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lazygal's review against another edition
1.0
I should just never read the blurbage on books, because this was supposed to be a "sidesplitting romp" and, well, after 100-ish pages, I was waiting for even a mild chuckle.
Obviously I didn't read far enough to find out why two apparently unrelated groups were going after Dan (or possibly it's only about his soon-to-vest stock options that will make him a millionaire - single million, by the way, not serious IT venture money). Nor did I really care why, or whether or not he and his wife would make their relationship work. The couples counselor? Godawful and if that was the author's idea of satire it simply doesn't work.
ARC provided by publisher.
Obviously I didn't read far enough to find out why two apparently unrelated groups were going after Dan (or possibly it's only about his soon-to-vest stock options that will make him a millionaire - single million, by the way, not serious IT venture money). Nor did I really care why, or whether or not he and his wife would make their relationship work. The couples counselor? Godawful and if that was the author's idea of satire it simply doesn't work.
ARC provided by publisher.
spoonerreads's review against another edition
1.0
This books claims to be a satire, it's really just terrible. I kept reading hoping it would get better, did not happen. Then i kept reading to see if it would get worse, it did.
acinthedc's review against another edition
2.0
Dan Jordan wants to get out of the Silicon Valley rat race and live a quiet life on the beach with his wife and kids. If he can just get through the next few days at work he'll be able to cash out and live his dream. There's just few things he has to deal with first, like being blackmailed and figuring why some strange guy just attacked him in the grocery store.
A promising premise that fails to deliver. Bardsley's characters are mostly flat, unbelievable, or unsympathetic. As the plot becomes more convoluted, the more repetitive and less amusing it seems to get. I found the conclusion predictable and unsatisfying.
A promising premise that fails to deliver. Bardsley's characters are mostly flat, unbelievable, or unsympathetic. As the plot becomes more convoluted, the more repetitive and less amusing it seems to get. I found the conclusion predictable and unsatisfying.
whatsheread's review against another edition
Dan Jordan is having a really bad day. First, in an effort to show his dedication to his wife and his family, he undergoes the dreaded snip. Then, as he is hobbling towards his car for the trip home and a much-needed pack of frozen peas, he is kidnapped by three of the most unlikely criminals. To make matters worse, after his kidnappers let him go, he is assaulted by a muscle-bound man, and assaulted is actually sugar-coating the treatment he receives at the hands of this unknown bulkhead. With three days left until he can cash out his stock options and live happily ever after with his beloved wife and adored sons, all he wants to do is sit tight, ice his testicles, and get the money that will change his life for good. However, in Greg Barsley’s Cash Out, Dan’s options are just not that simple.
Stock options have lost their prestige because companies are not offering them as incentives anymore and because after the stock market turmoil of the past decade, people are leery about their long-term viability in a volatile economy. However, Cash Out occurs right before the beginning of the economic bust, when the stock market was flying high and holding stock in a start-up tech company was something about which most people dreamed. Like all incentives, especially ones that have the potential to be extremely lucrative, there is an underlying catch-22, namely having to sacrifice time and potentially some morals in the name of driving up stock prices. It is a situation Dan thought he had weathered fairly well but still cannot wait to leave, and he knows his vested stock will be the ticket to his life of dreams. Yet, as he is rushes to accede all demands from the various parties after him, he realizes just how much he has sacrificed, namely family, as he was biding his time until the end of the vesting period. Therein lies the charm of Dan’s crazy adventures. He truly is the quintessential family man, albeit one who has made some not-so-familial mistakes that land him in his current troubles.
Cash Out is a sociologist’s dream novel as it hypothesizes on the motivating impact of money, or the potential to obtain it, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their assets. Dan’s love for his wife and his family is unquestionable. While his actions as well as the events themselves may be a bit far-fetched, a reader knows indubitably that everything he does is to get that dream lifestyle for his family. Dan is a congenial enough character, well-meaning and earnest, and while his prior actions may have been questionable – hence the blackmail – his heart is definitely in the right place. Dan’s friends and neighbors provide most of the humor as their well-intentioned behaviors create some of the wackier scenes. The resulting lesson is tremendously appropriate, given today’s focus on materialism and one-upmanship, even if Mr. Bardsley tends to reiterate his point a bit more forcefully than necessary. Enjoyable and timely, Cash Out will make any reader appreciate the fact that even on the worst of days, it will still not be as awful as Dan’s.
