In Nicky Fifth For Hire, the third installment in the acclaimed Nicky Fifth series, Nicky and his sidekick, T-Bone, set out to find jobs and eventually start their own odd job business. While waiting for the odd jobs to roll in, T-Bone devises a way for Nicky to earn money for his parents' anniversary gift. T-Bone seems really excited, but does Nicky really want to know his idea?

Nicky Palmieri, self-conscious and resentful over the scars left from cleft-palate surgery, learns lessons about life, death, friendship, and family over the course of one baseball-filled summer.

Somewhere Nicky realized from the truth that telling lies was much more fun. They never ended. Nicky made them up and changed the rules as he went along. It was so much easier than dealing with the truth. On the outside, twelve-year-old Nicky Palmieri is just a little different from the average kid who loves baseball. Several surgeries on his cleft palate have left noticeable bumps and scars on his lip. He desperately wants to look like the other kids, but the doctors' empty words and promises set bad examples about lying. On the inside, Nicky dreams of reaching the major leagues. His baseball glove, an expensive professional model, is an extension of his left hand. Nicky knows where his glove is at all times. Then one day he secretly places his prized possession in an unusual place. When his family and closest friends ask him about the glove's whereabouts, Nicky follows with a long string of lies. Most are harmless fibs-but one falsehood leads to a catastrophe that changes Nicky's life. Join Nicky and the Kelsey Avenue Crew for a series of wild events that teach him about the power of the truth. -- "Elementary-school teacher and former sports reporter Petrucci weaves a poignant tale of a young boy with a cleft palate, who finds respite from the harsh realities of small-town life by playing baseball. A lengthy yet endearing treat for young sports fans." - Kirkus Review

In the roughest parts of Brooklyn, a brilliant female detective goes after a psychotic loan shark Capt. Nora Riter is a cop with a future, assuming her deadbeat husband doesn’t mess it up first. He’s hocked her jewelry, stolen her gun, and had cocaine delivered to their home. Their marriage is a toxic mess that could end her career—unless Blaze Longo ends it first. On the streets of Red Hook, Blaze is a legend: a merciless loan shark who wields a cleaver like a scalpel and wears a pouch around his neck carrying the severed ears of clients stupid enough not to pay up. Now the ice-cold psychopath has planned a kidnapping scheme that will catapult him into the big time, and it’s up to Nora to put him in his place. With the help of fast-talking conman Nicky Ossman, Nora dives into the murky underworld of the Brooklyn docks. If she succeeds, she’ll be a hero. If she fails, she’ll lose more than an ear.