The Fear Index
- Downloads：4215
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-16 09:51:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Robert Harris
- ISBN：1529156068
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
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。
Reviews
David
，
Easy reading thriller with good pace and a fairly believable plot line。 A good holiday book。
Nate Hendrix
，
Most of the novels by Harris， that I have started， I enjoyed。 This was ok， it has a good twist at the end。 I think I would be interested in reading a sequel， if he ever writes one。
Alice
，
Gripping， but ultimately a bit bewildering。I’m still not totally sure what happened and why。 Enjoyed reading it but didn’t come away feeling satisfied。
Natalia Gladysheva
，
В сюжете полно дыр и в целом， есть к чему придираться。 Но для меня Харрис пока идеальный пример автора， который сажает тебя на причудливо выглядящую карусель， которую поначалу дико интересно разглядывать。 А потом она с каждым кругом набирает скорость， всё сильнее и сильнее и ничего не остаётся， как только с восторгом вцепится в гриву бирюзовой лошади и ждать， куда тебя это приведет。 В этой книжке карусель предсказуемо возвращается к исходной точке， но это явно не лучший его роман。
Shaun
，
I find this author to be very readable - the plot flows， the characters are believable and the level of technical data is just right。 The plot itself verges on the ridiculous， but just about manages to walk the line。 I liked the ambiguity of the outcome - just enough to keep you wondering。
MR R J Gilmour
，
BrilliantA gripping story。 I have never read a Robert Harris book that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed， this is no exception！ BrilliantA gripping story。 I have never read a Robert Harris book that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed， this is no exception！ 。。。more
Diane Patterson
，
Not one of Harris’s best。 I guessed what was going on in the first scene。 The plot never flagged but it felt hackneyed。
Felicity Wills
，
StunningI couldn’t put this book down。 Right from the start you know that something is off， but you don’t know what。 You have to keep reading in order to find out。 Robert Harris transports you to a world of extreme wealth and high finance in Geneva， then slowly starts to dismantle Alex Hoffman’s life of luxury and security。
Sally Graham
，
2。5 at a push。There were some points where I enjoyed it but then there seemed to be lots of holes within the story and the technical jargon went a bit too far so I switched off。 I didn’t want to pick this book up and instead ended up scrolling on my phone。 Promising but kind of half finished and the ending was just pants。
Christopher
，
Just awful。 If this has been a first novel I think you could be more generous but wonder why an editor did not step in…but it is not there us no excuse for this flabby， boring novel bereft of decent plot or engaging rounded characters。
DLS
，
Actually pretty boring。
Wopke Postuma-Bijl
，
Uninteresting theme: the stock market。 Technically outdated。 Flat characters。 Beware of computers ;-）
Simon。 A。 Gallimore
，
I found this book a little， slow to start with， not that it detracted from my enjoyment。 I wasn't totally sure that I was going to enjoy it initially; however， it did pick up and I got to the point where I did not want to put it down。 I guessed three possible outcomes of the story。 One outcome was how it finished。 I had read fatherland by Robert Harris a long while ago and enjoyed that。 I don't know why I haven't read more of his novels， I will do now。This book was very well written， and I have I found this book a little， slow to start with， not that it detracted from my enjoyment。 I wasn't totally sure that I was going to enjoy it initially; however， it did pick up and I got to the point where I did not want to put it down。 I guessed three possible outcomes of the story。 One outcome was how it finished。 I had read fatherland by Robert Harris a long while ago and enjoyed that。 I don't know why I haven't read more of his novels， I will do now。This book was very well written， and I have just seen that it is a TV serial。 That does not surprise me。 。。。more
Pam Strachan
，
I don't know enough about AI to know if this book is terrifyingly plausible or completely unrealistic。 Not completely satisfying as a thriller， but not as forgettable as most thrillers。 I don't know enough about AI to know if this book is terrifyingly plausible or completely unrealistic。 Not completely satisfying as a thriller， but not as forgettable as most thrillers。 。。。more
Ayatollah Colm Meaney
，
Cosmopolis meets technothriller SPOILERS: you have to suspend some disbelief here， especially towards the end as it all goes a bit Skynet， but this was an entertaining read。
Martin Jones
，
