Vale Hall

Pretty Little Liars meets Ocean's 11 in this highly commercial, intrigue-filled contemporary drama. Welcome to Vale Hall: a school for aspiring con artists. When Brynn Hilder is recruited to the elite Vale Hall, she can't believe her luck. Vale means a new life, away from her mom's loser boyfriend Pete and her run-down neighborhood. But Brynn soon learns that she hasn't been recruited because of her straight A's-she's been chosen because up until now, her extracurriculars involved conning rich North Shore kids out of their extravagant allowances in an attempt to save up for college. At Vale Hall, she'll be expected to use her skills for a much bigger purpose: to rid the city of crooked politicians and corrupt officials. The thought of giving entitled jackasses their comeuppance is the maraschino cherry on this too-good-to-be-true sundae. But that's before Brynn meets her mark-a senator's son. Before she understands that the headmaster of Vale Hall has secrets of his own and will stop at nothing to protect them. Before she realizes how in over her head she is. As the lines of right and wrong blur for Brynn, she must figure out who she can trust before it's too late.

The stakes are higher. The cons are riskier. And nothing is what you think it is. Brynn Hilder is living a life she never dreamed possible: She lives in a mansion, getting a top-rate education at Vale Hall. She has friends and an almost-boyfriend. Anything she wants, she can have. The only catch? To stay in this life, she has to help the director of Vale Hall take down the bad guys of Sikawa City by collecting secrets and running cons. Getting everything she wants and fighting evil doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. The thing is, she’s not so convinced anymore that Dr. Odin is really going after bad people after all. And the friends and almost-boyfriend that have made her life so different are all liars and con artists - so can she trust that any of it is real?

The unpredictable truth will be revealed in Payback, the stunning conclusion to Kristen Simmons Edgar-nominated thriller series that started with The Deceivers... Brynn Hilder has conned a lot of people. From the spoiled rich kids of Sikawa City to her mom's loser ex-boyfriend, from a motorcycle gang to a senator's son. If there was money to be gained, or a secret to uncover, she figured out how to get it done. And thanks to Vale Hall and its director, Dr. David Odin, she's found a family of hustlers just like her. Together, Brynn and her friends have overcome doubt, deceit, and betrayal to unearth the truth--a truth even a group of professional scammers couldn't have predicted. And now they must tackle the biggest con artist of them all: the man who brought them all together.