“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.