Metro Girl

Alex Barnaby #1

by Janet Evanovich

Buckle your seat belts. Number one New York Times bestselling author, Janet Evanovich, is moving into the fast lane with Metro Girl, a thrilling, high-octane misadventure with high stakes, hot nights, cold-blooded murder, sunken treasure, a woman with a chassis built for speed, and one very good, very sexy NASCAR driver who’s along for the ride.

"Wild" Bill Barnaby's dropped off the face of the earth and big sister Alex heads for Miami, Bill's last known sighting, on a harrowing hunt to save her brother ... and maybe the world. Truth is, Alex has been bailing her brother out of trouble since they were kids. Not that Bill's a bad sort. More that he acts first and thinks later. Unfortunately, this time around, Wild Bill will be Dead Bill if Alex doesn't find him in time.

Alex blasts through the bars of South Beach and points her search to Key West and Cuba, laying waste to Miami hit men, dodging Palmetto bugs big enough to eat her alive, and putting the pedal to the metal with NASCAR driver Sam Hooker.

Engaged in a deadly race, Wild Bill's "borrowed" Hooker's sixty-five foot Hatteras and sailed off into the sunset ... just when Hooker has plans for the boat. Hooker figures he'll attach himself to Alex and maybe run into Bill. Maybe Hooker can salvage what's left of his vacation. And maybe Hooker'll get lucky in love with Bill's sweetie pie sister. After all, Hooker is NASCAR Guy. And NASCAR Guy is good at revving a woman’s engine.

The race to the finish is hot and hard, taking Alex and Hooker into international waters, exposing a plot to grab Cuban gold and a sinister relic of the Cuban missile crises.Creative cussing and sexual innuendo included.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Humor, Contemporary, Comedy

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 2, 2004

About the author

Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Trouble Maker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O'Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me laughing so much at times. I love the characters in Janet's books.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Metro Girl Alex Barnaby Series, Book 1 (audiobook) by Janet Evanovich read by C. J. Critt.

This was a fun start to a new series. I love getting to know a whole new set of characters. And they certainly went on a great adventure.

[Tiffany PSquared · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Baltimore-born tomboy joins forces with a NASCAR track star in south Florida to outwit a South American heavy bent on delivering a deadly nerve agent to the Russians.

Oh, and there's sunken treasure, gun-wielding females with hand-rolled cigars, Wild Bill the red-haired boat thief, bouncing banana-hammocks, and a possibly gay rainbow-collared schnauzer named Brian.

Metro Girl is a perfect beach read - it's fast, funny, and just on the other side of making any sense whatsoever. If you already love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, then you'll enjoy Alexandra Barnaby's adventures as well.

3 1/2 stars (but only because I thought the ending was a little too "explain-y".

[Parisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, Janet. But seriously. This book was filled with exactly the same characters as the Plum series, but they had different names. Come on. I liked the Plum series for the most part, but that doesn't mean I want to read it over and over again under the pretense of it being a new story with new people.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Janet Evanovich! No deep thinking or blood and guts, just plain entertainment.

[Antof9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just read A Thousand Acres, I needed something "lite", and this perfectly fit the bill. I found it fun and silly, and some of the writing was quite clever. Calling Hooker "NASCAR guy" was genius. Judey was a little bit of a characature, but the lines about him having "two eyebrows" made me LOL.

One of the things I liked was all the pop culture references. I've often found things like that missing in the Sue Grafton "alphabet series" (it's ok though; that's an older series -- I just find them lacking), and thought that they added to the book. Of course in 20 years, it might not last, but . .. referring to J.Lo's bootie, The Apprentice, etc. was just fun. It was like a conversation with a friend. A silly friend. ...

Of course the story itself is totally implausible, but that's not the point. And I have to say I liked the fact that Barney & Hooker didn't sleep together within the first 5 pages of the book.

It was quite fun :)

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm calling this done.

I've still got about 40 minutes of listening left in the audiobook, but as the minutes wind down at work on this Christmas Eve, I don't know if I'll finish it before they release us. And frankly, at this moment I don't care if I finish it or not. I kind of just want to stop.

