Tommy Fugue never cared for the family business. But when his fathe Big Al, aka King of the Denver Streets, assigns him the “summer job” of laundering money online, Tommy figures he can list some fake projects on FunFunder, pledge them with zombie accounts, and clean a dirty $20,000 in time for college in the fall. Unfortunately for Tommy, he’s more creative than he thought. Just as he’s about to give his father’s capos a progress report, he sees that a roleplaying game he mocked up using his mom’s old artwork has been funded to the tune of $650,000 and counting.
The only thing scarier than an angry Big Al is a Big Al that smells cash and family bonding time. Voluntold by their mercurial boss to assist, various criminals and killers help playtest and produce Tommy’s 1,000 Blades of Tergivers RPG in the hopes they can truly turn a dirty twenty into legit millions. But when Tommy realizes that being game master might help him uncover what these criminals know about his mother’s disappearance, it’s Game On.
Dirty 20 by Bill Schweigart will be published May 12, 2026. Hyperion Avenue provided an early galley for review.
As a table-top RPG player for most of my life, this sounded like a fun concept for a novel. This was my first book from this author; he has one series and also a few other standalone titles.
Right out of the gate, I was connecting to the main characters. The dialogue was snappy, and the situations grounded. I was instantly pulled into Tommy's world and the dilemmas that rose from his family situation. This is very much a coming of age story with relatable themes. Then there was the melodramatic mob elements, just to spice things up.
Of course, the game elements were also something I enjoyed a lot. The way they are presented, with Tommy having to explain the details and mechanics to the non-gamer characters, also teaches any readers who are might be novices as well.
This was a very enjoyable read.
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