Minion by John David Anderson

Michael was raised in an orphanage, but was adopted at age 10 by a criminal mastermind.  His "father" is a technological genius who builds powerful gadgets for whomever can pay for them.  Michael is special as well.  He can do mind-bending and the book opens with him using his power to nonchalantly rob a bank. Although Michael and his father are certainly criminals, they have a good father/son relationship and live by their own set of ethics. One day a superhero shows up in their town, and Michael can't help but be impressed with how easily he dispatches the bad guys. His feelings about "The Comet" complicates his relationship with his father's customers, most of which are part of the local crime syndicate. Things get even more complicated when they find out about Michael's persuasive powers and try to use him to confront the Comet. This book is in the same world as Sidekicked but it is not really a sequel because it is about a different set of characters.  In a way it is a mirror image of the Sidekicked story because it is about a boy with a caring mentor who is on the wrong side of the law, while Sidekicked is about a boy with a superhero mentor who doesn't care about him at all. Both books are full of action and fun sprinkled with interesting ethical questions about right and wrong. (277p.)