This book is dumb.
I never cared about any of the characters, the plot is weak and absolutely absurd (She also apparently doesn't have a clue about owning boats in Cuba... and how people DON'T. Because they aren't allowed to), the pop culture references are very dated (seriously, AOL?).

And I'm listening to this on audiobook, which I don't think I like the narrator at all. I zoned out many times and just didn't care. It also took me far too long to get through this damn book, because I just didn't want to listen to it.

Don't know if I'll bother reading the next one. I certainly won't listen to it on audiobook.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the hardcover, large print edition of this, which I point out because it got really funny around pages 280/300. As usual for a Janet Evanovich book one of the characters was driving a Porsche, it was not however a Cayenne or a Turbo(gasp!), but they did mention they were thinking of upgrading to a Turbo so there's that. =P There was also a Mini Cooper which I believe Stephanie drove at one point in her books. =)

This takes place in Miami and I couldn't help but think they needed to get in touch with Michael Westen, Fiona and Sam to help them out. hehe

The character's weren't law enforcement or investigative types, but I think how they went about everything was pretty believable. The heroine also had the right amount of bravery, but was also realistic in that she didn't always charge into a situation and would(without a fuss) take a opportunity to remove herself from a given situation.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once a month I choose books for our library to send out to people who can’t make it there to choose their own. And I spend my Friday mornings working in our community second hand bookshop.
Between these two volunteer jobs I’ve learned about whole realms of fiction I would never have known about and from time to time I give myself a reading exercise to find out what some of the most read are like.
My home delivery readers are mostly older women. Many want to read romances, quite a few like light mysteries. Several have given Very Clear Instructions:
No sex, no violence, no language, no American authors.
Metro Girl would fail on all accounts.

Lively story, flip humour, improbable romantic adventure - yes, all of these. I’m interested to discover that Evanovich began her writing career as a romance writer, then shifted to action with romance. A clever mix.
Helpful for The Bookshed customers, and to know I must never choose her for the library round.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

METRO GIRL (Amateur Sleuth-Florida-Cont) – G
Janet Evanovich – Standalone
Harper Collins, 2004- Hardcover
Alexandra Barnaby receives an alarming late night call from her brother that’s cut off mid-conversation with a woman’s scream in the background. She files to Miami to find her brother, and hooks up with NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, whose boat her brother has taken. Together they are trying to outrun the bad guys to find her brother, a boat, a cache of gold and a mysterious canister.
*** In some ways, I liked Alex better than Stephanie, as she’s smarter and more self-reliant, whereas Hooker, the NASCAR guy, annoyed me. Although there wasn’t the sexual tension, and it didn’t give me the laugh-out-loud moments the Plum books often do, it was still a fun read.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun to read. I'd been told that these weren't as good as the Stephanie Plum novels so I was delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It almost read like a Carl Hiaasen novel; mostly owing to the south Florida setting and odd ball characters. Some of the action in the book was a little preposterous at times but nowhere near the almost unbelievable level of a Plum book. Overall a solid story with enough suspense that had me reading it all in one sitting. Just the summer read I was looking for.

[L Y N N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this and really liked it. I liked the characters and the story line. I like Evanovich. Love the Plum series, and this is my second favorite!

[Alexw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, easy read which is what I needed during the Holiday Season. Not as good as her Stephanie Plum series which has more belly laughs but a good, fast paced thriller.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading this for a challenge and to my surprise really liked it. It had a lot of the same vibe as other books that I have read from Evanovich. I liked the pace, the characters and the plot a lot. I found Hooker to be the one character I think I enjoyed the most. I will most definitely continue this series. I am looking forward to seeing where the relationships develop and how Barnaby manages in other books to come.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 STARS

"Alexandra (Barney) Barnaby roars onto the Miami Beach scene in hot pursuit of her missing baby brother, "Wild" Bill. Leave it to the maverick of the family to get Barney involved with high-speed car chases, a search for sunken treasure, and Sam Hooker, a NASCAR driver who's good at revving a woman's engine.

