(Jun/Jul 2012) The Fear Index - Robert Harris

[LynnB]

The Fear Index

Post your comments here.

[Sera]

I'll be picking this up this weekend from the library and listening to it on audio. I had read previously and didn't care for it, although I know that many readers have enjoyed it. I figure that I'll give Harris another try with this one. The subject matter sounds very interesting.

[LynnB]

I just got it at the library, too. I went for one of the other books and found the library didn't have it, but The Fear Index was sitting right there on the shelf, so I picked it up. I'll start it soon ... when I finish my current book.

[Sera]

Awesome, Lynn! I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

[LynnB]

I finished The Fear Index this morning. I have to start by saying this is not my normal type of book (thriller involving a heavy dose of computers and finance). I thought it was okay. A few places I got bogged down with the finances part of the story and I had the ending figured out early, so it wasn't much as a "thriller" to me. I haven't figured out stars yet, but I'll probably give it 2 or 3.

[Sera]

I'm disappointed, Lynn. GR folks seemed to put it in same rating range so we'll see. I am horrible about figuring things out in books.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I'm very disappointed with this book. It could have been MUCH better than this if the author had taken more of an interest in writing it than he obviously did. Instead, it was as if he had three days to fulfill a contract and it didn't matter if it made sense as long as it hit all of the usual canned knee-jerk response scenes (cue thriller chase music). So what if it makes no sense a genius scientist wouldn't think of the possibility of distributed cloud storage or a program escaping to the Internet, or back-up copies?

[Sera]

I just finished this one on audio. I had previously read Harris' Pompeii and didn't care for it. I thought that TFI was better. It held my interest and I liked the uniqueness of the finance meets technology plot. Unfortunately, it fell apart at the end for me. It was an interesting concept that just didn't pan out in the end. I still gave it 3 stars, but I would have a difficult time recommending it to people.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Disappointing. As far as the author went, it was informative. But it was like a Reader's Digest Condensed book, only it wasn't supposed to be. Plus I thought the characters were too stock footage.

[Sera]

Not one of my favorites either. I am thinking that I just don't gel with this author.