The Fear Index is a 2011 novel by Robert Harris describing the fictional background to a stock market crash of 2010。 The book describes a scenario where a brilliant American physicist， Alex Hoffman， sacked from his job developing artificial intelligence for CERN starts a new career， stock market trading in Geneva。 Building on experience at CERN， he creates a computer system， called VIXAL， which looks for signs of global anxiety， via gloomy news reports， or any other internet source。 The system t The Fear Index is a 2011 novel by Robert Harris describing the fictional background to a stock market crash of 2010。 The book describes a scenario where a brilliant American physicist， Alex Hoffman， sacked from his job developing artificial intelligence for CERN starts a new career， stock market trading in Geneva。 Building on experience at CERN， he creates a computer system， called VIXAL， which looks for signs of global anxiety， via gloomy news reports， or any other internet source。 The system then uses this data to make predictions about what will happen to stock markets， buying and selling in them accordingly。 Hoffman’s computer system is designed to take the scary uncertainty out of trading。 VIXAL decides what to buy and sell without fear， or any other emotion。 It simply uses measures of anxiety to make logical judgements on what the stock market might do。 But this lack of feeling actually creates a frightening situation when the system achieves independent control of itself。 First VIXAL starts using the internet to try to engineer situations to provoke fear in Alex Hoffman - since it has been programmed to seek out this emotion。 The machine is a bit like a ruthless writer working to provoke scary thrills in a reader， since this is a good way to sell books。 Then the system sets up a stock market crash to generate massive profits from betting on a downturn。It is precisely because the system cannot experience emotion that its evolution to self awareness is so potentially threatening。 VIXAL does not know pity or empathy， and will simply act to protect its own interests。 The parallels with Frankenstein are interesting， another monster created on the shores of Lake Geneva。 Mary Shelley’s story is concerned with lost innocence。 Similarly， VIXAL， in a sense， is innocent。 It doesn’t mean any harm。 However， the lack of malice is part of an unfeeling nature which makes the machine all the more dangerous。In many ways this is a cerebral book， with its Frankenstein parallels， and quotes from Darwin and other thinkers introducing each chapter。 But the thoughtful elements are combined effectively with a sense of emotion。 Perhaps this is what novels at their best contribute - a view of the world which combines thought， and that other vital component in any understanding of human behaviour， emotion。 。。。more
jean m hannify
，
I didn’t enjoy this book。 The characters were not appealing in any way， and the plot was see-through early on， even to someone like myself who knows nothing about hedge funds and finance。 Shades of 2001， Alien and every other tale of a computer/AI taking over and destroying its “master”。The most interesting part was the German cannibal， and for a moment I thought things were going to get interesting。 Sadly not。 I see this has been made into a TV drama on Netflix， or some suchlike- maybe it plays I didn’t enjoy this book。 The characters were not appealing in any way， and the plot was see-through early on， even to someone like myself who knows nothing about hedge funds and finance。 Shades of 2001， Alien and every other tale of a computer/AI taking over and destroying its “master”。The most interesting part was the German cannibal， and for a moment I thought things were going to get interesting。 Sadly not。 I see this has been made into a TV drama on Netflix， or some suchlike- maybe it plays out better on the screen。 Not for me。 。。。more
Mary
，
Really？ What a waste of time
Annie
，
DNF bei 150 SeitenIch warte immer noch auf den Thrill bei diesem Thriller。 Es ist nämlich bisher nichts passiert， außer sehr fiktionales Börsengelabere und die Einführung unsympathischer Charaktere， die ich nicht näher kennenlernen will。 Der Börsenvisionär hat eins mit dem Feuerlöscher übergezogen bekommen， es überlebt und seit dem langweilt er sich durch Buch。 Bei "Angst" habe ich nur Angst， dass dieses Buch nicht endet。 DNF bei 150 SeitenIch warte immer noch auf den Thrill bei diesem Thriller。 Es ist nämlich bisher nichts passiert， außer sehr fiktionales Börsengelabere und die Einführung unsympathischer Charaktere， die ich nicht näher kennenlernen will。 Der Börsenvisionär hat eins mit dem Feuerlöscher übergezogen bekommen， es überlebt und seit dem langweilt er sich durch Buch。 Bei "Angst" habe ich nur Angst， dass dieses Buch nicht endet。 。。。more
Amanda Baker
，
There is something a little flat about the style BUT it is a cracking story and very of-our-time。 Well worth a read。 Lots of fun。
L
，
I read this book ten years ago and no longer remember it。
Deacon Tom F
，
