Thriller and horror novelist Joe Schreiber's foray into young adult fiction produced an entertaining handbook for young con artists everywhere. The book's protagonist, Will Shea, has been raised to be a con artist, and his entire life has hurtled from one con to another. The novel focuses on Will's latest con - getting into one of the country's most elite prep schools. At school he encounters the yin to his yang in the form of Andrea, a fellow student who is pulling off exactly the same con that he is. The school is only big enough for one con artist to thrive, and the two make a deal that whoever can con the richest student in the school, Brandt Rush, out of fifty thousand dollars will get to stay. The loser has to leave immediately.
Schreiber is not known for writing teen fiction; in fact he is more familiar to readers as the author of several horror novels within the Star Wars network, using influences drawn from his favorite horror movie, The Shining. Schreiber followed up the success of Con Academy with another young adult novel, She's Dating A Gangster.
