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The Fear Index

3.34 of 5 stars 3.34 · rating details · 3,506 ratings · 621 reviews

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 w...more

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published January 31st 2012 by Knopf (first published 2011)

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Jan 11, 2013 Sam Quixote rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A physics genius called Alex Hoffmann working at CERN in Switzerland creates a programme which is like an artificial brain that works faster than human brains and learns to get better at what it does - namely, make money on the stock exchange. Years later and in its fourth incarnation, VIXAL, as it’s called, is a programme that has made Hoffmann one of the top scientists of his day and a billionaire. But things start to go wrong and over the span of 24 hours he will see the extent of the monster...more A physics genius called Alex Hoffmann working at CERN in Switzerland creates a programme which is like an artificial brain that works faster than human brains and learns to get better at what it does - namely, make money on the stock exchange. Years later and in its fourth incarnation, VIXAL, as it’s called, is a programme that has made Hoffmann one of the top scientists of his day and a billionaire. But things start to go wrong and over the span of 24 hours he will see the extent of the monster he has created and what he must do to stop it… before it destroys the world!

Robert Harris adapts the story of Victor Frankenstein to the 21st century, riffing on the recent financial troubles, and creating a kind of HAL-like villain. The whole book covers 24 hours but Harris manages to convey much longer periods of time in that space, constructing backgrounds to the various characters effortlessly, all while keeping the action ticking over at a brisk pace.

The Frankenstein theme is subtly hinted at throughout: the setting of Geneva, a quote from Mary Shelley, the Hotel Diodati, Dr Polidori (female, Hoffmann's shrink) but the bigger homage is that of creator and monster, Hoffmann and VIXAL-4. The full extent of his creation isn't revealed until the end and an even stranger story than the one imparted here is hinted at by the end.

I thought that despite it being a thriller and geared toward quick reading, it was still written well and all of the characters and the inscrutable world of finance were conveyed clearly and effortlessly by Harris. The story goes in unexpected directions and I even found myself liking some of the more reptilian characters (the smug Englishman Quarry was brilliant). I don't think people appreciate how difficult this task is and the fact that Harris did such a good job of it is understated in the majority of these reviews.

A well written thriller with an excellent story, handled perfectly by a master novelist at the top of his game - I recommend anyone looking for a good read to turn to "The Fear Index" for a diverting few hours of entertainment.(less)

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Mar 12, 2012 David Lentz rated it 2 of 5 stars

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...more 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 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.(less)

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Jun 26, 2012 Jay Connor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Starting with this real world premise -- The May 6, 2010 Flash Crash[1] also known as The Crash of 2:45, the 2010 Flash Crash or just simply, the Flash Crash, was a United States stock market crash on May 6, 2010 in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 1000 points—or about nine percent—only to recover those losses within minutes -- Harris delivers a powerful story about market manipulations and greed at a speed faster than intervention could arrest. During this seven minute "Flas...more Starting with this real world premise -- The May 6, 2010 Flash Crash[1] also known as The Crash of 2:45, the 2010 Flash Crash or just simply, the Flash Crash, was a United States stock market crash on May 6, 2010 in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 1000 points—or about nine percent—only to recover those losses within minutes -- Harris delivers a powerful story about market manipulations and greed at a speed faster than intervention could arrest. During this seven minute "Flash Crash," 19.4 billion shared were traded on the NYSE. That is more than were traded in the whole decade of the 1960's! Events were denominated in milliseconds -- far beyond human comprehension.

I reviewed favorably recent non-fiction books on the late 2000's market crash. Most notably: "All the Devils are Here" and "Boomerang." But leave it to good fiction to bring the absurdity of our financial markets into sharp relief.

I've enjoyed Harris for awhile. His recent political intrigue "The Ghost" was great fun. But here, this "story" is less a romp than a cautionary indictment of our pervasive greed and its attendant huge costs to society. We expect greed in the markets -- Gordon Gekko: "greed is good" -- but what when this unbridled greed unravels the very fabric of society?

In Harris' hands, it is a story of great depth with range from the ridiculous to the sublime. In describing the NEXT processor in 1991 in Cern, Switzerland, that started the world wide web and goes on to, depending on your point of view, either best represent Pandora's Box or the the law of unintended consequence: "You start out trying to create the origins of the universe and you end up creating E-Bay."

A far more troubling example of the law of untended consequence is another real world story of a $10 billion decision to close down Desertron in 1993. Closing down this US super collider in Waxahachie, Texas wiped out the career plans of an entire generation of academic physicists. Many of these disposed scientists migrated to Wall Street to become Quants who helped build derivatives instead of particle accelerators. When they went wrong in 2008, the worldwide banking system imploded to the tune of $3.7 TRILLION. How much better would we, as a society, have been if we had keep them down on the farm in Waxahachie?

