The Con Code
Shana Silver
(Swoon Reads)
Publication date: August 25th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Young Adult
A teen forger and thief forms a criminal crew from her high school friends (and crush) to perform a series of heists leading to the location of her missing mother in this action-packed contemporary YA novel.By day, seventeen-year-old Fiona Spangler runs small cons for her ritzy prep-school classmates: getting them out of tests and forging fake hall passes. But by night, Fiona joins her dad on riskier heists: stealing back the clue-filled forgeries her mom scattered across the country before she disappeared. Fiona desperately hopes that her mother will be waiting at the end of the scavenger hunt she left behind.And they are SO close. Just three more heists remain, but then disaster strikes when Fiona’s dad is captured by the FBI. Desperate to finish the job and save what’s left of her family, Fiona assembles of crew of teen criminals: a master of disguise who can transform into anyone, a talented hacker who only communicates in glares, and a rival con artist with a vendetta against—and possible crush on—Fiona.All they have to do is perform three nearly impossible heists, solve her mother’s incredibly complex clues, and evade the FBI. Easy, right?
Excerpt
I head to the door.
It’s probably just a delivery man, but when I swing open the door, Colin’s brilliant smile greets me. “This discreet enough?”
I slam the door in his face.
The doorbell rings again, but I make no move to answer it. When Dad comes up from the basement, he squints at me. “Who is it?”
“The school douchebag,” I say, even though Colin can’t hear me make fun of him, then add, “Our friendly neighborhood FBI agent’s smarmy son.”
Dad scratches his chin. “Well then. Let him in. Everything’s hidden now, and I’m curious what he wants.”
“I’m sure whatever he’s here for, it’s bad news.”
“If Ian O’Keefe sent him over here to snoop, then I want to make sure he leaves without anything to report back.”
I groan. “Can’t we pretend we’re not home? I mean, I realize I just opened the door and he saw me, but we’ve dealt with worse ruses before.”
Dad gives me a look, and I sigh. He shuffles back to the living room.
I crack open the door again, and Colin shakes his head at me while wearing an amused expression.
I cross my arms. “Take off your shirt.”
Colin tilts his head at me. “Whoa, okay. I mean, my abs aren’t that great, but if you really want to see them . . .” His fingers grip the bottom of his cool anime T-shirt. Gah, why can’t he be wearing something awful, like a shirt with a cheesy saying? FBI: Female Body Inspector.
I roll my eyes. “Calm down. I’m making sure you’re not wearing a wire or anything. And leave your phone out here so you can’t record any convos.”
He mock scoffs and places a hand over his heart. “Are you saying you don’t trust me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I step forward to intimidate him, but he doesn’t back down.
He lifts his shirt quickly to give me a brief view of his bare chest, and I have to force myself not to stare. During my momentary dis- traction, he sets his phone on the porch swing and then brushes right past me into the house. His shirt falls back down, and he breezes right up to Dad with his hand outstretched. “Mr. Spangler, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Really?” Dad looks suspicious. “From Fiona or from your father?”
“Fiona of course. She told me you two have a fantastic relationship and she loves you very much.”
Dad beams, but I have to break up the party here. “I never said that.”
Colin flicks his wrist dismissively. “She’s just embarrassed. She went on and on about how much she adores you today at lunch.”
I start to interject again and remind him that the only thing we discussed at lunch was his ineptitude at all things covert, but when I see Dad’s smile growing larger, I can’t help it—I concede. Damn, Colin’s good.
“Anyway, we’ll be in Fiona’s room.” Colin leans toward Dad. “Don’t worry—we’ll leave the door open, and you can check on us every few minutes if you’d like.”
My feet stay planted. “We’re not going in my room.”
Colin lifts a brow. “Afraid to be alone with me?”
“No—it’s—” I open and close my mouth but can’t seem to find the right words, if they even exist.
“Let’s stay down here. Where there’s a chaperone.” I gesture my hand toward Dad and try to give him my best put an end to this right now glare, but he retaliates with a firm find out what he wants nod of the head. I imagine normal parents probably don’t encourage their teen daughters to spend time alone in their rooms with rebellious heartbreaker boys, but normal parents also don’t prioritize recon over everything else.
I groan. “Give me one second to . . . clean up all the dirty underwear from my floor.” Or more accurately, hide any evidence about my mother from that room, too.
Author Bio:Shana Silver studied creative writing at Syracuse University. She’s been a computer animator, an e-book creator for a major publisher, and now works as a Project Manager in digital and TV advertising where she enjoys telling people what to do. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, young daughter, and the characters she dreams up. MIND GAMES is her debut novel. THE CON CODE comes out in Summer 2020.
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