Thieving Weasels

Taylor, Billy. Thieving Weasels. 2016. 320p. ISBN 9780525429241. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Everything is going great for Cameron Smith. A senior at an elite boarding school in upstate New York, Cameron has just been accepted by Princeton, and he cannot wait to get there with Claire, his beautiful and rich girlfriend. Yes, life is good for Cameron … except that Cameron is not his real name. Hiding behind the good name of Cameron Smith is Skip O’Rourke, a member of the notorious O’Rourke weasel clan.

Skip escaped the clutches of his family four years ago when he absconded with his dead grandfather’s money, the remaining $100,000 that had been accumulated during a life of crimes. The O’Rourkes steal and rob people, and have been for decades. From breaking and entering into apartments to scamming welfare and Medicaid, any reason is good to make a quick buck. They are free, unlike the poor chump who works all day to eke a meager living. One’s freedom is one’s life of crime, however, and Skip got tired of the lifestyle. At thirteen, he ran away, enrolled at his exclusive school, and stretched grandpa’s money long enough to get in Princeton on his own merits.

But now the family has found him again. Uncle Wonderful, his mother’s brother, tracks him down at the school, and takes him away during the winter holidays. He’s got one more job for him to do before the family lets him live his life. And if he decides not to play along, then the whole world, and more specifically Claire, will know who Cameron Smith really is.

Now Skip must work with his deadbeat cousin to pull the greatest con. As the situation keeps changing, however, and evolve into a plot to murder an old mobster, Skip finds himself dragged even deeper in his family’s merciless machinations for a quick buck. Having abandoned the criminal life years ago, Skip must once again immerse himself in it to survive and escape his family.