Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor - OPTIONAL

Taylor, Billy Thieving Weasels, 250 pgs. Dial Books (Penguin Random House), 2016. $17.99 Language – R (97 swears, 1 “f”), Mature Content – PG13; Violence – PG13; 

Skip is living the life he has always wanted: a normal life. Unfortunately, Skip’s family found him and are trying to trap him in their thieving ways again by threatening Skip’s new life—unless he participates in another scam. While Skip tried to leave behind everything he learned from his criminal family, his skills in conning and thieving quickly come back to him, leaving Skip to wonder if a “normal life” will ever be possible.

Thieving Weasels was a quick, fun read for me. The premise is entertaining, and Skip’s inner conflict about using his skills versus trying not to sink to his family’s level of trickery presents surprisingly relatable trains of thought. As much as I enjoyed reading it, I felt that Skip made presumptuous leaps in his logic that I, as the reader, could not always follow during the falling action and resolution of the book. This made the conclusion feel too fast for me. 

HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen