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Novel Critical Review - Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanonich



Book Title        : Takedown Twenty
Author              : Janet Evanonich
Publisher          : Headine Review
Date Published: 2013                                      
Number of pages: 345
Genre               : Mystery                               

Erderly people were mudered and found in the dumpsters around Trenton, New Jersey. The police can’t find any clues that the killer left behind so the bounty hunters took the investigation. The bounty hunters stakeout at Uncle Sunny Sunnuchi, a notorious mobster while they were working on that case, but the most unexpectedly thing is they spotted a giraffe named Kevin which loose in the town. Takedown Twenty is telling about Stephanie Plum, one of the bounty hunters who assigned to reveal who was the murderer, where actually Uncle Sunny Sunucchi was, and how could a giraffe wandering in the street.
The main character, Stephanie Plum has a close relation with the villain, Uncle Sunny Sunucchi. Her boyfriend is a policeman named Joe Morelli who has the villain as his Godfather. The relationship didn’t thwart the investigation, it helps they have a good teamwork, instead. Moreover, she is accompanied by Ranger, her fellow bond enforcement as well as affair and Lula her partner in investigation. The family members also encourage and support her, especially her Grandmother who has broad network of elderly which guides her to discover the truth of dumpster murder.
I adore of the wittiness the grandmother has. She is the character of old woman who is clever to help and support her granddaughter. Her cleverness, cheerfulness, and supportiveness make me want to be like her in my old age. The wittiness that she showed is she is shown as a youthful grandmother who loves to have fun and sink in romance even though she is not at the age where it is considered as normal. She contributes hints that lead Stephanie to solve the puzzle. One of the clues was a huge strike and the climax of the investigation.
The climax of the plot is my favorite part because it answers every single question in my head. It is the part when the grandmother gone and Stephanie worried what if the next victim of the murderer was her grandmother. Actually, the grandmother went to date a guy she knew and left a mail inside the house. Stephanie follow the clues and found where her grandmother at. She was afraid if she would find only her grandmother body, but fortunately grandmother was fine because the guy was attacked till dead with a thong. She was dating with a guy which was the actual elderly murderer, Uncle Sunny Sunucchi. It feels like the true catcher was the grandmother not the bounty hunter.
The worst part of this story is the wandering Giraffe named Kevin. The story of that animal is not clearly illustrate, make me hard questioning in the beginning because I was confused whether the giraffe is a real animal or just an initial name for someone who has the characteristics of giraffe. The other characters when they were taking about it treat him as if he is a human. The frequency of his appearance was a little but so I often forgot such character exist and makes me dizzy when he suddenly appeared. I could figure out what’s the point and what role the giraffe taken near by the end of the chapter in this novel.
If I were the author of this novel, I’ll put more romance in this novel so the plot will be more interesting. The triangle love story between Stephanie, Morelli, and Ranger weren’t clearly resolved. The love affair that Stephanie and Ranger had weren’t reveled to Morelli until the end of the pages. It would be fun if we make Morelli find out that Stephanie playing at his back and they will have a fight and Ranger will be officially with Stephanie for a moment. Therefore, Morelli will not help Stephanie to do the investigation and join his grandfather as a villain. Such twist is my style and the ending will not easy to figure out.
I frequently read novel with the theme of romance but not with mystery genre like this one. So this was a fresh experience of reading this type of genre. I think the story of detective were plenty out there, but when we see from different point of view form bounty hunter who has the same duty to do investigation and t reveal the truth is kind of different. The motivation between a detective and a bounty hunter is not likely. The detective usually works with government and does the investigation based on what their head asks, but the bounty hunter do that for money priority, for the price they will got if they succeed to finish the case, there is no normal value behind them unlike the public detective one. This novel illustrates that kind of differences and gives me a new knowledge of different perspective.
The story teaches moral values through the clues that the bounty hunter get during investigation.The bounty hunters get clues from the trace that the victims left when they lived. The gambling, the receipt of the groceries they bought, and bank notes. What I learn is everything we do in this world will left trace that can be entirely deleted even though we want to delete it. So be careful on every single step we take and consider everything wisely before act.

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