Scan barcode
A review by slimy
Rooked: Wall Street Never Saw It Coming by Susan Joyce
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
One Sentence Summary: David struggles to identify the life he wants to live and, in the events leading up to the 2008 Wall Street Crash, has to make a choice between money, power, and everything that comes with it and family, his conscience, and a more meaningful life.
Thoughts: I might call this a ‘Financial Thriller’ of sorts, but it revolves around the MC’s personal awakening. I don’t have a lot to say about the financial details—I’m not super versed in that area so most of that went over my head.
What really stands out about this book is the attention to detail and the care in which the settings are crafted. I can tell the author cares deeply for what some in the financial field would call “little people”, and that they are well-versed in the importance of community—wherever you find that. The first few chapters, where we meet the MC in his small, rural Minnesotan town, where everyone knows each other and has their patterns, are achingly sweet.
I would have liked to see a bit more development for our MC by the end—all through the book he’s very abrasive and uncaring, especially in his interactions with women, and generally just throws money at his problems to fix them. I think the book ends with implied development, but I can’t point to really anything that would concretely signify a life-altering change in him. That’s a personal preference for me—I have a hard time supporting and rooting for characters that identify women as mostly a pair of breasts.
Always fun to support a self-published author. You go!
Trigger Warnings: explicit sex, money-based relationship, mild language, financial manipulation, cancer/cancer treatment, death of a parent
Thoughts: I might call this a ‘Financial Thriller’ of sorts, but it revolves around the MC’s personal awakening. I don’t have a lot to say about the financial details—I’m not super versed in that area so most of that went over my head.
What really stands out about this book is the attention to detail and the care in which the settings are crafted. I can tell the author cares deeply for what some in the financial field would call “little people”, and that they are well-versed in the importance of community—wherever you find that. The first few chapters, where we meet the MC in his small, rural Minnesotan town, where everyone knows each other and has their patterns, are achingly sweet.
I would have liked to see a bit more development for our MC by the end—all through the book he’s very abrasive and uncaring, especially in his interactions with women, and generally just throws money at his problems to fix them. I think the book ends with implied development, but I can’t point to really anything that would concretely signify a life-altering change in him. That’s a personal preference for me—I have a hard time supporting and rooting for characters that identify women as mostly a pair of breasts.
Always fun to support a self-published author. You go!
Trigger Warnings: explicit sex, money-based relationship, mild language, financial manipulation, cancer/cancer treatment, death of a parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent