The Payback: A Novel Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Payback A Novel

Kashana Cauley

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—f Jada Williams is good at judging people by their looks. From across the mall, she can tell not only someone’s inseam and pants si...

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Up First from NPR

The book was highlighted as a thrilling heist novel where a woman and her friends devise an Ocean's Eleven‑style scheme to erase all student loans in a heightened world with aggressive debt‑collecting police. Andrew Limbong introduced it during the episode, emphasizing its inventive plot and the suspenseful setting. Listeners were presented with the title as a compelling, imaginative story that resonated with the show's focus on finance and culture.

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This was mentioned as a thrilling heist novel where the main character and her friends plan an 'Ocean's Eleven'-style caper to cancel everyone's student loans in a heightened world where special police aggressively pursue debt defaulters.

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Another sort of plotty book is Kashana Kali's The Payback. This is a bit of a heist novel about a woman and her friends who concoct a bit of an Ocean's Eleven-type caper to wipe out everyone's student loans.

This isn't necessarily taking place in our world. It's in a bit of a heightened world where there are these special cops on the hunt for anyone who is late to repay their debts, and they will track you down and kind of assault you if you are late on your repayment.

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