Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle facts for kids
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle is an exciting book written by Canadian author Gordon Korman in 2004. It's the second book in the series, following Son of the Mob, which came out two years earlier in 2002. This story continues the adventures of Vincent Luca, a teenager who tries his best to live a normal life, even though his family has some unusual connections.
Contents
The Story Begins
The story picks up about two years after the first book. Vincent Luca is driving to university in California. His best friend, Alex Tarkanian, and his girlfriend, Kendra Bightly, are with him. During a stop at a motel, Vincent finds his suitcase is full of a lot of money – about $3,000,000 – instead of his clothes!
Later, Vincent's older brother, Tommy, calls him. Tommy explains that the suitcases were switched because the FBI was looking for the money. Tommy arranges for one of their family's helpers, "Uncle Bignose," to pick up the suitcase at the Kansas City International Airport. There's a bit of confusion, and even an accidental car theft, but the money is picked up. Vincent, Alex, and Kendra then continue their trip to California. Alex goes to college in Vegas, Kendra goes to a music school in Los Angeles, and Vincent heads to the University of Santa Monica.
New Friends and Surprises
At his university dorm, Vincent meets his energetic roommate, Trey Sutter. Trey's father is a congressman, a government official who represents people. Vincent also meets other students. Trey starts dating an interesting older student named Willow Danziger, who invites them to a party. When Vincent goes to buy new clothes (because the FBI took his original suitcase), he discovers that Trey likes to take things without paying for them, which is called kleptomania.
On his first day of classes, Vincent meets P. Richard Shapiro in his film production class. Richard is a bit snobby and wants his film project to be amazing. Vincent accidentally gives Richard Kendra's phone number, and Kendra later gets a role in Richard's musical, which annoys Vincent. That night, at a party, Trey is welcomed by the other students, but Vincent gets into trouble for spilling a drink on an old rubber tree.
Family Trouble Arrives
Later, Vincent finds out that Tommy has come to California to stay with him. Tommy says he's hiding from someone because of a small incident. Tommy also tells Vincent that he's thinking about leaving the family business, which surprises Vincent. Tommy quickly gets involved in Vincent's life. He helps Vincent get back into the student parties, messes up Vincent's film project, and even tries to confront Trey's girlfriend, Willow.
Trey is upset because he has to be at his father's upcoming press conference. He tells Vincent that the conference is about the sudden disappearance of Ellis Rank, who is the leader of a workers' union (a group that helps workers). Trey's father, the congressman, wants to solve the problem. Around the same time, Vincent and Trey find "Uncle Uncle," another one of Vincent's family's helpers, in their apartment. Vincent starts to feel suspicious.
A Big Event and More Mystery
On the day of the press conference, Trey tries to avoid it by taking a barbecue grill, but Vincent tells on him. Vincent decides to go to the conference to support Trey's father. There, he sees Uncle Uncle and other family helpers in the crowd. Vincent also sees Willow, who flirts with him and kisses him just as things get chaotic in the crowd. When Vincent returns to his dorm, he finds six of his family's helpers and Tommy inside. They quickly become friends with Trey and party for hours. Meanwhile, Vincent suspects they are involved with the workers' union.
The next day, Alex calls Vincent and tells him he's staying at a friend's apartment because his own place is being fixed. Meanwhile, Tommy helps some foreign students apply for large grants (money for school). Vincent tries to find out why his uncles are staying with him by calling his father.
Later, a date with Kendra goes wrong when Willow gets involved, causing an argument between Vincent and Kendra. Around that time, Trey tells Vincent that Willow is no longer interested in him. Trey suspects Willow is secretly meeting an older man.
Secrets and Confrontations
The night before Vincent's first film project is due, he tries to film a movie at the student party. But he accidentally switches his film with a tape he found in his room. This tape shows Ellis Rank being kidnapped, confirming that his uncles were involved! Vincent tries to tell Trey's father, Congressman Sutter, but instead gets an anonymous message about a late-night beach meeting. This "meeting" turns out to be a confusing moment with Willow, leaving Vincent wet and disoriented. That night gets worse: Trey and Tommy are both upset and leave Vincent. Trey ends their friendship, and Tommy disappears.