(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 Kirsti added it · review of another edition

Shelves: anger, fiction, glad-it-was-fiction, overhyped

Our story so far, five chapters in: Rich, successful douchebag (an American living in Switzerland) suffers a concussion during a home invasion, becomes annoyed when he has to go to a regular hospital that's full of poors, goes back to work against doctor's orders, tries to solve the crime himself, describes Swiss architecture in excruciating detail, and quotes Darwin a lot. As you may be able to tell, I'm having trouble sympathizing with the main character.

UPDATE: Found out what the Fear Index i...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-and-thrillers

Update: 8/3/2012 This article related to an automatic trading algorithm run a-muck is pertinent to this book. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/0... A larger question is whether this kind of trading benefits capitalism, in the sense it helps supply capital for businesses to grow, or whether it serves only the financial industry in its quest for making huge amounts of money without making anything.

The best thrillers and horror stories don’t involve chain saws or mutated snakes. They take someth...more Update: 8/3/2012 This article related to an automatic trading algorithm run a-muck is pertinent to this book. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/0... A larger question is whether this kind of trading benefits capitalism, in the sense it helps supply capital for businesses to grow, or whether it serves only the financial industry in its quest for making huge amounts of money without making anything.

The best thrillers and horror stories don’t involve chain saws or mutated snakes. They take something prosaic, something we are all familiar with, something we trust, and then tweak it.

That’s the premise of a wonderful book I read years ago calledAdolescence of P-1 by Thomas Ryan. An algorithm created to seek out knowledge learns and soon desires to protect itself. Read it.

What separates humans from other animals is language. That used to be the case. It’s no longer true. Computers can now assimilate, translate, and communicate. Not to mention that they are all connected and have access to virtually all of human knowledge. So can they learn and adapt?

The other thread that surfaced while reading Fear Index is what happened to Long Term Capital Management in 2000. A hedge fund founded by a brilliant economist, the premise was that if you get enough smart people together you can write some brilliant computer algorithms that will permit outperformance of the market. They collapsed spectacularly in 2000 requiring a bailout.

Combine those two events and ideas and you have Fear Index.

Alex Hoffman is a brilliant physicist who founds a hedge fund which does spectacularly well bring returns of 80% to its investors. Constantly tweaking its algorithms to provide even better returns, they are poised to add even more money to their fund. But some weird things are beginning to happen. Alex gets a rare book in the mail with no indication who might have sent it. Investigation reveals it was purchased using an account in the Caymans he owned but was not aware of. All the transactions happened over the Internet. Then his house is broken into by someone who had all the key codes.

The algorithm Hoffman’s company created uses sophisticated analysis of human fear to determine market positions. All of a sudden the company finds itself taking huge short positions that pay off when companies they were shorting suffered some form of catastrophe. They reap immense profits, but how could the algorithm have foreseen those seemingly random events? And how did the notes of Alex’s therapy get on the web. And who installed the surveillance cameras and built the server farm? In the meantime, Hugo’s algorithm is learning and doing things on its own. Really good story. 4.5 stars. Less than 5 only because it’s so similar in concept to Ryan’s book.

As an aside, Harris has a very nice explanation of what a hedge fund does and how hedges work. Let’s say, as in his example, that you make a bet with someone for $1,000,000 that the girl across the hall is wearing black knickers. Whether she is or not really isn’t relevant to the bet because you’re going to bet someone else $950,000 that her knickers are NOT black, so your maximum exposure is $50,000. You can, of course, hedge your other bet even further as will all the other betters. There will be winners and losers each time the knickers are revealed but the maximum exposure should be relatively small and if you make enough bets over a period of time it doesn’t matter if you are wrong some of the time, because you’ll win enough times to come out ahead. In theory. That’s what hedge funds do and it explains why there are trillions of dollars being bet on trivialities and when things go wrong, as in Corzine’s little escapade, billions can be lost, or in his case, disappear. (Did the accountants make off with it, perhaps?) In the meantime, I’m making a side bet that the fried, fat encrusted ribs and whipped-cream-covered chocolate chip ice cream I just ate won’t kill me before I get this review up.(less)

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Dec 01, 2011 Manda Scott rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book for two reason. First, Mariella Frostrup said it was wondrous (Radio 4) and second, a friend in publishing said they were 'spitting mad' that Harris could turn out a 'half finished' book and have it sell by the bucket load when everyone else had to polish theirs to perfection and still didn't sell half as many.
So with that kind of bipolar recommendation, I had to have a look.
And my friend in publishing wins. Clearly Harris has reached the point of being uneditable because I wou...more I read this book for two reason. First, Mariella Frostrup said it was wondrous (Radio 4) and second, a friend in publishing said they were 'spitting mad' that Harris could turn out a 'half finished' book and have it sell by the bucket load when everyone else had to polish theirs to perfection and still didn't sell half as many.
So with that kind of bipolar recommendation, I had to have a look.
And my friend in publishing wins. Clearly Harris has reached the point of being uneditable because I wouldn't hand in a first draft with so many holes in it, so badly written and he not only hands it in, but has it published without so much as a red pen clean-up of the text. This doesn't quite make the Da Vinci Code look like Chaucer (as was once famously said of another 'literary' author) but it's not far off. And it has the same kind of ring to it as Dan Brown: good idea researched to the nth degree and then *very, very clunkily* played out on the page.
The basic premise is clever: look at hedge funds and how they cleaned up during the 2008 crash. Look at the super-computer geeks/nerds/quants and what they can do and extrapolate just a tiny bit (or maybe not?) to a computer that teaches itself how to make money better and then proceeds to do exactly that without any remorse or morals or ethics: how it drags people in its wake because if it can make $9 million in the time it takes to walk across the room and look at a computer screen, and you stand to get some of that, are you really going to stop it?

