Book ~ "Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight" (2021) Janet Evanovich

From Goodreads ~ When Stephanie Plum is woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of footsteps in her apartment, she wishes she didn’t keep her gun in the cookie jar in her kitchen. And when she finds out the intruder is fellow apprehension agent Diesel, six feet of hard muscle and bad attitude who she hasn’t seen in more than two years, she still thinks the gun might come in handy.

Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Stephanie may not be the most technologically savvy sleuth but she more than makes up for that with her dogged determination, her understanding of human nature, and her willingness to do just about anything to bring a fugitive to justice. Unsure if Diesel is her partner or her competition in this case, she’ll need to watch her back every step of the way as she sets the stage to draw Wednesday out from behind his computer and into the real world.

Stephanie works for her bail bondsman cousin and Lulu, a former 'ho, works with her. As usual, they have a couple people they have to track down who didn't show up for their court date. Stephanie and Joe, a police officer, are still together but Diesel is back in the picture after two years.  They are both looking for a dangerous hacker named Oswald.  With nowhere to stay, Diesel crashes at Stephanie's.

This is the 28th in the Stephanie Plum series and I've read them all. As in previous books, Evanovich continues to follow her formula:

• Though dating long time boyfriend, Joe, she is lusting after both Joe and Ranger (and now Diesel) ... check
• Lulu talks about food all the time and eating lots ... check
• Lulu gets mad when people insult her about her weight ... check
• Stephanie goes home to mooch meals from her parents ... check
• Ranger calls Stephanie "Babe" and just wants to have sex with her with no commitment ... check
• Stephanie's car explodes ... check

This book was okay ... I found the hacker storyline a bit boring.  It's written in first person perspective from Stephanie's point of view.  Since it's basically the same story over and over, though, I stopped buying these books a long time ago and now borrow them from the library. It's a mindless familiar read.