody bond, rather than a criminal bail bond, and marks the (sometimes repeated) departure of the series from Stephanie chasing bad guys to Stephanie being stalked by bad guys. The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth volumes likewise revolve around Stephanie having a stalker.
Stephanie is asked by her parents' next-door neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, to find her granddaughter, Evelyn and great-granddaughter, Annie, who have disappeared. During a messy divorce with her ex-husband, Steven Soter, Evelyn was forced to post a child custody bond, and Mabel used her house as collateral. If Evelyn is not found, then the bond company will foreclose on her house, and the money will be forfeited to Steven. Mabel asks for Stephanie's help, since as a bounty hunter she is the closest thing Mabel knows to a detective. Stephanie is unable to refuse, even though she is not a private investigator.
After interviewing Evelyn's bondsman, Les Sebring, and Steven Soter, Stephanie is baffled; Steven was domineering and abusive, and Evelyn had no friends or other family members she might go to in an emergency, and no one has any idea where she might have gone. Steven seems to be less concerned about Annie's well-being than he is eager to get his hands on the bond money.
While snooping through Evelyn's apartment, Stephanie encounters her landlord, a local crime boss named Eddie Abruzzi. He warns Stephanie that if she knows where Evelyn is, she should tell him, or else he will "declare war" and she will be "the enemy." Stephanie's mentor, Ranger Manoso, explains to her that Abruzzi is an avid wargamer, and tends to frame everything in quasi-military terms.
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