A razor-sharp literary thriller about three women vying for power at a wellness startup where
the cost of ambition might be deadly One woman's elixir is another woman's poison Rhoda West is
Silicon Valley's favorite female CEO: the luminously charismatic founder of the fast-growing
startup Radical a wellness company whose core mission is the betterment of women's lives.
Rhoda's Instagram page offers intimate glimpses of her personal life alongside promotions for
the cult-status products developed in the Well Radical's secretive lab. Dani Lang is a
"quester " as Rhoda calls her most avid followers. Dani found Radical at a low point in her
life and took an entry level job just to get in the door. When she volunteers to test a
controversial new supplement Dani wins an opportunity to rise in the company even to work
with Rhoda herself. Cecelia Cole is a "quasher." She grinds away at the Customer Worship queue
resenting the entitled customers the woo-woo Radical jargon and Rhoda's smiling hypocrisy.
Cecelia who suffers from a miserable chronic illness knows that the remedies Rhoda sells
can't cure real sickness. Just as Rhoda announces another fundraising round that could turn
Radical into a billion-dollar unicorn an anonymous Twitter account begins spilling snarky
gossip from inside the startup. Is Rhoda really the nurturing leader she presents to the world
or a fraud? Or is this just another case of a woman in business being punished for her strength
and audacity? Tensions rise and loyalties clash then tragedy strikes during a company party.
In the aftermath of what looks more and more like a crime even the most faithful questers
begin to wonder to what lengths Rhoda will go to protect her company. Part page-turning
suspense part darkly comic skewering of startup culture Snake Oil is a gripping exploration
of ambition and authenticity shining a revealing light on the wellness world.
