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The Fear Index

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The Fear Index

By: Robert Harris
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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About this listen

His name is carefully guarded from the general public but within the secretive inner circles of the ultra-rich Dr Alex Hoffmann is a legend – a visionary scientist whose computer software turns everything it touches into gold. Together with his partner, an investment banker, Hoffmann has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that tracks human emotions, enabling it to predict movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions.

But then in the early hours of the morning, while he lies asleep with his wife, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of their lakeside house. So begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him. His quest forces him to confront the deepest questions of what it is to be human. By the time night falls over Geneva, the financial markets will be in turmoil and Hoffmann's world – and ours – transformed forever.

©2011 Robert Harris (P)2011 Random House Audiobooks Action & Adventure Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting

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Critic reviews

"Robert Harris’s superb The Fear Index guaranteed to appeal to anyone who shudders when their laptop unaccountably fails to switch off." (Phillip Hensher Spectator)
"On the crime front, Robert Harris’s thriller The Fear Index combined a gripping narrative with intelligence and wild imagination." (Allan Massie Spectator)
"More modern thrills were provided by Robert Harris’s The Fear Index, a financial what-if melding artificial intelligence with hedge funds." (Justine Jordan Review, Saturday Guardian)
"The Fear Index sees Robert Harris step away from the traditional political environment of The Ghost and focus on where the real power lies: investment banking… the idea of sentient computers is always intoxicating and Harris undeniably uses it well." (Alexandra Heminsley Independent on Sunday)
"I loved Robert Harris’s thriller The Fear Index with its gripping and timely setting of collapsing financial markets and super intelligent computers." (Mariella Frostrup, Mail on Sunday)
"Taking an up-to-the-minute scenario, The Fear Index gives it the scary features of Mary Shelley’s 1818 shocker Frankenstein. Like Frankenstein, the novel is a tale of the catastrophic consequences of galvanising inanimate matter into uncontrollable life… Depicting all this with sardonic relish, Harris switches the high-tension techniques that give his thrillers their heart-pounding suspense into black comic mode. His tongue-in-cheek flesh-creeper is a virtuoso specimen." ( The Sunday Times)
“Mock-gothic variant on Frankenstein relates what happens when a computer programme goes rogue and ravages the money market. Suspense and satire combine in a book that is as up to the minute as a news flash.” ( The Sunday Times)
“Harris’s latest bestseller is a gripping, funny and timely tale of money – losing it or, more terrifyingly here, making too much of it… A high-speed plot, deft characterisation… and Harris even manages to explain what a hedge fund is.” ( The Lady)
"The Fear Index by Robert Harris is a great story set in the world of finance about markets being manipulated, how technology has changed financial markets and greed." ( Ed Milliband, New Statesman Books of the Year)
"[Robert Harris] keeps you gripped with the perfect mix of character, tension, information and background" ( Simon Reeve, S Magazine, Sunday Express)
"Harris is the master of the intelligent thriller…a gripping human drama steeped in paranoia and violence" ( Paul Pender, The Week, Scotland on Sunday)
Most relevant  
It's a good idea for a book for sure and in a way there aren't enough books like this - clever novels written by someone who knows how to write and who understands the world of hedge funds and what people get up to at the exotic murky end of the finance sector. lots of well observed and clever things. I can't put my finger on it but in the end something was missing so it falls short of great. Either it's in the way it's read out or more fundamentally in the depth of the characters.

interesting

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More relevant than ever and as always with Harris you care about the characters.

Very enjoyable.

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Gripped us to the end. Fast paced and so believable. Interesting to learn about the financial world which seems to be just an elaborate form of gambling.
This takes place over 24 hours and everything happens so fast, giving the adrenalin rush that must be felt by dealers buying and selling in the markets.

Thought provoking

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What made the experience of listening to The Fear Index the most enjoyable?

This was a great performance of a great story. Very well read.

What did you like best about this story?

I'm currently studying corporate finance as part of an MBA so the whole story tied in perfectly with some of the principles in that.

Have you listened to any of Christian Rodska’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I've not listened to any other performances but having enjoyed this, am likely to look for other performances in the future.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Do we control the markets, or do they control us?

Any additional comments?

Definitely an interesting slant on behavioural analysis.

Fairly plausible, the way things are going!

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This book was downloaded without much research but i have read and listened to several books by the author and I have to say i was not disappointed. kept me entertained from the start.

Hedging works how ???

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A clear warning against the runaway danger of AI ....or is it? A Frankenstein like tale of a creation outwitting it's creator.

The warning against AI.

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I've enjoyed a number of Robert Harris' books and in the Fear Index he hasn't lost his touch in creating an engaging thriller that keeps you listening. Hedge funds being no more than betting on the stock market is certainly a topical backdrop to an inventive, if at times implausible, story. Sci-fi meets crime fiction.

I could have done without the grafting on of supposed parallels with Darwin's evolutionary principles that often seemed forced.

Christian Rodska is an admirable narrator.

Engaging story: could do without the Darwin

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I read this because my friends and I had a discussion on Artificial Intelligence. All the radio reports on the financial situation were beyond me but this didn't spoil the tension. It was a bit far fetched (I hope!)but I was sorry it concluded when it did. I thought the narrator's voice was excellent and I wish I could hear him more often.

Is this the future?

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I'm a great robert harris fan with an interest in finance but was slightly disappointed in this book. good premise for a book but never quite hit the highs I was expecting

not his best

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Robert Harris has never failed me yet. This book is an addition to the long list of his titles that I have enjoyed. I was initially worried that it might be a bit 'dark' but it was just a thoroughly enjoyable read - and right up-to-date!

Another Great Book

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