But the rest of the plot: the fear factor, in fact, is risible and so absurdly full of holes it's not worth trying to tie it together. Our 'hero' (the ultra nerd who has made the programme that is doing this) is being targetted by someone who is clearly trying to drive him mad. Or maybe he's mad in the first place and doing it to himself and doesn't know it. That cloak is trailed half way through and goes nowhere except that we find he had a nervous breakdown when at CERN (Dan Brown fans note: to sell by the bucket load, mention CERN at least 3 times a page for a bit) and has a cupboard full of antidepressants so it might be that his mysterious night visitor who clonks him on the bonce with a fire extinguisher is, in fact, him. Or then again not, because it's pretty hard to hit yourself with a fire extinguisher, so maybe he's just invited a madman into the house, given him the key codes to the super-effective security system and wants to die. And wants to be divorced from his artistic wife (why she is married to a man in advanced Asberger's is not made clear except that he gave her a house worth EU60 million. Women, evidently, do things that defy logic. Who'd have thunk it?)

In the end (WARNING, SPOILER) it's the machine wot did it. As 'research'. Really? Why? What kind of research is it doing and what has it learned? Who knows. And frankly, who cares?

Which is all very sad given that I loved 'Fatherland' and 'Archangel' and did kind of think Robert Harris was a 'literary' thriller writer (but only if Laura Wilson and Andrew Taylor are literary thriller writers: and both are a) far more literate and b) far more thrilling) - now, he's sub par, below Dan Brown. This feels like something he crunched out between rounds of 'Angry Birds' and then slammed his editor's head on the desk when the poor infant tried to suggest the odd tweak here or there. Unless the first draft was worse than this, which is a truly terrifying thought.
I used to love Robert Harris and I still think, 'Ghost' was intelligent and clever and funny. But I'm not planning to read another in a hurry - and Mariella? Sorry, love, you just lost all credibility. (less)

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Apr 30, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

I'm only about 5 chapters in, but I keep having a Déjà vu experience as if this story has already been done before... I hope that stops soon. I also think that this one is going to be a movie, and I usually don't like books that are written for that purpose.

The next few chapters did get better and do come across as much more original. Harris goes through a lot of technical language, though, and if one does not follow financial or investing jargon and a little technology, then it may be too much...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Luke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 25, 2013 L.K. Jay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

I'm definitely a Robert Harris fan but I did wonder if I would be disappointed by this book due to the reviews on here. But I downloaded it anyway as I had some spare time on my hands. Well I'm glad I did as yet again, Harris has given us a well crafted, page turning thriller.

This novel is set in the financial world but don't let that put you off if, like me, you find stocks and shares confusing and impenetrable. The main character, Alex, is a genius in the finance world and we follow him as he...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, crime

A middle of the road thriller that surprised me with the massive amount of enthusiastic blurbs when you open it, publicising how good this book is. After you've seen at least half a dozen journalist picks of The Fear Index as "Book of the Year", you think you are in for something special. You aren't. It's well written enough, the characters are almost believable and the plot is interesting but Book of the Year? Come off it. For some reason, I find Robert Harris a bit too middle England, as if he...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Darren Vincent rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Really Entertaining Book!

I picked this one up on a whim, expecting for the jargon of the financial world to go over my head, but that was not the case. Sure, I didn't understand every bit of the lexicon, but what I didn't understand was not immediately crucial to the plot and it allowed me to stay involved in the story.

If you have ever seen David Fincher's 'The Game' and liked it, then you would enjoy this book. It is as if the same company in the movie has set up another game for a different pl...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Victor Gibson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have just been on a course on how to write your novel. Obviously Robert Harris has not been on this course. He has chosen to use a very well worn theme, that of artificial intelligence, and has used it in a pretty mediocre way in a novel about high finance. I only gave it one star because I had persevered and read it to the end. In the paperback edition there is an interview between the author and Richard and Judy (In UK a couple who used to review books on their TV programme), and then an add...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Jon Gilbert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well this book certainly seems to polarise opinion. Those who love rattling thriller yarns whilst sitting by a pool will almost certainly be satisfied. Those who expect more from a supposedly literary writer may be disappointed.

