Old Tricks, New Treats (Bag of Tricks, book 3)

Reading Ruby Dee Philippa’s Old Tricks, New Treats, book three in the Bag of Tricks trilogy, is like being handed a leather jacket, a cigarette, and a backstage pass to 1980s San Francisco. You don’t just read it, you live it. Between Babs’s sparkling chaos and Philippa’s knack for turning grime into glamour, I couldn’t put it down.

Babs is a punk fairy with glitter in her hair and danger on her heels. She’s tough, curious, and just reckless enough to make you yell “don’t do it!” even as you root for her to. When she sets out to learn how to handle a gun, half to please her sketchy boyfriend, half to protect herself, it becomes one of the most strangely empowering scenes I’ve read in ages. Watching her go from nervous to confident, with the sharp smell of gunpowder hanging in the air, was oddly exhilarating.

Philippa’s writing hums with rhythm like a Ramones riff turned into prose. Every line bounces with attitude. She paints San Francisco not as postcard pretty, but as a living, breathing punk playground: neon lights, alleyways, and dive bars filled with dreamers and misfits. I loved the tiny details too such as Babs obsessing over her “Bat Cave” apartment décor, her moonrock highs, and her devotion to her altar of chaos. She’s the kind of character you secretly wish you’d met when you were younger (though your mom would definitely disapprove).

By the time you finish, you’ll feel like you’ve danced through a smoky club and made it home just as the sun comes up: tired, inspired, and maybe a little changed. There’s an unexpected tenderness in the way Philippa captures rebellion, reminding us that even chaos can have its own kind of grace. She makes you nostalgic for a world you might never have known but somehow recognize anyway. Old Tricks, New Treats isn’t just a trip down punk memory lane. It’s a love letter to the misfits who built their own kind of magic out of ruin. It’s loud, it’s raw, and it’s absolutely unforgettable.

Despite all the grit, there’s warmth tucked between the cigarette burns. Philippa clearly loves her world and the people in it. She honors their scars and their style. Old Tricks, New Treats celebrates survival with sass, sequins, and soul. If you like your fiction with a side of attitude and a heartbeat that never slows down, this book’s a wild, wonderful ride.