Upper Hand

There are dysfunctional families, and then there are the Uckers.From Johnny Shaw, the Anthony Award–winning author of Big Maria, comes a wild and hilarious novel about all the things that bring a family together—larceny, deception, and revenge.Brand New Edition with a foreword by Jess Lourey.Axel, Gretchen, and Kurt Ucker didn't know their father was a thief until after his death. The scandal that followed shook the entire family. Since then, the Uckers have lived a precarious existence. Their small town shunned and shamed them. Their mother, Bertha, retreated into religion and her favorite televangelist, Brother Tobin Floom.Axel got a dead-end job. Gretchen turned to petty theft. And Kurt stayed with his mom and his garage band. When Bertha dies, she leaves everything she has to Brother Floom and his gold-plated revival. The Uckers are at a loss for words. And an inheritance and a house and a future.When their long-lost aunt, the outrageous Mother Ucker, shows up, she informs them of a whole side of the family they never met (and for good reason—the other Uckers are all thieves), a shocking secret, and best of all, a plan. Can the Uckers get away with posing as a Christian Rock band to infiltrate Floom's multi-million-dollar ministry and pull off the greatest heist in Ucker family history.When you've got nothing left to lose, you might as well risk it all.