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The Fear Index by Robert Harris

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The Fear Index by Robert Harris Read and Download Ebook The Fear Index... The Fear Index Robert Harris PDF File: The Fear Index... 1 Read and Download Ebook The Fear Index... The Fear Index Robert Harris The Fear Index Robert Harris His name is carefully guarded from the general public but within the secretive inner circles of the ultra-rich Dr Alex Hoffmann is a legend - a visionary scientist whose computer software turns everything it touches into gold. Together with his partner, an investment banker, Hoffmann has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that tracks human emotions, enabling it to predict movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But then in the early hours of the morning, while he lies asleep with his wife, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of their lakeside house. So begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him. His quest forces him to confront the deepest questions of what it is to be human. By the time night falls over Geneva, the financial markets will be in turmoil and Hoffmann's world - and ours - transformed forever. The Fear Index Details Date : Published September 29th 2011 by Hutchinson ISBN : 9780091936969 Author : Robert Harris Format : Hardcover 323 pages Genre : Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Download The Fear Index ...pdf Read Online The Fear Index ...pdf Download and Read Free Online The Fear Index Robert Harris PDF File: The Fear Index... 2 Read and Download Ebook The Fear Index... From Reader Review The Fear Index for online ebook JDK1962 says I enjoyed it, mainly because I enjoy Robert Harris thrillers, have a graduate degree in AI, and currently work as a software geek in the financial industry (unfortunately not nearly as well paid as the ones in this book...then again, given that the cost of living in Geneva is well over twice what it is where I live, maybe I am :-). This is a skilful blend of fact--the events of the "flash crash" of May 2010--and fiction. I would have given more stars, but there's a fundamental hole in the plot, which you only realize when the book is over. The villain of the piece didn't have to attack Hoffmann, certainly not in the manner it did (especially given how the troublesome risk manager was disposed of). It simply wasn't logical. Whitley says This book has received mixed reviews--largely, I suspect, because reviewers understand little about finance and computer technology. Actually, it's a hair-raising triumph, one of the most subtle and convincing stories about artificial intelligence I have read. Having written a book on this subject myself--Hybrids--I know a good deal about the progress being made in the field, and some of it is startling, chilling and quite wonderful, and Harris really captures the strangeness and menace of such machines. Ivica Mikic says Robert Harris hat die Personen und die Handlung fantastisch beschrieben. Diese Spannung und Ungewissheit ob dem Hauptdarsteller seine Krankheit, ein Gegenspieler oder etwas anderes das Leben langsam aber sicher zerstört ist einmalig geschildert worden. Leider wählte Herr Harris die schwächste Variante. Er erweiterte sie mit Details bis zur absoluten Unglaubwürdigkeit und verpasste dadurch den brillanten Anfang bis zum Ende durch zu ziehen. Daniel says [ The hedge fund's algorithmic trading program becomes self-aware, turns into a rogue AI and tries to kill its inventor. The inventor figures it out and tries to destroy the AI, but the AI has backups. At the end, the AI is still out there, still tradin Rowena Hoseason says The real-world consequences of cowboy banking practices may be truly terrifying (global economic meltdown: the end of civilisation as we know it), but it’s a tall order to turn hedge-fund trading into a gripping thriller. Inevitably, this is more an intellectual mystery than a pulse-pounding page-turner. PDF File: The Fear Index... 3 Read and Download Ebook The Fear Index... Genius billionaire algorithm-wrangler Alex might be paranoid, delusional, schizophrenic and suicidal, or he may be the instigator of a dodging-dealing financial conspiracy. Cue disorienting weird discoveries to ratchet up his bewilderment; enter the sinister stalker with cannibalistic tendencies. The pacing is a tiny bit pedestrian at times; the mid-point murder is entirely superfluous, and none of the central characters are the least bit engaging. But the intrigue of hi-tech trading kept me hanging in there, and last couple of chapters made the effort worthwhile. 7/10 There are many more crime / thriller reviews over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net Allan says Not anywhere near my favourite Harris novel that I've read - I wasn't sold on the technological aspect that was the premise of the plot, though I suppose its pace kept me reading and curious as to what would happen. Glad it wasn't the first of his that I'd experienced, because I probably wouldn't have gone back to him if it was. David Lentz says I read this book because it offered a theme that I had used in one of my early novels, "The Day Trader" first published in 2001 when day trading was only just emerging: what would happen if a complex, computer assisted algorithm for day trading went wildly awry? As I live in Greenwich, CT, I actually was quite curious after reading a review to see how Harris treated this theme as it relates to hedge fund trading in Geneva. With the steady emergence of artifical intelligence in IBM's Watson, who became a "Jeopardy" champion and just was offered a new job on Wall Street, the theme seemed rather timely now, too. In a sense the question is whether the theme of HAL in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" may have even more relevance now. I had written a literary novel and Harris was targeting the commercial, mainstream audience focused upon best- seller lists. So I don't want to criticize his novel as if it were intended as more than a commercial thriller. However, I do have some problems with the novel within the context of a best-seller. The first question is why do so many people read books like this? I am as willing as the next person to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good read. But this thriller genre is rife with questions and so is the writing of this particular best- seller. Both the genre and this book are so incredible and unrealistic that they ask us to buy grotesque plot points for the sake of cheap thrills. I won't spoil the story line by outlining such incredible stretches of the imagination but they exist abundantly. In particular, I was surprised that Harris created such universally hateful characters. Does he want us to like any of them? Alex is a genius, of course, an exceptional mind devoted to physics, mathematics, investing, technology and Charles Darwin. But like many of those who reside in Greenwich and work at hedge funds here in the so-called "Hedge Fund Capital of the World," exceptional Alex in his Swiss mansion comes across simply as an exceptional dick. Are we fed up yet with all the Ann Randian, entitled and wealthy egomaniacs portrayed as heroic? Alex just struck me as an archetypal social clown: a self-centered, Randian "objectivist." Alex is akin to those captains of industry pulling strings as puppet-masters in our Federal elections, Congress and courts, which is simply more troubling than I can really say. For example, Alex pays his PR team to keep him out of the newspapers: they recommend that he not contribute to charity and so he doesn't. What a lovely concept for every billionaire to espouse. Even if Alex had Aspergers, maybe he could help cure it with a charitable contribution. However, Harris unbelievably intends for Alex to seem heroic somehow. Don't you find this odd in these economic PDF File: The Fear Index... 4 Read and Download Ebook The Fear Index... times when so many people are so angry at Wall Street? Harris' portrayal as hero just struck me as just tone- deaf but maybe he is just reading the sentiments of his target market. Ditto for Alex's business partner -- another Randian objectivist. Alex's wife comes across as a flat, 2D, cardboard cut-out for whom Harris intends us to deem an object of pity. Harris creates a fight scene between Alex and another odd character, the muddled writing of the action of which I haven't witnessed since the nude wrestling scene in "Borat." I do respect the genuinely intriguing premise and inventive title for this novel: however, my experience with algorithms is that they lose reliability during times of intense market fear and greed among the herd. If you enjoy thrillers, like so many other people, then you might enjoy this standard, commercial, best-seller fare. Personally, I can't read most thrillers with a straight face and normally avoid them. While I certainly envy Harris his royalties for this brief book, he seems to have made a Faustian trade to bring cheap thrills to his commercial, mainstream readers. I encourage you to up your game by reading a novel outside this genre with sufficient craft to render your willing suspension of disbelief more worthwhile and to leave you feeling gratified for investing your scarce time in reading the book. I fear that "The Fear Index" is off the charts as simply a silly read.
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