Split Second: Thirty-Two Switcheroo (Stephanie Plum, Book 32)Audiobook

Janet Evanovich

Thirty-two books in, Stephanie Plum makes the decision of a lifetime

Thirty-two books into a series, the interesting question is not whether the bail bonds office is still standing but what a character does when she finally stops hedging. Stephanie Plum reaches a now-or-never moment in this one, makes a call she cannot walk back, and discovers that the consequences arrive faster than expected.

Some lifetimes are shorter than others, which is the kind of line that sounds like a joke until the plot takes it seriously. The familiar pieces are all in place, the skip tracing, the family, the two men who have been a problem since book one, and Evanovich uses them to ask what happens when the person at the centre of the mess finally chooses.

Audiobook review by Emma Lawson

★★★★☆

A series this old should not be able to surprise me, and here we are

I have been reading these since the nineties and I had assumed the formula was load-bearing. Book thirty-two finds a way to make the familiar furniture feel unstable again.

The trick is that Evanovich lets the decision actually cost something. Plum has spent three decades avoiding consequences, and this instalment makes the avoidance look like what it was, a strategy with an expiry date. The comedy still works, the Trenton background still works, but the tone is a notch darker than usual and the book is better for it.

Lorelei King is the reason to listen rather than read, and after this many titles she is essentially the voice of the series. The timing on the family scenes is impeccable, and she gives the two long-running suitors distinct rhythms without turning either into a caricature.

One practical point: this is the thirty-second Stephanie Plum book, seven hours and thirty-two minutes, and it assumes you already know everyone. Anyone starting here would do better with the previous instalment. anyone who has never opened one of these will be lost in the first twenty minutes.

If you are new to the series, Now or Never is the previous instalment and the better entry point, and Dirty Thirty is where the current arc really begins. This one is the most consequential of the three.

There is also a genuine pleasure in watching an author enjoy her own machinery this late in a series. The set pieces are constructed with obvious relish, and the supporting cast, including the family that has been embarrassing Plum since the first book, gets better material than usual.

The plot is also tighter than the last few instalments, which had a tendency to wander between set pieces and wait for the next one. What I did not expect was how much of the book is about loyalty, and how badly most of the people around Plum handle it.

Janet Evanovich Split Second Stephanie Plum mystery humor Lorelei King free audiobook

Split Second is Stephanie Plum's thirty-second outing, and the one where she finally makes a decision she cannot undo. Seven hours and thirty-two minutes, read by Lorelei King.

The free trial is the painless way to try it: you open the trial, you take this title, and you decide afterwards whether the subscription earns its place. If not, the audiobook stays in your library regardless, so there is no timer running and nothing to rush. Seven and a half hours is a weekend of listening, and the pace makes it feel shorter.

For more on how the cancellation process works, a dedicated guide is available. And if you decide not to keep the subscription, the audiobook remains yours. Before that, let Trenton pull you back in for seven hours of bad decisions, very well told. Seven hours and a half is a weekend, and King keeps it moving without ever sounding rushed. The narration is the same voice the series has had for years, and it still fits.

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