The Fear Index by Robert Harris
With regret, this is the least satisfactory of the Robert Harris thrillers I have read. Set in Geneva and based on the financial markets’ “flash crash” in May 2010, Harris’s usual comprehensive research allows him to write in detail about how ultra-fast algorithmic trading can destabilise global markets. His central character is the mathematical brains behind a spectacularly successful hedge fund, but inevitably things start to go wrong.
However, unlike the other books, I felt that Harris was describing events from behind a slightly clouded screen; it felt to me that the author was detached from the world he describes rather than being immersed in it. But the problem I could not get over was what I think is a fundamental flaw in the book. I can’t say more without spoilers, so only read what follows if you’ve read the book, or don’t care!
The action takes place within a single day. A series of bizarre and threatening events pursue the main character and he becomes more and more scared and bewildered by what is happening to him. It becomes clear that the ‘villain’ is the algorithm he himself has built and the computers it runs on. What Harris doesn’t explain is why the algorithm should be doing this, and in such a complicated manner.
The first threat, involving a rare book sent to him without him having ordered it, has the bookseller’s bookmark inserted at a page illustrating Fear, but we learn that the order was placed by the algorithm/computer over the internet; no instructions were given about the bookmark, and there is no way the computer/algorithm could have physically inserted the bookmark.
Other threats follow, clearly attempts on his life. But the reason is never explained, and I can’t help thinking that if a ‘living’, intelligent computer (as revealed in the final pages) wanted to kill its creator it could find a much simpler and more reliable way. My own suggestion would be to have it hack into the electronic circuits of the victim’s car and cause a fatal and untraceable ‘accident’.
Perhaps I’m wrong and I missed something in the story, but I think not.
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