Engaged in a deadly race, Bill has "borrowed" Hooker's sixty-five-foot Hatteras and sailed off into the sunset...just when Hooker has plans for the boat. Hooker figures he'll attach himself to Barney and maybe run into scumbag Bill. And better yet, maybe he'll get lucky in love with Bill's sweetie pie sister.

The pedal will have to go to metal if Barney and Hooker want to be the first to cross the finish line, save Bill, Hooker's boat...and maybe the world." (From Amazon)

Hilarious romantic-comedy...for all Evanovich fans!

[Just - The romance reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can tell this will be the first of many Janet Evanovich novels for me. Chick-lit mixed with a good mystery and lots of action, Metro Girl was truly entertaining. Alex "Barney" Barnaby and Sam Hooker make quite the pair, thrown together for very different reasons, both are in search of Barney's missing brother Wild Bill. They go on a dangerous adventure with lots of chaos and drama, while the Nascar driving Hooker tries to steal Barney's heart.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on my Ipod while cooking and cleaning various messes around my house. I thought it was very similar in style to the Plumb books.

This time around the heroine is Barney, a blond gal who grew up around mechanics. Her love interest is a blond Nascar driver who thinks he's just the hottest thing ever. The two meet and pair up when Barney's brother goes missing. It was very cute, light and fluffy and just the thing to distract me from the grossities that I must clean up.

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janet Evanovich is best known for her Stephanie Plum series (“One for the Money”, “Two For the Doe”, “Three To Get Deadly”, etc) featuring Stephanie Plum: A so-so bounty hunter with big hair, a big mouth and a gun. Each of the novels has rocketed to the New York Times Best Seller List and has made her a publishing phenomenon. The books are laugh out loud funny and Evanovich has amassed herself quite the loyal fan base. Myself included.

I for one love her Stephanie Plum novels, so I was extremely excited at hearing she would be starting a new series. I wondered if the new series would be as funny, if the main character would be as wonderful as Stephanie and if the mystery would draw me in from the get go. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. In fact, I was overjoyed. “Metro Girl” is an incredible read!

In it, we meet Alexandra Barnaby, or Barney to her friends and family. Though she hails from Baltimore instead of New Jersey, she is just as funny and endearing. Working in her father’s garage over the summers has instilled her and her brother “Wild” Bill with a love of cars. But, as she says: “Just because I know how to change a guy’s oil doesn’t mean I want to spend the rest of my life on my back, staring up at his undercarriage.” Barney wants the quiet life, which is quickly shattered when her brother goes missing.

Things heat up when Barney flies to Miami to try and find her brother. She has no idea where to start, but quickly finds out that he disappeared on a boat named the Happy Hooker belonging to Sam Hooker, famed NASCAR race driver. Things are complicated, however, when Sam Hooker tags along with Barney to help her find her brother; he wants his boat back. Barney at first doesn’t want anything to do with the handsome racecar driver. He’s arrogant, suave and sexy and that is a dangerous mix.

But “Wild” Bill isn’t just missing. He’s mixed up in something that goes beyond fixing engines or a busted carburetor. When Sam and Barney finally do find Bill, what he’s involved in will blow their minds and get them all in some really hot water. Barney and Sam become involved with a plot so incredible that their very lives may be at stake. Perhaps this is one race that Sam Hooker won’t win?

I enjoyed every single word of “Metro Girl”. It was fast, furious and funny and had a lot of heart. While Stephanie Plum is kind of klutzy and dumb and the humour in the books is more slapstick funny, the humour in “Metro Girl” is subtler. There is also more of a focus on the budding relationship between Barney and Sam Hooker. With a plot that covers gay men, exfoliating, weapons of destruction, women in distress and fast cars, this is one summer read that keeps the reader guessing until the final pages.

