Review of Incentives

[Susanna Williams]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Incentives" by George Frankllin.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Incentives, the Holy Water of Free Enterprise by George Franklin. This novel is a funny, tongue-in-cheek, and exaggerated portrayal of how any scenario has the potential to foster fraud, corruption, and dishonesty through politics and economics. It also portrays roles that humans play in manipulating the system to take advantage of the many for the benefit of a few. The plot revolves around six distinct groups of people from various backgrounds who are drawn together in a tiny town called Glen in Michigan, USA, due to similar interests. The story started with a meeting between Red Johansson and Boone Cartwright, regarding a suitable site for fracking. After a successful meeting, which was engineered by both parties to end in their favor, Red followed an indifferent approach to appointing people in posts where the most mundane jobs became executive, and ensuring that every endeavor was paid for with taxpayers' money.

The scenarios progressed from smooth to bumpy to absurd, until everything came crashing down due to an "act of terror." As the plot thickens, so does the formation of superfluous committees, political interferences, commissions, and other entities that want to be a part of this extravagant way of life. He demonstrates how simple it is to deal with narcotics and disguise them in various forms. The media's participation was borderline ridiculous, with every reporter vying for the best spot to ensure a scoop. The public was so engrossed in the farce that they spent outrageous sums of their hard-earned money to participate. Nobody seems to be any wiser about the massive misappropriation of taxpayer funds.

The only negative feature is the use of profanity on occasion, however, it is used appropriately by Bogey Jackson and Skeeter Williams, from whom you would expect it and occasionally by other characters when something terrible occurs. Most parts of the book though does not contain profanity. There is no shame or empathy for the less fortunate in this novel.

Positive qualities include the authors' extensive research and knowledge of politics and economics in drafting the book. The author provides information about what is happening in society's top echelons and how corruption goes rampant. He summarizes what happens in these offices and has a distinct way of naming all the newly formed committees and groups with delightfully descriptive and lengthy names. The author's vocabulary is excellent, and he captures the substance of his message, lending credence to the work.

Even though the book contained profanity, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars because I felt it gave realism to the specific characters or events. There is some sexual content, but it is not explicit and only relates to characters who appear to be past their prime. I recommend the book to anyone unfamiliar with corruption or the dishonesty of society. Readers unfamiliar with political and economic strategies will find this book enlightening.

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Incentives
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[Christell Lindeque]

This was an amazing review. The reviewer goes into depth about what it is about. Even though it is not my type of genre to read it still seems like a well-written book and will definitely help readers understand political and economical strategies as the reviewer suggests.