Skip also has a girlfriend whose dad is very rich. She is smart and successful, and actually tries to help them get James' latest scheme going.

James inherited $12,000 from an aunt in California whom he'd only met once. He used the money to buy a box truck, and the plan is that they will begin a hauling business. It will be part-time at first, but slowly it will grow into a company that will make them both rich.

Emily (Skip's girlfriend) gets them their first job, hauling away things left behind by a soon-to-be ex-husband of one of her friends.

But as the poet says, "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley,...."

When backing the truck up to the storage unit Jackie rented for her ex's things, James hits a wall with the truck, and a box spills open. It's mail addressed to Jackie's husband. She was supposed to open anything that came in and let him know if it was important. She did not do this.

Unfortunately, when the box falls open, Skip and James find a bloody envelope. That envelope contains a finger.

Thus Skip and James begin an adventure that embroils them with rogue CIA agents, weapons headed for Cuba, and a former football hero who once saved Skip's life in high school.

Stuff to Die For is funny, exciting, clever, and just plain damn good. Skip and James are well-developed characters. The supporting characters, particularly a man named Angel who is as mysterious as he is helpful, are fascinating and add depth to the story.

The mystery is complicated and I didn't figure it all out, which made me love the book all the more.

If you're familiar at all with Chris Grabenstein's John Ceepak series, I believe this book will be one you enjoy. There's something about the tone of it, the friendship of the two young men, and the struggle of finding their way in life that very much reminds me of Grabenstein's Ceepak series. And that's a compliment, because I love and adore John Ceepak and Danny Boyle.

Skip and James will win your heart, and the great writing will win your intellect.