While my love for the Stephanie Plum books runs deep, it looks like I have a new heroine to look forward to! I can’t wait for “Motor Mouth” out in October 2006 to read her next adventure. Pick this one up, it’s well worth the read and you’ll laugh yourself silly.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this while waiting for Lean Mean 13 to become available at my local library. I was disappointed to find that the characters and premise were very similar to the Stephanie Plum series; I would go so far as to say that Metro Girl is just Plum-lite, the only difference being that while I love Stephanie, I find Barney barely tolerable.

In spite of the similarities and the annoying protagonist, you're better off reading this than either of the "between-the-numbers" books.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one that I want to re-read. It's been a few years now and when I think back to the elements of it - I really enjoyed the ride.(HA! I made a funny!)

[Glass]

DNF

[Ankita Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Janet's books always, ALWAYS make me laugh. She has a knack for narrating the most serious situations in a way that makes you chuckle.

[Mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst books I have ever read.

I read it because my grandmother, who has dementia, gifted me the second book in the series, which I am now DREADING reading.

Some highlights of the awfulness include the endorsement of the myth that women who deny men's sexual advances secretly DO want them (complete with repeated nonconsensual kissing and a happy ending for the perpetrator in question--blech), the ubiquitous, nonsensical sexual imagery and innuendo ("His body was toned and golden, and the red thong showed off a terrific ass and a bunch of lumpy things in the front. I was trying to think positive about the bakery concept, but the bagels in his bathing suit weren't doing a lot for me."), the main character's self-hating inner monologue ("Good thing I watch a lot of television. If it wasn't for television I wouldn't have any ideas at all."), and the unnecessary description of what the main character is eating, which is almost nothing for the majority of the book, and its direct comparison to the more indulgent eating of the men around her.

The author clearly can't see that her book is harmful in any of these ways, or any of the many more ways I didn't mention (there's a bunch of stuff that is harmful to men, too). Appalling. SKIP IT!

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evanovich's protagonist Alex Barnaby is satisfyingly different from Stephanie Plum, of the "27" series. Alex can fix cars, and appreciates nice ones, she is independent and smart, and she's going to find her missing brother, who has stolen a yacht. Alex moves in a ritzier world than Stephanie Plum, and knows how businessmen and conmen operate, and that there is often little difference between them. Evanovich describes Miami and Cuba just as well as her novels set in New York, New Jersey and Boston. I'm sure she'd find the interesting people and places where-ever she lived. Makes me remember my fun Miami stop-overs between trips to Trinidad and Costa Rica. An action-filled romp in beautiful locations.

[Jack Hance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book in a new series featuring a new heroine, Alexandra Barnaby. She’s got some of the same characteristics as Stephanie Plum, only less ethnic, great at fixing engines and a lot tougher. Might be smarter as well. The book has a ton of action and holds your interest. Most of the book is set in South Florida, including the Keys, and fans of Carl Hiaasen will recognize the wacky humor and oddball villains found here. A good read.

[ML Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly story with chuckles, action, and a wee bit of romance.
Good fun read.

[Gail Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

A fast, fun , action packed book. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. What are you waiting for? Buy it

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby received a disturbing call from her brother, 'Wild Bill', in Miami, Florida that ended with a woman's scream. She flew to Miami to help her brother and met Sam Hooker, a famous NASCAR driver. Barney's brother, Bill, had stolen Hooker's boat. They work together to find Barney's brother and Hooker's boat in a harrowing adventure that is filled with danger, bad guys, and plenty of action while trying to save the good guys. The story is filled with semi-humorous characters.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always listen to the audio books of Janet Evanovich. They always make me laugh. This one was not her Stephanie Plum series. When I first heard it I didn't like it. However, after just a little while I was laughing out loud in the car. The characters were fun, the reader was excellent and I really enjoyed this book. I'm hoping she makes a series out of Metro Girl!! And I truly hope that NASCAR guy is in it.

I know it was a good book because when I got in the car this morning I was very disappointed that I'd finished it.

[Julie Burns · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. I'm a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series and maybe my expectations were set too high, but I thought Metro Girl was too fluffy. I had no desire to stick with it and wished Evanovich would simply get back to her primary series.