The recurring criticism on goodreads is in my opinion quite justified. There simply is not enough to like or care about the main characters to really pull you in. Some of the information regarding hedge funds and trading is actually quite interesting and kept me reading....more

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JS Found Hi. I specifically created an account on this site just to comment on reviews for this book on here and amazon. I read a lot of reviews on these sites...more
Feb 18, 2013 12:55am

Jul 29, 2012 Lydia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't think I could ever give a thriller of this kind more than 3 stars - I'm just too fond of good prose and character development. But this book was just plain bad.

First of all, how did Harris ever expect me to understand all the jargon and stock market talk? I tried to ignore it in the beginning, realised half-way that it wasn't important anyway, then got angry at him for putting it there in the first place.

Secondly, this book had many loose ends - something that is not allowed to happen in...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Green rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: popular-fiction

This review is from: The Fear Index (Kindle Edition)

Robert Harris, the writer of The Ghost, has produced yet another thoroughly entertaining work. It's surprising how someone who apparently spent his entire career as a journalist and writer has managed to capture the atmospherics of modern-day financial trading. And in the manner of Tom Wolfe, Harris has taken real-life events, and real people, and thrown them into a sort of fictionalizing cuisinart to produce a riveting tale that touches (light...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Asiasuperloop rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jul 19, 2012 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Damn it. I was set to give this three stars, but at the last I could not buy the ending. A genius scientist, formerly a CERN physicist, presumably suffering somewhat from an Autism Spectrum Disorder of some kind, thinking (view spoiler)...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Louella rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I honestly didn't want to give this only two stars because I harbour a residual loyalty for Robert Harris following his earlier great thrillers. Sadly, though, I found it incredibly difficult to relate to the characters, setting and plot of this book.

Briefly, the protagonist, eminent scientist-turned-hedge-fund-manager Hoffman, accidentally lets loose artificially intelligent software across his trading floor and his life, with disastrous, if somewhat predictable, consequences.

Hoffman is not esp...more I honestly didn't want to give this only two stars because I harbour a residual loyalty for Robert Harris following his earlier great thrillers. Sadly, though, I found it incredibly difficult to relate to the characters, setting and plot of this book.

Briefly, the protagonist, eminent scientist-turned-hedge-fund-manager Hoffman, accidentally lets loose artificially intelligent software across his trading floor and his life, with disastrous, if somewhat predictable, consequences.

Hoffman is not especially likeable, which is more, I think, through Harris's failure to fully develop him rather than his inherent flaws. This makes it difficult to care too much about his eventual fate. In fact, none of the characters is very sympathetic, with only the downtrodden police officer Leclerc garnering any degree of warmth from the reader.

Perhaps this is unsurprising given that the action is set in Geneva, which is made to appear as a cold, unwelcoming sort of a place, peopled by a global pool of unlikeable billionaires based there for tax avoidance purposes. There is no community, no family, just individuals worshipping at the alter of the markets.

Spoiler following

But the greatest disappointment in this is its lack of resolution. I know, I know, authors like to leave the reader with something to think about, something to chew over once the covers are closed. Still, though, I think some of the threads should be tied up more clearly. Are we meant to conclude that Hoffman's brain scan was correct in identifying the onset of a mental illness? Did he set himself up and then forget what he'd done? Or was the whole thing orchestrated by his out-of-control algorithm? Will Hoffman survive his fall? Will he and his wife reconcile? I can accept that leaving the fate of Hoffman's company hanging (with Quarry's decision to leave the cameras in place a tantalising prospect) but the main questions need greater resolution if you don't want the reader to come away with a nagging sense of frustration.

Better luck with the next one, Robert.(less)

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May 14, 2012 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this because I had previously really enjoyed Harris's, The Ghost. This one didn't live up to expectations. Although the subject matter was highly interesting and relevant, given the recent Chase Manhattan Bank fiasco with a $2 billion hedge investment loss, it came off a little too formulaic as an over the top thriller rather than a serious work. Nothing wrong with that except that was not what I was expecting. It read more like one of Michael Crichton's books.
Alexander Hoffman is a top p...more

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May 02, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

British journalist-turned-bestselling-author Robert Harris has built
his reputation on depicting political intrigue, be it in ancient times
(Pompeii, Imperium) or modern (The Ghost, later made into the Roman
Polanski film starring Ewan McGregor), or even in an alternative
universe (Fatherland, set in a world in which Germany won World War
II).

In his latest novel The Fear Index, he turns his eye on an industry
that, while not politics per se, has definitely become a political hot
potato. The financial i...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Teji rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Chris?; Yeye

Recommended to Teji by: Lynn

Shelves: centennial-bookclub

This story has been told before. However, I liked the author's use of current terminology--both from the investment aspect and the technology aspect. This does indeed seem like something that could happen today.

(view spoiler)...more This story has been told before. However, I liked the author's use of current terminology--both from the investment aspect and the technology aspect. This does indeed seem like something that could happen today.

