Publishers Weekly
06/10/2024
In Staple’s nimble first book, a PR director for a professional football team reckons with her role as enabler of toxic behavior after the head coach is found dead. Poppy Benjamin has spent the past 15 years with the Syracuse Bobcats, burnishing their image and occasionally preventing players’ indiscretions from making headlines. After coach Red Guillory dies in his home, the police open an investigation. Then, Poppy and four fellow female sports executives who jokingly call themselves WAGS (Women against Groping in Sports) discover they’ve each recently received the same anonymous note, warning that they have five days to fess up to some unspecified misdeed. As Poppy learns more about how Red died, she confronts decisions she and the other WAGS made on their way to the top that may have put other women in danger of being sexually abused. Some of the police procedural elements feel thin, but Staple’s love of football and unflinching look at its dark side are both colorful and credible. It’s a worthy addition to the fiction inspired by #MeToo. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"By turns thought-provoking and flat-out fun, The Snap is a gripping exploration of what it means to be a woman in a man's world. I don't know a running back from a tight end (yes, I just had to Google "football positions"), but I still couldn't put Elizabeth Staple's sharp-eyed novel down."
—Laura Hankin, author of The Daydreams
"Elizabeth Staple's The Snap is a no-holds-barred exploration of women in a male-dominated industry, the importance of friendships to get us through, and the dark side of ambition. Told with the precision and tension of a thriller, this clever debut is filled with wit, razor-sharp insight and an unflinching gaze at what happens when women want more. In short: I loved it."
—Ashley Tate, internationally bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes
“A compulsively readable, sharp, and often witty invitation to the world of a football franchise and the isolation women face trying to make it in a male dominated industry. This story reveals itself as deeper than meets the eye and poses difficult questions. Paced like a great thriller, with the confident execution of true insider knowledge. It stuck with me long after the last page.”
—Natalie Sue, internationally bestselling author of I Hope This Finds You Well, a June 2024 Indie Next pick
“The Snap takes us off the field, through the locker room, and into the corporate halls of power, where a woman at the top of her game is forced to confront the cost of her success. . . . I may not be a football fan, but I’m emphatically an Elizabeth Staple fan.”
—Isabel Kaplan, author of NSFW
"It's so hard to explain the frenetic, cutthroat and batshit crazy world of sports to the uninitiated, but Elizabeth Staple provides the most bang-on, behind-the-curtains peek about what life is like on the inside. A smart and propulsive trip beyond the sidelines that is both razor-sharp and wickedly funny, The Snap illustrates the complexity of navigating one of the most unorthodox workplaces with both nuance and acerbic wit. Every woman who has ever worked in sports will recognize herself, and her own tribe of industry confidants, in this book."
—Katie Strang, Senior Writer, Investigations and Enterprise, The Athletic
"One part whodunit, one part insider’s view to the NFL, Elizabeth Staple’s The Snap deftly examines the sexual politics and power-brokering behind the league. Staple’s ironic wit and deft social commentary shine in every line. Perfect for readers of Chandler Baker and Liane Moriarty, The Snap hits hard and hits often."
—Sara Herchenroether, author of The Night Flowers
"[The Snap] buzzes with all-too-familiar frustration at injustices. In the doubts and thrills of her story, Staple echoes the moment in a game when a bone-crunching collision has a player carted off the field. Are we allowed to enjoy this? Should the game still go on? An endorphin-fueled, heart-hammering sprint."
—Kirkus Reviews
"In Staple’s nimble first book, a PR director for a professional football team reckons with her role as enabler of toxic behavior after the head coach is found dead. . . . Staple’s love of football and unflinching look at its dark side are both colorful and credible. It’s a worthy addition to the fiction inspired by #MeToo."
—Publishers Weekly
