Son of the Mob (Lib)(CD)

Gordon Korman

3.72

6,917 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 0739348981 ISBN 13: 9780739348987

Publisher: Listening Library, 2007

Vince Luca's dad is a mobster - a big boss. Vince has got it made. Girls, cars, guns - whatever he wants he can have. Except he doesn't want it. Vince wants to be normal. He doesn't want to live in a house where he can't talk because the FBI have got the entire place bugged, where he finds his mom digging bullets out of his dad's mates in the bathroom, and where he gets dragged off by the police because his birthday present's stolen. But it's not easy going straight when your entire family thinks you're crazy.

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Review:

Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family runs the, uh, vending machine business in New York, and Vince is determined not to be part of it. Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother Tommy has conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy and temporarily unconscious body in the trunk of Vince's car. His dad, the King of the Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots of fun, gives great presents to his kids--and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.

Although Vince keeps a low profile at school, his family connection brings him unwanted advantages, like the birthday Porsche that gets him arrested on stolen vehicle charges, or the football game in which he makes touchdown after touchdown because word has gotten around and nobody is willing to tackle him. Even private conversations at home have to be carried on in the basement because the FBI has bugged the house and an agent is always listening. Vince's life is inextricably tangled up with the family business, no matter how hard he tries to stay out of it. How can he show them he's serious? Then he meets Kendra, and when she innocently reveals that her father's an FBI agent--that FBI agent--it's a match made in heaven. He thinks.

Gordon Korman, author of (No More Dead Dogs) and over 30 other witty YA novels, is at his best in this Sopranos-style spoof about a teen's home life with the Mob. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

From the Inside Flap:

Reader t.b.a.
approx. 6 hours
4 cassettes

A reluctant Mafia prince . . .
Vince Luca is just like any other high school guy. His best friend, Alex, is trying to score vicariously through him; his brother is a giant pain; and his father keeps bugging him to get motivated. There is just one thing that really sets him apart for other kids - his father happens to be the head of a powerful crime organization.

Needless to say, while Vince's family's connections can be handy for certain things (like when teachers are afraid to give him a bad grade), they can put a serious crimp in his dating life. Who wants to explain to your girlfriend what your father does for a living? But when Vince meets a girl who finally seems to be worth the trouble, her family turns out to be the biggest problem of all. Because her father is an FBI agent - the one who has been watching Vince's family for years, and who wants to put his father away for good.

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