Thieving Weasels

As the title suggests, Thieving Weasels takes place in an ethically murky universe, seen through the eyes of a narrator brought up to divide the world into family and marks. Thus many of its lessons are more about street smarts ("Always know your mark. And if you don't know who your mark is ... it's probably you") than lofty values. But determination, resourcefulness, and the sheer relief of telling the truth (and finding other people who do the same) loom large.

Much of the story concerns a plot to kill a retired gangster, who killed the family of the man who's paying for the hit -- although here as elsewhere, appearances can be deceiving. Adult and teen characters punch (and sometimes try to kill) each other, have physical fights, and compete in potentially deadly races. A drunk-driving accident proves fatal -- or does it?

There's plenty of swearing and crude language, from "Jesus!" and "damn!" to "s--t," "eat me," and "son of a bitch," but much of it serves to define characters and situations. Frequent references to pee.

There's lots of drinking, smoking tobacco and marijuana, and doing other drugs by both teens and adults (one character is both using and selling meth, while another is stealing from pharmacies, selling the pills, and keeping another character hooked on pain pills). None of it is shown as glamorous, especially the epic hangovers.