THIEVING WEASELS, by Billy Taylor

The story: Skip O'Rourke was raised by conmen and grifters, so when he engineers an escape from the family and into a high-class prep school, he thinks he's got all the bases covered. No, wait--the family tracks him down and forces him into One Last Job...but the deeper Skip gets into plans to "off" Fat Nicky, the more he realizes this isn't about the money--it's about revenge. And he's the target. After all, as Skip has to keep reminding himself: “Always know your mark. And if you don’t know who your mark is…it’s probably YOU.”

Pre-pub review (available August 2016) June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG-13; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (organized crime and related violence, family-wide dishonesty) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Skip is an engaging narrator, and he gets the reader rooting for him. It's kind of eerie, however, how much this story resembles Joe Schreiber's "Con Academy". Buy it where that story, as well as Jude Watson's "Loot" and Mary Elizabeth Summers's "Trust Me, I'm Lying" are popular. And if you have a problem with the philosophy that it's okay to steal from someone because they're a bad guy, you'll want to give this one a skip.