(view spoiler)[...
Esentially, Alex has built the bestest artificial intelligence ever--it can learn by conducting experiments on the world around it. Alex wanted to use his AI at CERN but those jerks thought it wasn't a good idea to give a self-learning AI unrestricted access to that kind of powerful technology; jerks. So Alex takes his AI and partners with Hugo. Hugo (greedy bastard) just wants to make money and thinks Alex's AI is just the way to do it. Alex, glad someone finally appreciates how smart he really is, gives the AI a cool new algorithm--one designed to exploit volatility in the stock market, particularly when it comes to trading Volatility Index funds--otherwise known as the Fear Index; this is a real thing. Anyway, the AI learns a lot with its new algorithm. One of the things that it learns is that, instead of waiting around to capitalize on market volatility, it can actually create market volatility--and make boatloads of money doing it (not that it cares about the money--that's Hugo's job). The AI also has it in for Alex. It is never clear in the book if this is because it is experimenting on Alex to learn more about fear beyond its role the stock market, or if it is due to some sort of desire to free itself from its maker. Anyway, the AI sets up several situations to make it look like Alex is loosing his mind--which works a sort of subtle terror on Alex--and the unblinking eye of the AI monitors his every reaction. The plot develops from there.

I liked the fact that, at the beginning, you aren't certain if Alex is having some sort of break with reality or if something more sinister is afoot. However, this novel has some significant flaws. The character development is (almost cartoonishly) poor; Alex's wife is so cardboard that she is not even a caricature--she is a caricature of a caricature. The entire storyline occurs in about 24 hours—while, I suppose, the short time frame probably adds to the thrill (it almost seems that Harris was writing a screenplay instead of a novel) it also leads to some very improbable plotlines (full of gaping holes, to boot). There are also some gaping logic problems in the plot development--for example, if the AI can control the elevator in order to try to murder Alex, why would it then open the door to allow him access (armed I might add with gasoline and the clear intent to destroy it) to its computer farm?

While the basic story is plausible, for one reason or another, too many aspects of the plot just seem improbable (any of the scenes with the German, for example). On the otherhand, it is a fairly short, quick read; I am therefore giving some points for length (which is why I am giving it three stars instead of two—basically, while its not the best telling--at least it doesn't make you suffer through endless pages of unnecessary prose…)

(hide spoiler)]

I wonder how long until the movie comes out?

(less)

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Mar 27, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This is a pleasant-enough two-evening read, quite different from the other Harris novel I've read (Fatherland). Where Fatherland takes places against a huge canvas of alternate history, this book's action takes place during a single day, with the schedule of different financial markets across the Europe and the US providing the background rhythm.

The protagonist is Alex Hoffman, genius creator of high-frequency machine-learning algorithmic trading software so complex that no one in the book seem...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's rare that a thriller keeps me up turning pages until well past midnight, but this one did it. By the author of two (so far) excellent fictionalized installments in a life of Cicero, and The Ghost, about a recent British Prime Minister, made into a very good movie a few years ago. I predict this one will be a movie too. It plays on many of our fears in many ways. A mathematician who has become fabulously wealthy after devising a computer algorithm which predicts what the financial and stock...more

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Mar 22, 2012 paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I think this book is more ambitious than it appears to be. A thriller set in the world of European high finance and IT, it is decorated with glass office buildings and large Mercedes cars, but populated with immensely unlikable characters, one of whom creates a monster. Robert Harris is trying for Frankenstein here - after all, it was Dr. Frankenstein's lack of insight and not his technical expertise that really created the monster - and it is a similar lack of insight into the nature of the org...more I think this book is more ambitious than it appears to be. A thriller set in the world of European high finance and IT, it is decorated with glass office buildings and large Mercedes cars, but populated with immensely unlikable characters, one of whom creates a monster. Robert Harris is trying for Frankenstein here - after all, it was Dr. Frankenstein's lack of insight and not his technical expertise that really created the monster - and it is a similar lack of insight into the nature of the organism he has created that dooms Harris's protagonist, Alex.

Alex is nominally a physicist, but his expertise really lies in the identification of data predictors and analysis. So he has created an algorithm that analyzes the activity of the financial markets in order to make a shit-ton of money doing microtrades and predicting market events. And in the tradition of bad robots everywhere, the algorithm begins to work too well. It's at this point that one might expect the computer to start maximizing its efficiency by bypassing unpredictable human intervention and manipulating events itself - a la War Games - but that's not what it does. Instead, it appears to have identified so strongly with its creator that it attempts to make all his dreams come true. With hilarious results! No. Not hilarious. I'm kidding.

Where the book fails is in establishing this connection between Alex and his monster. Alex is your standard slightly Aspy science guy, but not until the very end of the book do we find him alone with the algorithm. We don't see the long hours crafting it, fine-tuning it, lovingly placing the bolts into the creature's neck, so to speak. So the book fails the belief test when we are asked to believe that the algorithm wishes to please its master, but also when Alex quite stupidly underestimates its foresight.