Vincent feels terrible, and his uncles are not helping. Then, Vincent discovers his father has arrived in Los Angeles, which is very unusual. The foreign students show up in Vincent's room, complaining that Tommy stole their grant money. Vincent promises to get it back. Alex calls and says that Tommy's friend, Frankie, probably never had a place and was just using Alex's room to hide. Kendra also shows Vincent photos of him and Willow on the beach that night. She tells him her father came to town to show her the photos, and she breaks up with Vincent. Trey also sees the photos, which makes Vincent reveal his family's unusual connections, causing Trey to run off.
The Truth Comes Out
Vincent goes after Trey and finds that Trey has taken an old Volkswagen car. Trey is following a fancy car that he thinks has Vincent's father and the uncles inside. After some changes in their plan, and picking up Scooby, a foreign student who might be sent out of the country, Vincent, Trey, and the fancy car end up at an abandoned warehouse. This is where Ellis Rank is being held! Scooby films everything. Vincent reunites with his father, Anthony Luca, who protects him during a shootout. His father reveals that they came to rescue Rank. Rank is briefly seen talking with Luca just before Trey crashes the stolen car into a tree.
It turns out that Congressman Sutter and his helpers were behind the kidnapping. They paid Rank's former driver, Toothpick, to help them. Vincent's family manages to fix the Volkswagen, and Vincent exchanges a few last words with his father.
The Aftermath
The next day, as the uncles leave, Vincent thinks he knows where Toothpick is. In Vegas, Vincent tells Alex that his "roommate" helped capture Rank. However, Vincent actually helps Toothpick escape the country. While in Vegas, Vincent also finds the real Frankie Toronto, who has Tommy staying at his place. Vincent angrily plays a card game called blackjack with Tommy for the stolen grant money and wins! At the same time, Congressman Sutter turns himself in to the authorities.
When Vincent returns the grant money to the foreign students, Scooby reveals that he taped the entire warehouse scene. Vincent uses this video for his final project in class. It ends up being much better than Richard's musical, which was not very good. Meanwhile, Trey discovers that Willow was working with Agent Bightly (Kendra's father). She was spying on Congressman Sutter and Anthony Luca by using Trey and Vincent. Kendra figures this out and gets back together with Vincent. The book ends with Vincent's warehouse tape disappearing, but his father promises that it is still safe and will be kept by the family.
Main Characters
- Vince Luca: The main character, who is the son of a family with unusual connections. He tries hard to stay out of trouble.
- Trey Sutter: Vincent's energetic roommate and the son of a local congressman. He sometimes takes things without paying for them.
- Kendra Bightly: Vincent's girlfriend and the daughter of the agent investigating Vincent's family.
- William Sutter: Trey's father, a congressman who was involved in the kidnapping of the union leader.
- Anthony Luca: Vincent's father and the head of his family's organization.
- Tommy Luca: Vincent's older brother, who sometimes causes trouble, like taking the foreign students' grant money.
- Willow Danziger: A student who was secretly working for the FBI to spy on the fathers of Trey and Vincent.
- Ellis Rank: The leader of the Concrete Worker's Union who was kidnapped.
- "Toothpick" Anderson: Rank's former driver who helped with the kidnapping.
- Alex Tarkanian: Vincent's best friend, who goes to college in Vegas.
- Uncle Uncle, Uncle Fingers, Uncle Bignose, Uncle No-Nose, Gus the Greek, The Pope, and Rafael: Helpers who work with Vincent's family.
- Frankie Toronto: Tommy's friend who helped him with the grant money.
- Scooby: One of the foreign students who was robbed by Tommy and filmed the warehouse scene.
- P. Richard Shapiro: A snobby student in Vincent's film class.
- Agent Bightly: Kendra's father, the FBI agent investigating Vincent's family.
