| Front Cover |
Book Details |
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| Genre |
Fiction |
| Subject |
Artificial intelligence - Fiction; Fiction - Suspense; Fiction - Technological; Fiction - Thrillers; Geneva (Switzerland) - Fiction; Hedge funds - Fiction; Scientists - Fiction |
| Publication Date |
1/31/2012 |
| Format |
Hardcover |
| Publisher |
W.B. Saunders Company |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
| A chilling contemporary thriller from Robert Harris set in the competitive world of high finance.Dr Max Hoffman is a legend. A physicist once employed on the Large Hadron Collider, he now uses a revolutionary and highly secret system of computer algorithms to trade on the world's financial markets. None of his rivals is sure how he does it, but somehow Hoffman's hedge fund -- built around the standard measure of market volatility: the VIX or "Fear Index" -- generates astonishing returns for his investors.Late one night, in his house beside Lake Geneva, an intruder disturbs Hoffman and his wife while they are asleep. This terrifying moment is the start of Robert Harris's new novel -- a story just as compelling and timely as his most recent contemporary thriller, The Ghost. Over the next 48 hours, as the markets edge towards another great crash, Hoffman's world disintegrates. But who is trying to destroy him?From the Trade Paperback edition. |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Barnes & Noble |
| Purchase Price |
$11.64 |
| Acquire Date |
2/7/2012 |
| Condition |
As New |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
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| Product Details |
| Dewey |
813 |
| ISBN |
9780307957931 |
| Edition |
1st U.S. ed. |
| Cover Price |
$25.95 |
| No. of Pages |
288 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
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| Notes/Review |
A blurb on the back says "unputdownable". I laughed at the stupidity of the word when I first saw it. But if I had to use one word to describe this book, that would be near the top. This is not a great book. It won't win any awards. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though I've read and enjoyed all of Harris' other books, I wasn't that excited about this one. I was wrong to dismiss it. I remind myself that you can't judge a book by the cover.
Another back cover blurb says "Michael Crichton to Ian Fleming, Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock." I wouldn't have come up with those four names, but I can see why the blurbist did. I think Harris is much superior to Crichton. I find no Fleming here, and Kubrick is listed for a very specific reason. But the story did evoke Hitchcock for me several times. |
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