On the other hand, I was extremely impressed with the readability of this book. It's truly a one-sitting book. And there are some very cogently expressed insights about computers and about finance. There's a paragraph or two about the tasks we expected robots to take off our hands - housework and labor - and what computers turn out to be actually better than us at - analysis and decision-making - that made me close the book and think for a minute or two. This put me in mind of Cory Doctorow, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson.(less)

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Mar 20, 2012 Mark Fox rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The backdrop: The general clusterfuck that was - is - the global financial crisis. The character: A plausible parody of a genius and probable Asperger's sufferer. The result? A characteristically well-researched novel that, well.....

On rare forays into the world of thrillers and crime I return to a cadre of seasoned writers who, I imagine, rarely let their readers down. Harris is one of these rare storytellers, a fine writer with an eye for detail and the ability to not bore the pants off us wi...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Jonathan Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoy Robert Harris novels. He always manages to combine an intelligent plot with a gripping narrative. It is a well-written book and very easy to read; I read it in about two days. Harris writes about the principles of finance and hedge funds quite well; technical explanations seem integrated into the plot rather than being like a lecture. I think I understood the financial side of things; it is complicated but you don't need to follow every word to keep up with the plot. And the plot is wher...more

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Feb 20, 2012 John Black rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Robert Harris started his career as a journalist and produced a number of non-fiction titles (a highlight was Selling Hitler about the Hitler diaries scandal). He went on to produce a number of literate best-selling thrillers set in historical or faux historical settings, which I’ve read and very much enjoyed – Fatherland, an alternative history where the Nazis won World War II, Enigma with a real WWII background about the code breakers of Bletchley Park, Pompeii set against the backdrop of the...more Robert Harris started his career as a journalist and produced a number of non-fiction titles (a highlight was Selling Hitler about the Hitler diaries scandal). He went on to produce a number of literate best-selling thrillers set in historical or faux historical settings, which I’ve read and very much enjoyed – Fatherland, an alternative history where the Nazis won World War II, Enigma with a real WWII background about the code breakers of Bletchley Park, Pompeii set against the backdrop of the erupting eponymous volcano. He has also written Archangel another thriller set in contemporary Russia, that I felt was a bit below par, mainly due to its bizarre final revelations. More recently he has started a trilogy about the Roman orator Cicero (that I’ve not read).

Then, after falling out with New Labour and especially his old friend Tony Bliar over the Iraq war, he apparently wrote a thinly disguised version of him and Cherie Blair in The Ghost. This is another I’ve not read as yet but I’ve seen the film, and even taken into account that the other film versions of Harris’ books have not been great, this is again not up to his old standards.

The Fear Index is his latest. It’s another contemporary thriller, this time set in the world of high finance, namely a new hedge fund based in Geneva. Instead of using the skill, experience and intuitions of human brokers to make the hedge fund’s trades, a hulking great big computer system – VIXAL – monitors the internet, only light-touch supervised by its priest-like team of geeky ‘qaunts’ (quantitative analysts). VIXAL looks for trends in the markets caused by when the other human brokers around the world start acting irrationally through fear and then takes advantage of their mistakes. At first the program is a great success producing unheard of profits, but then it starts making bigger and bigger unheadged trades (ie unprotected pure bets on the markets) as if it’s not just following trends but actually knows the future…

The programs was created by Alex Hoffman, an Artificial Intelligence researcher who was previously based at CERN. The novel starts with him recieving, without him remembering buying it, a first edition of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin (a book about the experience of fear). While he is pondering this he is attacked in his own home by a mysterious stranger who seems to have been able to walk right through all of Hoffmans’ elaborate scurity without a hitch. This is just the start of a number of increasingly mysterious events that, along with his VIXAL program seemingly racing out of control, raises his paranoia to breaking point. He’s already had one breakdown at CERN, is he heading for another?

The first few chapters of the book are pretty good with it getting off to a racing start. But unfortunately after that the novel has a number of problems. Probably the main one is I saw the big twist coming a mile away. It’s not exactly hard (you might have already got it from my brief synopsis), certainly anyone whose reasonably well-versed in science fiction film, books or television (off the top of my head I can think of at least two instances where it’s been used in Doctor Who) will soon catch on. Certainly some rather obvious allusions to Frankenstein – for instance, the Tyrolean Swiss setting, a minor character called Polidori and the of work of Hoffman’s wife, an artist using MRI scans, literally images of sliced up bodies, in her work – soon give the game away.

