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Gazoon Heist
A city in chaos!
The theft of a Confederate memorial plunges a once-sleepy Southern town into a dystopian nightmare. The mayor has unleashed a campaign of terror, tanks are roaming the streets, and gangsters have taken over the schools. Can 14-year-old Ignatius, his brilliant 8-year-old sister Dolly, and their misfit friends solve the mystery and save the day?
Gazoon Heist is a darkly funny and thrilling tale about a society on the brink and how children pay the price for adults' ridiculous behavior.
"Police profiling, kids committing crimes, and schools gone haywire should NOT be this much fun!"
Tammie Painter, Author of The Undead Mr Tenpenny
Scott McCormick is the bestselling author of The Dragon Squisher, Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World, and more.
The theft of a Confederate memorial plunges a once-sleepy Southern town into a dystopian nightmare. The mayor has unleashed a campaign of terror, tanks are roaming the streets, and gangsters have taken over the schools. Can 14-year-old Ignatius, his brilliant 8-year-old sister Dolly, and their misfit friends solve the mystery and save the day?
Gazoon Heist is a darkly funny and thrilling tale about a society on the brink and how children pay the price for adults' ridiculous behavior.
"Police profiling, kids committing crimes, and schools gone haywire should NOT be this much fun!"
Tammie Painter, Author of The Undead Mr Tenpenny
Scott McCormick is the bestselling author of The Dragon Squisher, Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World, and more.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2025
4 people want to read
About the author
Scott McCormick
331 books118 followersScott McCormick is the author of more Scott McCormick bios than any other Scott McCormick who ever Scott McCormicked. Look it up if you don’t believe me. He also writes the Mr. Pants graphic novels and the hilarious Audible Originals The Dragon Squisher, Spies! Sneak, Snoops, and Saboteurs Who Shaped the World, Mutually Assured Detention, and the number-one bestseller Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World. But who are we kidding? The real money is in writing bios. You take that advice to the bank. Tell ‘em Scott McCormick sent you. And if they ask you which Scott McCormick, you tell ‘em the Scott-McCormick-bio-writing Scott McCormick of the North Carolina Scott McCormicks. They’ll know who you mean.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 1, 2025
In the words of Ignatius, “all should endeavor to read this book.”
This was so compelling, the characters are so very lovable, and has an important message for this current moment. All this on top of being absolutely fun and action-packed. 👏🏻✨
This was so compelling, the characters are so very lovable, and has an important message for this current moment. All this on top of being absolutely fun and action-packed. 👏🏻✨
February 27, 2025
As much fun as The Pushcart War and about as effective a shot in the arm.
May 19, 2025
Disclosure: Scott asked for reviewers via Bluesky and sent me a copy. That said, if I hated it I'd still say so.
I didn't hate it. Not at all. Actually liked it a whole lot. Gazoon Heist, for me anyway, has a nostalgic Hardy Boys/Famous Five "clever kids outwitting dim adults" feel about it.
Reading it during 47's reign, it has a darker undercurrent as we now know that activities we would have accepted as only satire six months ago, can and are happening. I wish I'd read it pre-election as I think then it would have just been a fun satirical romp yarn.
But regardless, I liked it; it moves at a fast pace from one adventure or crisis to the next. Less tech like cellphones which isn't really essential to the story, it could be set anytime and I think it will age well.
The location was generic enough that I didn't feel as a non-US reader I was missing anything or couldn't immerse myself in the story's environment: I don't know if there really is an Intracoastal Waterway or not - it felt real enough for the story to work.
So, a read that hooked me from the start and made me want to go to bed (most of my recreational reading at the moment is before I go to sleep) to see what happened next. A just-right length to develop the two key characters without unnecessarily dragging out or padding the plot.
Enjoyed Gazoon Heist as a fun read. Recommended.
I didn't hate it. Not at all. Actually liked it a whole lot. Gazoon Heist, for me anyway, has a nostalgic Hardy Boys/Famous Five "clever kids outwitting dim adults" feel about it.
Reading it during 47's reign, it has a darker undercurrent as we now know that activities we would have accepted as only satire six months ago, can and are happening. I wish I'd read it pre-election as I think then it would have just been a fun satirical romp yarn.
But regardless, I liked it; it moves at a fast pace from one adventure or crisis to the next. Less tech like cellphones which isn't really essential to the story, it could be set anytime and I think it will age well.
The location was generic enough that I didn't feel as a non-US reader I was missing anything or couldn't immerse myself in the story's environment: I don't know if there really is an Intracoastal Waterway or not - it felt real enough for the story to work.
So, a read that hooked me from the start and made me want to go to bed (most of my recreational reading at the moment is before I go to sleep) to see what happened next. A just-right length to develop the two key characters without unnecessarily dragging out or padding the plot.
