The term 'financial thriller' is more likely to cause bewilderment than excitement, but for Robert Harris' The Fear Index, this unlikely combination serves to create a suspense-filled novel that more than lives up to both the title and Harris' reputation. The novel is based on 6th May 2010, which is significant as the day of both the British General Election and America's Flash Crash, in which the stock market experienced the biggest crash in its history. The uncertainty and instability brought about by these two events is central to the plot, as Dr Alex Hoffman, CERN physicist turned hedge fund manager and billionaire, increasingly feels like he is losing his mind. Before the novel commences, Hoffman has developed a learning algorithm called VIXAL-4 that predicts the stock market using not only past data, but also data about how people react when they experience fear, making it the most advanced algorithm in the industry. May 6th also marks the launch date of VIXAL-4, but a series of unusual events start unravelling over the day, starting with someone breaking into Hoffman's highly secure home and assaulting him and escalating quickly thereon in. Yet the true mystery of the novel begins when it is revealed that Alex appears to be ordering all of the unpleasant goings-on in his life, with emails sent from his account that he has no memory or record of, and a bank account in his name that he knows nothing about. The only two options then play on he reader's mind for the rest of the novel: either Alex is sabotaging himself and then forgetting it, suffering from a rare form of schizophrenia, or VIXAL-4 has developed beyond anyone's wildest dreams and is attempting to sabotage its creator.
Harris handles the complexity of the plot incredibly, and explains technical terms from the worlds of finance and science in a straight forward manner, which adds a great deal of credibility to the novel, as the reader feels completely immersed in Hoffman's world. The epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter add an extra depth to the novel, as they are often taken from Darwin's works, focusing on his theories on fear and survival, both of which are central to the novel. The only issue with the epigraphs is later on in the novel, when the plot is so tightly strung that you don't want to pause for even a second to read them. However, resisting the temptation to skip them is well worth it by the foresight and knowledge that they give the reader.
Although The Fear Index is by no means a literary masterpiece, Harris is certainly a master of suspense, as the novel grips you from beginning to end. Unsatisfied with simply gripping his readers for the duration of the novel, Harris continues the suspense well beyond the final pages of the novel, as he ends inconclusively, leaving his readers to draw their own conclusions about Alex and VIXAL-4. Considering the building suspense in the novel, I expected Harris to provide some answers at the end, but instead he left a multitude of possibilities open. Now just one question remains: Can we have a sequel, please?
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