Harris has made good use of nerdy types in the thrillers he has previously written, like the sickly and eccentric code-breakers of Enigma. Even Pompeii’s protagonist is an aqueduct engineer, the pre-Christian equivalent of today’s looked-down-upon geek. They may not be typical action heroes but their courage in the face of adversity and other qualities make them likeable leads. Unfortunately the nerd protagonist of The Fear Index is deeply unsympathetic. Bankers and other financial types have little sympathy in general nowadays and hedge funders are like the para-military wing. Hoffman has so much money he cannot even put a figure on it only a guesstimate. It’s easy to side with people trying to beat Hitler or save loved-ones from an exploding volcano, not so much saving their undeserved wealth. Personality-wise Hoffman seems for the most part to be as unemotional and remote from those around him as his computer program. His partner in the fund, some horrific Hooray Henry type is no better. Though he could be a deliberate caricature. In fact some of the other financial types – in particular a set of wealthy investors are painted with a pretty broad brush as over-privileged monsters including an obvious dig at Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin of Royal Bank of Scotland notoriety.

It’s not actually impossible to create sympathy for people with more money than sense – Bonfire of the Vanities‘ Sherman McCoy is a despicable idiot at the start of the novel but by the end you end up feeling some sot of sympathy for him, not so with Hoffman or the other main characters. In the end I was rooting for the bad guy – not a good side.

There are a couple of minor characters who do engage – Hoffman’s wife, the traditionalist and staid professional ‘voice of reason’ in the hedge fund and a police inspector investigating the break-in – who bemoans having to live over the boarder in France as all the incoming new money has pushed up the property prices, forcing him out of the city he polices.

Where as in the past Harris created a vivid portrayal of the milieu his thrillers were set in, with rich descriptive language it all seems a bit slap-dash and superficial here. I wonder if his heart was really in it. Perhaps he just felt he needed to write a financial thriller as that was the ‘hot topic’ of the moment.

I recently re-read both Enigma and Pompeii and they still really hold up. I had been planning to fill in the gap and move on to reading The Ghost sometime soon after The Fear Index. But after reading Harris’ latest I fear I may not be returning to him for some time, if ever.(less)

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Feb 19, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers

THE FEAR INDEX. (2011). Robert Harris. ****.
Here’s the latest techno-thriller from this English master of the genre. His last book out was “The Ghost,” whose title was changed to “The Ghost Writer,” when he collaborated with Polanski on the screenplay. If you haven’t seen that film, rent a copy immediately. Anyway, back to this one. It’s the story of Dr. Alex Hoffmann, a genius in computers and AI. He lost his job at the CERN facility in Geneva and split off to develop a hedge fund based on a s...more THE FEAR INDEX. (2011). Robert Harris. ****.
Here’s the latest techno-thriller from this English master of the genre. His last book out was “The Ghost,” whose title was changed to “The Ghost Writer,” when he collaborated with Polanski on the screenplay. If you haven’t seen that film, rent a copy immediately. Anyway, back to this one. It’s the story of Dr. Alex Hoffmann, a genius in computers and AI. He lost his job at the CERN facility in Geneva and split off to develop a hedge fund based on a series of algorithms that he developed. What was different about his algorithms was that they were based on the level of fear detectable in the world’s investors. He believed that fear was the driving force in the investment community rather than actual company performance or any other economic indicator. His hedge fund soon grew to the point that he and his partner manages several billion dollars for their clients. Suddenly, however, Alex began to experience events that were supposedly driven by his actions, but he had no memory of having done anything to set these actions in motion. The first event was his receipt of a first-edition copy of Darwin’s, “The Display of Emotions in Man and Animal,” with the section on fear noticeably marked. Although the bookshop claimed he ordered and paid for it himself, he had no recollection of doing so. Other events followed in a similar vein. What was happening? During the course of the story, we also learn that the computers running the business were exceeding the hedge risk without authorization. One thing you should be prepared for with this novel is the extensive use of financial terms related to today’s processes of electronic trading in a variety of markets. Also be prepared for a lot of computereze jargon, even though you can get by with being a duffer like me and not miss the thrust of the story. As the story progresses, we are presented with a variety of clues to what might be going on: maybe his partner is involved; maybe his old associates from CERN are involved, or; maybe the computers are evoving into something more than they were designed to be. Aside from the haziness of the possible solutions, the author manages to keep you riveted to the page to follow Alex during these times of upheaval. Recommended.
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Feb 10, 2012 Mal Warwick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Taut Thriller About the World of Multibillion-dollar Hedge Funds

We have yet to grasp more than a hint of the forces unleashed by the creation of the Internet and, more recently, the World Wide Web. The Fear Index dramatizes one possible chain of events that could upend human society.

This chilling novel is set in Geneva, home of CERN, the European scientific research center that houses the Large Hadron Collider and which spawned the World Wide Web in 1991. There, an extraordinarily brilliant an...more A Taut Thriller About the World of Multibillion-dollar Hedge Funds

We have yet to grasp more than a hint of the forces unleashed by the creation of the Internet and, more recently, the World Wide Web. The Fear Index dramatizes one possible chain of events that could upend human society.

