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Guests | April 25, 2012

Jon Raymond: IMG War Stories



So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the... Continue »
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eBook editions

The Fear Index

by Robert Harris

The Fear Index Cover

ISBN13: 9780307957931
ISBN10: 0307957934
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

At the nexus of high finance and sophisticated computer programming, a terrifying future may be unfolding even now.

 

Dr. Alex Hoffmann’s name is carefully guarded from the general public, but within the secretive inner circles of the ultrarich he is a legend. He has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that predicts movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But one morning before dawn, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of his lakeside mansion, and so begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him.

 

Fiendishly smart and suspenseful, The Fear Index gives us a searing glimpse into an all-too-recognizable world of greed and panic. It is a novel that forces us to confront the question of what it means to be human—and it is Robert Harris’s most spellbinding and audacious novel to date.

Review:

"In this smart but uneven thriller on technology run amok from bestseller Harris (The Ghost Writer), Dr. Alex Hoffmann, an American scientific refugee from the abandoned Texas supercollider who lands on his feet at CERN in Geneva, eventually goes on to found one of the world's most successful hedge funds. Hoffmann's secret VIXAL-4, an artificial intelligence project that forecasts financial market movements, appears to have a mind of its own, which is more than can be said for its creator. Unbeknownst even to his English avant-garde artist wife, Hoffmann has shown signs of serious mental problems in the past. Could a series of strange occurrences in the present be random, the work of a mole in Hoffman's company, or part of his unconscious pattern of self-destruction? Pure science enjoys an uneasy existence with large profit making at the expense of downward-market spirals. Despite some less than engaging characters and a story that sags a bit, this novel's philosophical underpinnings will keep most readers engrossed. 200,000 first printing; 5-city author tour. Agent: Michael Carlisle." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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About the Author

Robert Harris’s previous books include Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium, Conspirata, and The Ghost Writer (originally published as The Ghost). His work has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has been a television correspondent for the BBC, political editor of The Observer, and a columnist for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. He lives in a village near Hungerford in Berkshire, England.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

writermala, March 8, 2012 (view all comments by writermala)
This novel has all the makings of a great book. The story is set around money, medicine, greed and that most primordial of all emotions - fear.To call it a thriller would be to sell it short. The reader, like Hugo Quarry in the book, constantly feels like "every time he strapped himself into an aircraft he half-expected, he was going to die in a crash."
The climax is when fear evolves to terror and takes centre stage.

If you want to know what could happen in the current era and all that could go wrong with artificial intelligence,read this book.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780307957931
Author:
Harris, Robert
Publisher:
Knopf Publishing Group
Subject:
Thrillers
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Subject:
Popular Fiction-Suspense
Publication Date:
20120131
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Language:
English
Illustrations:
ENDPAPERS
Pages:
304
Dimensions:
9.61 x 6.64 x 1.25 in 1.38 lb

Related Subjects

Featured Titles » New Arrivals
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Mystery » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Adventure
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Contemporary Thrillers
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Suspense
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Contemporary Thrillers

The Fear Index New Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$25.95 In Stock
Product details 304 pages Knopf Publishing Group - English 9780307957931 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "In this smart but uneven thriller on technology run amok from bestseller Harris (The Ghost Writer), Dr. Alex Hoffmann, an American scientific refugee from the abandoned Texas supercollider who lands on his feet at CERN in Geneva, eventually goes on to found one of the world's most successful hedge funds. Hoffmann's secret VIXAL-4, an artificial intelligence project that forecasts financial market movements, appears to have a mind of its own, which is more than can be said for its creator. Unbeknownst even to his English avant-garde artist wife, Hoffmann has shown signs of serious mental problems in the past. Could a series of strange occurrences in the present be random, the work of a mole in Hoffman's company, or part of his unconscious pattern of self-destruction? Pure science enjoys an uneasy existence with large profit making at the expense of downward-market spirals. Despite some less than engaging characters and a story that sags a bit, this novel's philosophical underpinnings will keep most readers engrossed. 200,000 first printing; 5-city author tour. Agent: Michael Carlisle." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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