Korman, Gordon.
Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle.
© 2004. (Fiction/Humor)

Your dad’s a mob boss. Your girlfriend’s dad is an FBI agent. The two of you just want to live in peace. What do you do? If you’re Vince Luca, you leave town to pursue a life outside the “family”—preferably as far from your assorted “uncles” and their vending machine business (nudge, nudge) as you can get.  In Vince’s case, someplace else turns out to be Santa Monica University in California, and film school.

But Vince’s escape isn’t the idyllic fresh start he’d anticipated. First off, he learns that his roommate, Trey, is the kleptomaniac son of a Congressman. Then his brother Tommy appears to camp out in their dorm room, claiming to have quit The Life. And suddenly Kendra, who came out west to attend a college not far from Vince, is always unavailable. Worst of all, Vince’s uncles appear from back home, and Vince is pretty sure they haven’t come to California just for the sunshine. Things get even more complicated when Trey’s girlfriend, Willow, starts hitting on Vince…and he can’t resist the temptation.

As in the first book about Vince Luca, Son of the Mob, Korman delivers a fast-paced, funny story with a little mystery and romance tossed in. Readers will appreciate Korman’s skill in writing a book that’s believable with a likeable, smart character.