History Literature / Swindle

—> Did he expect Swindle to give up without a fight, or the police to call off the investigation when the first search turned out nothing? If that wasn’t bad enough, he also gave zero consideration for his parents. Like maybe they wouldn’t notice anything unusual going on. Was he crazy, or just stupid? He certainly didn’t have the right to call himself the Man With The Plan anymore.

* AndThenWhat:

* BrutalHonesty:

* GossipEvolution:

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: It isn’t specified on which year each story takes place, but given that “Swindle” has October 16 on a Thursday April 15 on a Wednesday, and other clues, this means the series starts off in the year 2014. And since the first book was released in 2008, this makes most of the books technically this trope.

“ Jingle ” (2016)

** TheLeader: Griffin
** TheLancer: Ben and Logan
** TheSmartGuy: Melissa
** TheBigGuy: Pitch
** TheChick: Savannah
** TeamPet: Luthor

* InsistentTerminology: plenty of characters use these, but the one who uses this the most by far is Savannah. Animals in her house are not pets, they are family members. Also, an animal shouldn’t be referred to as “it”, but as “him” of “her”.

* OneWordTitle: All of the books in the series has this.

* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: This is known to the team this way as “Code Z”; when a plan is reaching the stage of failure and exposure, the best course of action is to flee the scene.

* TemptingFate: Often, when a character prompts up saying that things seem to be looking up for them, that’s when disaster for them strikes.

* BatScare: While investigating the abandoned Rockdale house in the beginning, a bat attacks Griffin, going through his curly hair with its’ claws.
* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: After the heist, Griffin believes that there is a police officer secretly around the corner watching his every move. [[spoiler:And when he actually goes to get the baseball card to the location he mailed it to, they indeed were watching the place and caught him there]].

* BrickJoke: Griffin recalled how Darren spread a rumor at school that he was related to the Rockdale’s, the owners of the abandoned house that is about to be demolished. This rumor turns out to be true, as he is the youngest relative of the Rockdale lady that [[spoiler:inherited the Babe Ruth baseball card. And when it is sold, all the money goes to him]].

* ChekhovsGun: The SmartPick. Griffin races back home and to the Palomino house in order to [[spoiler:retrieve the baseball card that was stuck to the top of a tree that Darren was about to get]].

* DoubleTake: While biking home all alone, Ben passes by the Bing home out of reflex. There he sees a home seller putting out a sign that says, “For Sale”. This causes Ben to veer off course staring at it in shock and getting into an accident. This incident also gives him a reality check of the Bing family situation and why Griffin wants the card back so bad.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: It isn’t specified on which year each story takes place, but given that “Swindle” has October 16 on a Thursday and other clues, this means the series starts off in the year 2014. And since the first book was released in 2008, this makes most of the books technically this trope.

* BigNo: Griffin internally does this as well as a RapidFireNo when Pitch calls him to let him know that she was forced to rat him out to the police because of her parents.

* DestinationDefenestration: When Darren ends up stuck in a tree at the Palomino residence, the branch under him starts to break. This branch then breaks away and swings toward the size of the house, hitting a window and breaking through it. Darren is miraculously not seriously injured, but breaking this window activated the house alarm and causes the team to get out of there before the cops arrive.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint:

* DramaticSpotlight:

* AnalogyBackfire:
* AngerBornOfWorry:

* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou:

* AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption:

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Ben has been shown to fall asleep easily. This is a tip off that he has narcolepsy, a fact that he tells Griffin before they go on the heist.

Because of many spoileriffic moments, spoiler captions are OFF! You have been warned!

* BittersweetEnding: The team ends up getting caught, gain intense police suspicion, and Griffin has to give up the card because of inheritance issues. However, because of the publicity of the SmartPick’s used in the robbery, this solves the financial problems that the Bing family has been going through. In addition, the money used in the card selling helped create the skateboarding concept that Griffin wanted to be approved.
* BrickJoke: Griffin recalled how Darren spread a rumor at school that he was related to the Rockdale’s, the owners of the abandoned house that is about to be demolished. This rumor turns out to be true, as he is the youngest relative of the Rockdale lady that inherited the Babe Ruth baseball card. And when it is sold, all the money goes to him.

* FreudianSlip: When asked why the baseball card is so cold on TV, Mr. Palomino replies that it’s for all the “cold hard cash” that the card is worth. This is a tip off that he isn’t actually keeping the card hidden in his safe, but in a heat cavity deep in a frozen turkey he bought.

* DoubleTake:
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
* FreudianSlip:

* StupidestThingIveEverHeard

* DidntThinkThisThrough:
* DoubleTake: