New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three
truths: People don’t just vanish into thin air. Never anger
old people. And don’t do what Tiki tells you to do.
After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her
cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally
lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the
black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions
from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has
mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency
appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track down the con
man. The problem is, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace,
a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring
that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or
that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the
hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security,
and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living,
Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a
second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Plum is
forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop,
Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.
The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the
rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Plum
accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and
mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly special-forces
adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble,
she may have found a little more than she bargained for this
time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some
threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess
of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did it? If Stephanie
Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember:
no guts, no glory. . . .