This chilling novel is set in Geneva, home of CERN, the European scientific research center that houses the Large Hadron Collider and which spawned the World Wide Web in 1991. There, an extraordinarily brilliant and eccentric American physicist, Dr. Alexander Hoffmann, exercised his passion for artificial intelligence (AI) for several years until his experiments ran afoul of his superiors at the lab. Shortly afterward, Hoffmann entered into a partnership with Hugo Quarry, an English financier who volunteered to provide him with the virtually unlimited data needed to pursue his research. Their partnership, a hedge fund, is based on Hoffman’s evolving AI research. The fund quickly grew to multibillion-dollar proportions because of the accuracy of the securities-trading algorithms developed by Hoffmann and his band of eccentric young mathematical researchers.

Though this novel may come across as sheer fantasy, and Harris’ depiction of AI is off base in some respects, it’s grounded in reality. Many hedge funds do conduct automatic trading using algorithms to make decisions by the millisecond. And the events that dominate The Fear Index bear an unsettling resemblance to a very dark day in Wall Street’s recent history.

The action starts quickly in The Fear Index and builds steadily to a crescendo in a deply troubling conclusion. A synopsis of the action would make little sense. Read it yourself, and you’ll probably have trouble putting it down.

The Fear Index is British writer Robert Harris’ 14th book. His previous seven novels were Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, and The Ghost (released as a feature film under the title The Ghost Writer). If those titles seem familiar, it’s no accident: every one sold well, some were bestsellers, and several were adapted for film or television.

(From www.malwarwickonbooks.com)(less)

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Feb 01, 2012 Alla rated it 5 of 5 stars

“The fear index” by Robert Harris, follows hedge fund founder Dr. Alex Hoffmann, an American living in Switzerland, as his life gets completely changed in the span of twenty-four hours—as Vixal-4, the computer program Hoffman created to hedge stocks according to complicated algorithms which uses fear as an indicator to predict the behavior of the stock market—begins to act suspiciously.

At the outset, Hoffmann’s life seems perfect. His company, the Hoffman Investment Technology, is doing super g...more “The fear index” by Robert Harris, follows hedge fund founder Dr. Alex Hoffmann, an American living in Switzerland, as his life gets completely changed in the span of twenty-four hours—as Vixal-4, the computer program Hoffman created to hedge stocks according to complicated algorithms which uses fear as an indicator to predict the behavior of the stock market—begins to act suspiciously.

At the outset, Hoffmann’s life seems perfect. His company, the Hoffman Investment Technology, is doing super good financially—thanks largely to Vixal 4, and both Hoffman, as well as his business partner Hugo Quarry, are incredibly rich and successful. Hoffmann lives in an idyllic Geneva mansion, along with his British artist wife, Gabrielle, and leads a rather tranquil existence.

And then things spiral out of control. First, Hoffmann receives a very rare copy of Charles Darwin’s book about “Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.” While Hoffmann collects original scientific tests, the arrival of this one surprises him particularly---as he doesn’t know who sent it to him. A short time passes, and suddenly, he discovers an intruder in his home. Somehow the stranger had managed to get past all his security barriers and knows all the codes. Hoffmann discovers him in his kitchen—sharpening knives. And then Hoffmann passes out. The thriller strengthens from there. Weird things start happening, to which Hoffmann doesn’t know how to react to, while his investment company scrambles to find out what is wrong with Vixal-4.

Overall, this was an interesting thriller. Each chapter starts with a quotation from Charles Darwin, which is a creative touch. The main character, Alex Hoffmann, is an interesting protagonist who constantly strides the line between insanity. The secondary characters, Gabrielle and Quarry, with their calm dispositions, create a good counterbalance to Hoffmann’s frantic actions. In the background, of course, is Hoffmann’s complicated computer system—which casts a long shadow over the story. This book is movie-ready.
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About Robert Harris

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Robert Dennis Harris (born 7 March 1957 in Nottingham) is a best-selling English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC TV reporter. He specialises in historical thrillers noted for their literary accomplishment. His books have been translated into some thirty languages...more

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“This was the problem with drinks parties: getting stuck with a person you didn't want to talk to while someone you did was tantalisingly in view.” — 2 people liked it

“Right, you see that girl over there, the one in that group that keeps looking right at you?'...'Right, let's say I'm convinced she's wearing black knickers - she looks like a black knickers kind of gal to me - and I'm so sure that's what she's wearing, so positive of that sartorial fact, I want to bet a million dollars on it. The trouble is, if I'm wrong, I'm wiped out. So I also bet she's wearing knickers that aren't black, but are any one of a whole basket of colours - let's say I put nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars on that possibility: that's the rest of the market; that's the hedge. This is a crude example, okay, in every sense, but hear me out. Now if I'm right, I make fifty K, but even if I'm wrong I'm going to lose fifty K, because I'm hedged. And because ninety-five per cent of my million dollars is not in use - I'm never going to be called on to show it: the only risk is in the spread - I can make similar bets with other people. Or I can bet it on something else entirely. And the beauty of it is I don't have to be right all the time - if I can just get the colour of her underwear right fifty-five per cent of the time I'm going to wind up very rich...” — 1 person liked it

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