Stock options have lost their prestige because companies are not offering them as incentives anymore and because after the stock market turmoil of the past decade, people are leery about their long-term viability in a volatile economy. However, Cash Out occurs right before the beginning of the economic bust, when the stock market was flying high and holding stock in a start-up tech company was something about which most people dreamed. Like all incentives, especially ones that have the potential to be extremely lucrative, there is an underlying catch-22, namely having to sacrifice time and potentially some morals in the name of driving up stock prices. It is a situation Dan thought he had weathered fairly well but still cannot wait to leave, and he knows his vested stock will be the ticket to his life of dreams. Yet, as he is rushes to accede all demands from the various parties after him, he realizes just how much he has sacrificed, namely family, as he was biding his time until the end of the vesting period. Therein lies the charm of Dan’s crazy adventures. He truly is the quintessential family man, albeit one who has made some not-so-familial mistakes that land him in his current troubles.
Cash Out is a sociologist’s dream novel as it hypothesizes on the motivating impact of money, or the potential to obtain it, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their assets. Dan’s love for his wife and his family is unquestionable. While his actions as well as the events themselves may be a bit far-fetched, a reader knows indubitably that everything he does is to get that dream lifestyle for his family. Dan is a congenial enough character, well-meaning and earnest, and while his prior actions may have been questionable – hence the blackmail – his heart is definitely in the right place. Dan’s friends and neighbors provide most of the humor as their well-intentioned behaviors create some of the wackier scenes. The resulting lesson is tremendously appropriate, given today’s focus on materialism and one-upmanship, even if Mr. Bardsley tends to reiterate his point a bit more forcefully than necessary. Enjoyable and timely, Cash Out will make any reader appreciate the fact that even on the worst of days, it will still not be as awful as Dan’s.
rosseroo's review
3.0
I was in the mood for a lighthearted caper romp and picked this up to slake that particular thirst. I mean, a book that kicks off with a handful of tech support dudes snatching a Silicon Valley PR dude off the street and spiriting him away in a van is guaranteed to capture my attention. And while the book gamely tries to engage in the kind of outsized hi-jinks and colorful criminal bumbling that fans of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard love, it all too often veers into low comedy.
The gist of the story is that the our hapless protagonist is days away from his options in a dot-com vesting him into millionariehood (the titular "cash out") that will allow him to quit and relocate to the beach with wife and son. However these techies have dirt on him that will destroy his marriage and family unless he does something that is almost certainly going to get him fired before the options vest. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he has to scramble to find a way through the mess he's gotten himself into. Fortunately (a little too fortunately, I'd say), his best friend is an MMA fighter, so he's got some muscle at his disposal. Which he'll need, since he waddles through the whole book holding an icepack to his groin, thanks to a fresh vasectomy.
On the whole, the book relies much too heavily on repeated shots to his sore groin and neighbors from the bazaar of the bizarre to be effective. A little of that flavoring goes a long way, and the story is definitely overseasoned to my taste. The action and humor crosses the line at times from colorful to sophomoric -- all of which is not to say that the book is bad. It's not bad, it's just of a certain style and not as clever as I was looking for. Best suited for beach reading by those with an interest in Silicon Valley.
The gist of the story is that the our hapless protagonist is days away from his options in a dot-com vesting him into millionariehood (the titular "cash out") that will allow him to quit and relocate to the beach with wife and son. However these techies have dirt on him that will destroy his marriage and family unless he does something that is almost certainly going to get him fired before the options vest. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he has to scramble to find a way through the mess he's gotten himself into. Fortunately (a little too fortunately, I'd say), his best friend is an MMA fighter, so he's got some muscle at his disposal. Which he'll need, since he waddles through the whole book holding an icepack to his groin, thanks to a fresh vasectomy.
On the whole, the book relies much too heavily on repeated shots to his sore groin and neighbors from the bazaar of the bizarre to be effective. A little of that flavoring goes a long way, and the story is definitely overseasoned to my taste. The action and humor crosses the line at times from colorful to sophomoric -- all of which is not to say that the book is bad. It's not bad, it's just of a certain style and not as clever as I was looking for. Best suited for beach reading by those with an interest in Silicon Valley.
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