The best thing about this book is the official description. It sounds really enticing. Don’t believe it. Snark could be funny. The snark in this book is not. Frat bro behavior could be exciting to observe. Not here (and it wasn’t much of it anyway). The show “Billions” is one of my most favorite shows of all times. That’s what caused me to get this book. “Billions” it ain’t. Some thoughtful books would send me to the dictionary to look up a word. Here, it became annoying to check the dictionary every 2 min, while the word didn’t need to be complex, and, given the style of the book, didn’t fit well. Equally annoying were Latin expressions that went untranslated. At some point I just gave up looking them up, because it was not reader-friendly, and those expressions didn’t matter anyway, as not contributing much to the narrative. This book is, thankfully, short. So there’s that.

This comic novel is about the greedy 1% who suck in money using financial shenanigans most people don't understand. Giles Goodenough gets caught up in the system with dire consequences. (Not a spoiler. Giles wakes from a coma at the beginning of the book.)

*****

American financial analyst Giles Goodenough studied the classics in England before his father finagled him into a job at Merrill Lynch in New York. By sheer chance Giles was assigned to one of the great story stocks of the century, Zyxview, which has risen steadily in the ten years Giles has been on the job.

Giles knows nothing about stock analysis, so his modus operandi is just to upgrade the stock whenever Zyxview CEO Egon Crump announces a new objective. Things have gone well so far, though Zyxwiew hasn't marketed anything, and no one knows what the company is developing.

With his easy-peasy job, a small trust fund, and an open marriage to his beautiful wife Cherry - a stripper/beauty product influencer - Giles is high on life.

Things take a tricky turn, however, when Giles is hired by Peter O. Silver - the leader of hedge fund 'POS Capital' - who has the mistaken notion that Giles actually knows something about Zyxview. It turns out Giles is accumulating a large position in in the stock, and he tells Giles to "Make sure you know more about Zyxview than Zyxview knows." Giles would then presumably convey the information to Peter without actually telling him, to avoid insider trading. In fact just getting secret information about Zyxview is illegal, so this is a VERY risky assignment for Giles.

Giles does manage to meet Zyxview CEO Egon Crump, a wildly eccentric man who attends a business conference wearing mirrored sports shades, black leather pants, brown leather flip-flops, and a luxuriant fur vest (sans shirt) that wouldn't be out of place on a stripper.

Giles tries to get information about Zyxview without getting information, which is a tough call. In the process, Giles makes an accidental remark that strikes Egon Crump as 'genius', with consequences that are unpredictable and fun.

The story includes a bizarre orgy; a sneaky spy; online nudity; someone's comeuppance; a mirrored 'surveillance chandelier'; kooky business meetings; elegant dining; a COO who played college lacrosse; naïve easily-gulled investors; and much more.

There's a good bit of talk about how hedge funds work, the 2&20 fee structure, financial chicanery, and so on - which is incomprehensible to this scientist - but I didn't mind. 🙂

If you need a laugh about the reprehensible 1%, pick up this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author (Luke E. Fellows) for a copy of the book.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

I tried to read this book three different times and it was just unbearable. The style of writing was unintelligible. It felt like a chore to slog through it, so I could never make it past page six.

Satire: is it possible to have too much of it? As I began reading this book, I started to think the answer to this question is yes. However, upon completion of the story, my answer is no. I really liked the spirit of this book. It was a nice escape: crazy, engaging, funny and enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book to review.

Okay, that was VERY different. The language is completely pretentious and one would think it's not worth putting up with. But I kept an open mind and found myself laughing at the total absurdity of everything going on behind the scenes on Wall Street (or so this book says). While I would hope that much of this was exaggerated, I can't help but think there is a fair bit of truth in what he says. This is written like a memoir and I suspect he probably incorporated some of his real-life experiences into the story, but I do like that the narrator is very honest with both himself and us about the kind of person he is but also has a line he won't cross when it comes to the grey area. I enjoyed the ending quite a bit, as both he and the ones he cares about have grown from the beginning of his story. I actually found myself cheering as I read how it all turned out for them. As much as I laughed throughout the story, I couldn't help cringing about how truthful it all seemed, especially considering all the recent indictments and also thinking about the top 0.01% in this country. This is a book quite unlike anything I've read before, but I'm really glad I gave it a chance.

FTC Disclosure: Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*I received a free ebook from Netgalley*

I flew through this in about two evenings and laughed the whole way through. It turned out to be so weird and hilarious but definitely seemed waaay too possible for things to have a bit of truth to them. Oddly enough, the narrator came across as super amiable, instead of being the jackass I expected. It had a similar tone to David Sedaris' brand of satire, which is something I consider to be pretty great.

A laugh out loud look into the murky depths of hedge funds, investment, and Wall Street ( or any other economic stronghold ). Fantastic characters, shady situations and an incredibly funny ride. Highly recommended,

Cute and fun. This is an excellent example of well used satire .
This book is a delightful way to spend a couple of hours.
Most enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After a somewhat shaky start (the novel opens with the narrator laid up in hospital, his buxom nurse hovering too close, leading to inadvertent groping and his first "Me Too" moment -- all by page 2), I found that I actually really enjoyed this book; in fact, quite a bit. The story revolves around a sardonic American-born and English-educated layabout, who does minimal work to scrape by in a variety of finance jobs in the City of London and later, Manhattan. Giles Goodenough manages to marry a beautiful stripper, naturally with a heart of gold; become BofA/ Merrill Lynch's star analyst by virtue of generating soaring price targets on a stock not-so-loosely modeled on Tesla (even its actual, atmospheric price action THIS MONTH is mirrored in the book); and get hand-picked by a billionaire for a hedge fund job with the potential for 8 digit bonus payouts. He has to grovel to several egomaniacal personalities, save his wife from a lecherous boss, and fend off unwanted overtures of his own. One can see early on the story going pear-shaped.

Along the way, Giles (ie the author , given their shared autobiographical background) showcases biting English humour and penchant for dropping in Classics references and Latin phrases (left mostly untranslated). The author is truly very funny. I chuckled my way through the whole story -- which I consumed in one day thanks to the book's brevity and wit. I made 28 annotations, vs my usual 5-6 in longer and more "serious" books.

Does the story have problematic elements? Yes, namely gross female stereotypes (women are either sex bombs or grim matrons, with only one normal female popping up at the end) and even more disturbing cultural caricatures (the occasional insipid Southeast Asian taxi driver, the humorless crew of visiting German relatives, etc). But the author eviscerates the Wall St / hedge fund / Silicon Valley types just as much. He does it with gusto and a panache that I've often only really detected in my own (British) spouse and our English friends.

A final comment on the setting: having worked in finance myself in both London and NY for many decades, I can attest that this story was true to many elements of that world. Investor conferences really are that dire, the distribution of capital follows a similar process to that described, Wall St relies too much on "safe" blackbox valuation models plus analyst and investor herd mentality, and traders do frequent strip clubs and often wind up marrying the entertainment. I personally enjoyed seeing the more technical aspects described, fairly accurately, but appreciate it's not for all readers.

If you liked Liar's Poker, Bombardiers, and other outrageous (yet mostly true) stories about finance, you'll likely enjoy this book. Same for those who appreciate good old-fashioned English wit.

(NOTE: Originally published on Goodreads June 22, 2020)

Full of unusually interesting characters in a complex story which will likely stay with the reader for a while. This is engaging and funny and well written. It can outlandish and depressing at various times and has a good ending. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

Snatch 2 & 20 is a fun read, taking a mocking look at the hype built up between start ups, their billionaire owners and the financial markets that facilitate them.

In some ways the company at the heart of the book felt a bit like OneCoin - all spin and no substance - while the main character, Giles, attempted to stay sane and in his job.

I related to the main character, Giles. At some points he was very knowing (and supremely sarcastic), while at others he was more idiot savant. As the plot bounced him round from one improbable rescue to the next, you were left wondering throughout whether he would keep his head above water.

Don't Sell This Book Short

Sort of in spite of myself I liked, and then really liked, this book. At first I mostly just enjoyed the sharp, snarky humor, but then I actually warmed up to our hero Giles and even became invested in the plot. Sure, the hero starts out as nothing special. He is crafted along the lines of a slacker, trust fundy, con man who's floating along luxuriating in and flaunting his unreliability and lack of focus. Proud of his shallowness and crass misogyny. Been there, read that. Along the same lines the plot is nothing special. Our hero Giles is placed with a master of the universe billionaire type for the purpose of gathering insider info to be used and misused by Gile's financial taskmaster. None of this seemed very promising. It felt like "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" meets "The Great Gatsby", but without the grit, heart, depth, desperation, or despair.

But get this. Somewhere along the way the author found a character who was worth writing about. Giles is still snarky and disconnected, but he shows us flashes of decency and integrity and maturity that get us interested in how he will navigate the bizarre world in which he finds himself. Is this slow build on purpose, or did our debut author just need some time to find his writerly chops? I don't know, but as a reader I was delighted I stayed for the second and third acts.

I probably stayed, at first, because the book is loaded with fascinating and wildly amusing rants, riffs, drunken insider tips, and "financial elite" takedowns that are smart, pointed, vicious, and edgy. I was more than happy to suffer through some awkward plotting and to keep company with a main character who started out as basically a dick, just to come across all of these nutzy and withering bits, which are very generously sprinkled all through the book. Join Giles at his desk, at a tech conference, giving us his low down on fund allocators, or in conference with insane tech showmen and billionaires. Sympathize with Giles and his fellow laborers over drinks and despair. Consider this the only workplace dramedy in which all of the workers are holding out for million dollar bonuses. Find out what the title means.

Bottom line, at a minimum, if you're willing to start out with a smarmy slacker in order to be allowed access to his universe, and if you're willing to buy him drinks just to hear his hilarious stories, and if you want to learn more about the sleazy, greedy, buffoons who are making and keeping all of the money these days, then this is an excellent and entertaining find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Q: What do you get when you cross a wannabe Professor Irwin Corey (rest his soul) with a news writer auditioning for a job as a news writer for The Onion(c)?

A: Snatch 2&20

The book description had me hooked in no time at all. It was brilliantly written. I only wish the book itself was a brilliant.