"Very entertaining"

In the middle of the night, "Wild" Bill Barnaby calls his older sister Alexandra, better known as Barney, informing her that he has to leave Miami for the time being and to tell mom he is okay. That is what he said; but Barney hears a woman scream and her sibling shout a profanity before the connection ended.

Barney spent her salad days bailing Bill, known for seeking a good time, out of trouble when she was not blowing up engines racing stock cars. She realizes nothing has changed though he is in Miami and she still in Baltimore. Barney hits the South Beach bar scene which is next the Keys. Accompanying her is racing car driver Sam Hooker, who tries his NASCAR charm to drive Bill's sister into bed with him. Wild Bill had also told Barney on his last call that Bill could "kiss my exhaust pipe" as he borrowed without permission the NASCAR driver's sailing vessel and seemingly headed to Cuba on some wild butt scheme.

Switching heroine leads, Janet Evanovich pulls out quite a plum of a story with METRO GIRL that introduces readers to an amusing tough amateur sleuth in Barney, who can repair an engine and destroy a car. Though she prefers not to be on her back working on a man's undercarriage, Barney is there for Wild Bill when he needs her as usual. Fans of strong female leads with witty asides on life while starring in a wild "South Florida" amateur sleuth thriller will want to race along with Barney as she tries to save the world or at least her brother while struggling to ignore the NASCAR cologne (burnt oil mixed in a carbon monoxide base).

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 29, 2004

Summary

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.