This is a fast paced thriller that was a one day read for me。 I loved the technical aspects of stock trading because I have an MBA However， most would get confused。 This is a good one。
Chris Waterford
，
This was a rollicking good yarn that was engaging all the way。 I felt it helped to have a little knowledge of the stock market though much was explained in the book。8/10
Rhonda
，
Very fun escape into a new type of nightmare。 If you too are bored with worrying about covid， pick up this novel and get introduced into an entirely different world-ending disaster。 Awesome distraction。 Unless， of course， it's actually realistic and then 。 。 。 well， we're all doomed in a non-pandemic， non-Zombie way。 Reassuringly this book confirms that there is no hope so go ahead and do what you want today。 Very fun escape into a new type of nightmare。 If you too are bored with worrying about covid， pick up this novel and get introduced into an entirely different world-ending disaster。 Awesome distraction。 Unless， of course， it's actually realistic and then 。 。 。 well， we're all doomed in a non-pandemic， non-Zombie way。 Reassuringly this book confirms that there is no hope so go ahead and do what you want today。 。。。more
David Morgan
，
This book about the algorithm controlling the financial sector is still very timely - maybe prescient？ Well researched again and an excellent mystery thread with quite a surprising resolution。
Joy D
，
Financial thriller about a man who writes an algorithm that goes rogue。 It is set in Switzerland and involves a former CERN scientist with lots of brainpower but limited people skills。 It is a decent premise， but around the half-way point， it goes completely off the rails。 I like the artificial intelligence angle， inclusion of hedge funds， and analysis of fear as a driver of market behavior。 However， It has way too many plot holes， and the ending is unsatisfying。 The protagonist is supposed to b Financial thriller about a man who writes an algorithm that goes rogue。 It is set in Switzerland and involves a former CERN scientist with lots of brainpower but limited people skills。 It is a decent premise， but around the half-way point， it goes completely off the rails。 I like the artificial intelligence angle， inclusion of hedge funds， and analysis of fear as a driver of market behavior。 However， It has way too many plot holes， and the ending is unsatisfying。 The protagonist is supposed to be a genius， but， well， let’s just say his solution is something any first-year student of computer science could tell him would not work。 I have read several previous books by Harris， so this one is disappointing。 I can recommend: An Officer and a Spy， Pompeii， and Conclave。 。。。more
Mohammed Al
，
Thrilling book ， but the writer show his fear of A。I 。
Alissa
，
Very fun。 Robert Harris never， ever disappoints， especially as an audiobook。
Phairlever Pierson
，
Quite a few words that do nothing， as usual。 Like a guy who takes a piece of food and slides it into his mouth。 I don't fucking care。 And there are thirty plus pages of description that could have been excised。 God， so much freaking description of places and things and people。 Endless。 Other than this inexplicable boredom， it's a good story with good characters and a chilling ending。 Quite a few words that do nothing， as usual。 Like a guy who takes a piece of food and slides it into his mouth。 I don't fucking care。 And there are thirty plus pages of description that could have been excised。 God， so much freaking description of places and things and people。 Endless。 Other than this inexplicable boredom， it's a good story with good characters and a chilling ending。 。。。more
Vera Saunders
，
I'm just enjoying listening to one of Robert Harris' books at the moment at decided I should highlight his brilliant writing。What I have found from his books are that， whilst I don't expect to like the books， I always do。Listened on audio to this one a long time ago， and just looking up my personal list of books to see how I felt about it at the time。 This is one that 'got my goat'， as I am not very tolerant of certain theories accepted as truthI wrote: some suspense too much rubbish from Darwin I'm just enjoying listening to one of Robert Harris' books at the moment at decided I should highlight his brilliant writing。What I have found from his books are that， whilst I don't expect to like the books， I always do。Listened on audio to this one a long time ago， and just looking up my personal list of books to see how I felt about it at the time。 This is one that 'got my goat'， as I am not very tolerant of certain theories accepted as truthI wrote: some suspense too much rubbish from Darwin and ridiculous female caprice 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Fear Index
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Fear Index&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Fear Index&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0