The Payback
A Novel
-
-
2.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
When Jada Williams is relentlessly pursued by the Debt Police, she is left with no choice but to take down her student loan company with the help of two mall coworkers—from the author of the “lethally witty” (The New York Times Book Review) The Survivalists.
Jada Williams is good at judging people by their looks. From across the mall, she can tell not only someone’s inseam and pants size, but exactly what style they need to transform their life. Too bad she’s no longer using this superpower as a wardrobe designer to Hollywood stars, but for minimum wage plus commission at the Glendale mall.
When Jada is fired yet again, she is forced to outrun the newly instated Debt Police who are out for blood. But Jada, like any great antihero, is not going to wait for the cops to come kick her around. With the help of two other debt-burdened mall coworkers, she hatches a plan for revenge. Together the three women plan a heist to erase their student loans forever and get back at the system that promised them everything and then tried to take it back.
“A novel of great fun and unforgettable fury” (Megha Majumdar, bestselling author of A Burning) The Payback is a razor-sharp and hilarious dissection of race, power, and the daily grind, from one of the most original and exciting writers at work today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A 30-something woman strikes back against her draconian student loan servicer in Cauley's raucous latest (after The Survivalists). Jada Williams is in dire financial straits. A film school graduate with a keen interest in fashion, she once held her dream job as a Hollywood costume designer, which she lost over an "exploding" dress after a narcissistic actor refused to wear an appropriately sized garment. Now, Jada works a retail job alongside two other talented but debt-ridden Black women: Lanae, a classically trained violinist who also plays in a punk band called the Donner Party, and Audrey, a former NSA cybersecurity specialist. In a desperate bid to keep up with her loan payments, Jada steals a watch left by a customer in the store's dressing room, pawns it, gets caught, and loses her job. Soon after, a squad of new cops known as the "debt police" show up at Jada's apartment and severely beat her as punishment for late payments. Audrey and Lanae receive similar treatment, and the three unite to take down their loan provider, aided by Audrey's hacking skills and Lanae's ruthless eat the rich mentality. As their scheme unfolds, Cauley burnishes her page-turner with shrewd commentary on the debt burden placed on first-generation college students. It's a knockout. Agents: Martha Wydysh and Ellen Levine, Trident Media Group.
