Official Review: Snatch 2&20 by Luke E. Fellows

[gen_g]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Snatch 2&20" by Luke E. Fellows.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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I must confess that I have no idea what the culture of Wall Street is like, other than watching the occasional television series about high-powered finance and corporate backstabbing. Hence, when I came across Luke E. Fellows’s Snatch 2&20 – a piece of satire promising an in-depth look at the ludicruous side of Wall Street – I picked it up immediately.

Coming in at just slightly over 200 pages, Snatch 2&20 tells the story of Giles Goodenough, a Wall Street research analyst working at Merrill Lynch (or just a puffed-up name for the Bank of America, as Goodenough claims). Like his last name, Giles has done just the bare minimum (or more accurately, faked his way through) to not get fired throughout the entirety of his working life. However, he finds himself in hot water when Peter, his new boss, puts pressure on him to perform well at work and to find out more about Zyxview – an up-and-coming company whose stock price has been soaring – and its notoriously elusive boss, Egon Crump.

Firstly, I enjoyed the humour in this one! Written in the first-person, the reader sees Giles handle all the obstacles thrown at him with somewhat of a devil-may-care attitude, and the shenanigans he gets up to certainly had me snorting with laughter sometimes. For example, the reader learns that Giles has a rocky relationship with his father and likes to make him angry for the fun of it. On one particular occasion in this running gag, Giles learns the sordid truth about his ancestry, but he decides to withhold the information, only to reveal it in a public setting in a bid to embarrass his father (who is then unable to stop him for fear of making a scene). Honestly, I liked these little episodes, even if they were not pertinent to the plot; these anecdotes served to make Giles a more well-rounded character for readers to relate to.

Still, as much as I enjoyed the humour, Fellows also tends to include a heavy amount of crass sexual innuendo, which I found distasteful. Unfortunately, it seems like authors nowadays seem to think that crude sexual humour is a hallmark of satire, when this is far from the case. Whilst I do occasionally enjoy such humour, there is only so much that I can take without becoming tired of it – in this case, less is more!

Also, another negative point is that due to the short length of the book, Snatch 2&20 reads rather stiltedly in the second half. What I mean by this is that it seems as if some of the minor plot lines were sacrificed in order to ensure that the book ends on time; hence, the reading experience becomes rather messy and rushed, which was very much a pity. Moreover, the plot holes present in the second half were also solved with a deus ex machina, which was, personally, very disappointing.

Moreover, there are many Latin phrases used in the book; the use of Latin is most likely a homage to the Classics education that both the author and Giles Goodenough received. However, there were no English translations included, which would trip up the reading flow for readers who are unfamiliar with such terms.

Therefore, I will rate Luke E. Fellows’s Snatch 2&20 2 out of 4 stars, due to the rushed plot and overuse of crude sexual humour (nearly crossing the line into misogyny in a few instances). In addition, there are many punctuation errors present, such as semicolon misuse and missing commas. It was slightly annoying but did not detract much from the reading flow. There is a lot of potential present, but more refining is still required for the book to be good enough (pun intended)! Still, for those who are interested in learning more about Wall Street and its culture, Snatch 2&20 is a decent introduction. For those sensitive, there are some explicit references to homosexual relationships, open marriages, group sex, as well as profane language.

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Snatch 2&20
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[Ellylion]

I too would get really disappointed with a deus ex machina turn of events! Also, a heavy sexual humor sounds discouraging. But still hopefully this book finds its reader Thank you for a great review!

[gen_g]

I too would get really disappointed with a deus ex machina turn of events! Also, a heavy sexual humor sounds discouraging. But still hopefully this book finds its reader Thank you for a great review!

I agree with you! I'm also hopeful that after editing, it will attract a wider audience. Thanks for stopping by!

[sirbobthewise]

This book seems to host quite a few oddities, huh. The language, plot holes, and rushed end are definitely unfortunate. Considering that the ending tends to be what sticks most with readers, you would imagine that more authors would spend a significant amount of time completing it with great intention. Perhaps the writer was under some kind of time restraint. Who knows. Hopefully, the writer will take some extra time and rework the second half of the book and change the ending. Great review!

[Phelicia Gloria]

For now this might not be the right book for me, unless it's undergone another round of edition, thanks for enlightening me on the book.

[Adanna Inya]

This sounds like an interesting read. There are so many Giles in the corporate world today faking their way through. I hope the author does a revamp on the story. Nice review.

[gen_g]

This book seems to host quite a few oddities, huh. The language, plot holes, and rushed end are definitely unfortunate. Considering that the ending tends to be what sticks most with readers, you would imagine that more authors would spend a significant amount of time completing it with great intention. Perhaps the writer was under some kind of time restraint. Who knows. Hopefully, the writer will take some extra time and rework the second half of the book and change the ending. Great review!

You are right! But I hope that it wasn't due to a time constraint, since the author is retired. Hopefully, like you said, it will be reworked. Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. I will let you know my thoughts about The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, once I actually get round to watching it.

[Ballbender]

This book has lots of humor. This book gives a brief description of wall street. This is a fascinating book to read. The author did an excellent job writing this genre of interesting novel.

[gen_g]

For now this might not be the right book for me, unless it's undergone another round of edition, thanks for enlightening me on the book.

I hope that the book will undergo more editing too; thanks for stopping by!

[gen_g]

This sounds like an interesting read. There are so many Giles in the corporate world today faking their way through. I hope the author does a revamp on the story. Nice review.

You are absolutely right! I hope so too, since I did enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.

[gen_g]

This book has lots of humor. This book gives a brief description of wall street. This is a fascinating book to read. The author did an excellent job writing this genre of interesting novel.

Indeed. Thanks for stopping by!

[Nisha Ward]

This reminds me of comics like Dilbert but funnier, I think. The office environment really does provide a good place for humour and it sounds like fun, all flaws aside.

[gen_g]

This reminds me of comics like Dilbert but funnier, I think. The office environment really does provide a good place for humour and it sounds like fun, all flaws aside.

I haven't read Dilbert, but I may now have to give it a try! Indeed, it was a hilarious read that I rather enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

[Priyanka2304]

The title of the book is quite unique. Has a same rhythm as 'Catch-22'. Thanks for the wonderful review.

[gen_g]

The title of the book is quite unique. Has a same rhythm as 'Catch-22'. Thanks for the wonderful review.

It does seem like it, doesn't it? Thanks for the comment!