Enjoyed Gazoon Heist as a fun read. Recommended.
February 19, 2025
Reading about police profiling, kids committing crimes, and schools gone haywire should NOT be this much fun! But Scott McCormick, wordsmith wonder, has managed to pull it off in Gazoon Heist.
The basic premise: Hmm, where to begin with this one. You've got Confederate statues going missing in a town in the southern US and a mayor determined to figure out whodunit. Unfortunately, that determination means bulldozing any sort of common sense and putting tanks on the streets and corporate bullies in the schools. In the mix of all this are teenage Ignatius and his wily younger sister Dolly who have plenty of savvy, sincerity, and street smarts to sort out the real root of the problem.
This isn't normally a book I'd have picked up on my own, but was asked to review it for the author, and I'm so glad I did. It hits all the right notes of humor, warmth, adventure, and I never knew what was going to happen next (in a very good way). It touches on some serious issues such as police profiling and harassment, racism, corporate sponsorship in schools, health care in the US, and plenty more, but it does so in such a wonderfully satirical way that it doesn't feel heavy-handed in the least and you (or your kids) could read it just for the sheer delight and silliness of the story.
The characters are also perfectly drawn out. Ignatius tries to present himself as upstanding and is a good kid, so you really feel his frustration when people treat him like a thug. And Dolly as a wise-cracking (and safe-cracking) 8-year-old was pure fun every time she was on the page.
Basically, if you like satire and silliness and watching (most of) the adults doing everything wrong, get your hands on Gazoon Heist!!
The basic premise: Hmm, where to begin with this one. You've got Confederate statues going missing in a town in the southern US and a mayor determined to figure out whodunit. Unfortunately, that determination means bulldozing any sort of common sense and putting tanks on the streets and corporate bullies in the schools. In the mix of all this are teenage Ignatius and his wily younger sister Dolly who have plenty of savvy, sincerity, and street smarts to sort out the real root of the problem.
This isn't normally a book I'd have picked up on my own, but was asked to review it for the author, and I'm so glad I did. It hits all the right notes of humor, warmth, adventure, and I never knew what was going to happen next (in a very good way). It touches on some serious issues such as police profiling and harassment, racism, corporate sponsorship in schools, health care in the US, and plenty more, but it does so in such a wonderfully satirical way that it doesn't feel heavy-handed in the least and you (or your kids) could read it just for the sheer delight and silliness of the story.
The characters are also perfectly drawn out. Ignatius tries to present himself as upstanding and is a good kid, so you really feel his frustration when people treat him like a thug. And Dolly as a wise-cracking (and safe-cracking) 8-year-old was pure fun every time she was on the page.
Basically, if you like satire and silliness and watching (most of) the adults doing everything wrong, get your hands on Gazoon Heist!!
February 9, 2025
SO. MUCH. FUN. I love wise cracking satire and this has it in droves. Gazoon Heist hits the ground running and doesn't let up.
The closest analogy I can give to summarize the best American novel I've read in years is: Confederacy of Dunces meets Stranger Things (with a surreal Confederate dystopia instead of the Upside Down) meets Escape from New York.
Make sense?
It doesn't need to because Gazoon Heist lives in its own world, a scathing satire, an action packed romp and a warm found family novel all rolled into one.
And McCormick's managed to write an eight-year old reincarnated Snake Plissken who's also the coolest little sister you didn't know you needed to have.
I had an absolute hoot reading this book. I'll be buying a paperback when it comes out and it will definitely be on my re-read list. I genuinely hope we're gonna see more of Ignatius and Dolly in a sequel. I can't even imagine what they'd get up to next, but I definitely want to go along for the ride.
The closest analogy I can give to summarize the best American novel I've read in years is: Confederacy of Dunces meets Stranger Things (with a surreal Confederate dystopia instead of the Upside Down) meets Escape from New York.
Make sense?
It doesn't need to because Gazoon Heist lives in its own world, a scathing satire, an action packed romp and a warm found family novel all rolled into one.
And McCormick's managed to write an eight-year old reincarnated Snake Plissken who's also the coolest little sister you didn't know you needed to have.
I had an absolute hoot reading this book. I'll be buying a paperback when it comes out and it will definitely be on my re-read list. I genuinely hope we're gonna see more of Ignatius and Dolly in a sequel. I can't even imagine what they'd get up to next, but I definitely want to go along for the ride.
April 3, 2025
I can accurately describe this as a page turner! Great characters and witty banter all set in a rapidly evolving dystopia. Holes meets The Hunger Games meets The Breakfast Club. I could not recommend this book more. A very quick read that will leave you (and your teen) captivated.
February 25, 2025
That was quite a journey. Thanks for the ride lol.Entertained this ole gal.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews