Paranoia 158
| Paranoia | |
| author | Joseph Finder |
| pages | 432 |
| publisher | St. Martin's |
| rating | 9 |
| reviewer | Peter Wayner |
| ISBN | 0312319142 |
| summary | A fast-paced thriller about a young router engineer who is |
It may be hard for anyone who's endured the economic downturn in the computer industry and the ascendance of the DRM lawyers to see the romance of tech, but the computer business continues to be one of the most exciting and explosive corners of the zeitgeist. Fortunes are made and lost in days; products depend upon the synergy of the hackers and the marketeers; and everything turns on the information passed along in IMs, emails and whispers. This world is a rich backdrop for the new thriller by Joe Finder, the spy novelist who set his previous books in the world of the three-letter agencies and the military justice system. This time he's plumbing the depths of corporate politics and industrial espionage with his story of a company racing to deliver the next big Palm Pilot replacement.
The thriller is a reminder that electronic gizmos continue to be a tumultuous and exciting domain where creative people with whip-smart
minds can change the company's destiny. I suppose it would be possible to set a similar novel in, say, the auto industry, but it just wouldn't
have the same resonance. No engineer, designer, or bright employee is going to make much of a difference at Ford or General Motors. Much of
their future is dictated by the cost
of
medical
care
for the retired workers and the problems are not about cars qua cars. Producing great cars would be nice, but it's not the main challenge for
the companies. At least in Silicon Valley, there can be some direct link between action and reaction. Newton's law still holds.
The beginning of the book is an irresistable hook. Who wouldn't want to throw a party on the corporation's dime?
Many of the elements of Silicon Valley's mythology appear here. There's a boss who keeps stable of young, blonde administrative assistants around. There's another boss who works out of the same size cubicle as everyone else. Secret research labs to develop the next generation of gadgets are locked away in a perimeter guarded by other gadgets that scan eyeballs or examine fingerprints. All of the characters drive slick cars and worry about the quality of their real estate.
As the novel unfolds, Cassidy's allegiance and soul is pulled in a tug-of-war. Who deserves the information he's gathering? Is there right and wrong in corporate espionage? Which company deserves to win?
The novel is similar in tone and structure to John Grisham's The Firm or Michael Crichton's Disclosure, two other novels that mused about the nature of the modern workplace. Finder's characters are
richer and better drawn, at least than Grisham's earlier works. The search for the next gadget isn't really the point of Cassidy journey in
the labyrinth, it's just an excuse to work through the modern world of corporations and the way they organize people and their creations. The
book is not filled with the neo-Marxist questioning of the capitalist
system that comes from places like the Baffler , but there are
similar themes that echo in the cubicle bins.
This is, of course, because it's a thriller, not some postmodern master's
degree thesis. The twists are well-handled, the pacing is good, and the
ending may open the doors to debates. I spent some time wondering
whether it was the best ending on many different levels. That kind of
resolution is something that doesn't come from standard thrillers by
people like Tom Clancy or James Paterson. In those books, the author's
point of view is as solid and fixed as, say, those opinion shows on Fox
TV. Someone's always dying or trying to destroy America in those books
and stopping the murder or saving the country is the only possible resolution.
Finder's earlier books delved into the mirror world of espionage and
the realm of three-letter agencies. Moscow
Club focused on a coup and an assassination in Soviet Russia. Extraordinary Powers explored the
possibility that various spy agencies could tap clairvoyance and other
extra-sensory powers-- a premise that David
Moorhouse later confirmed was very real in his book, Psychic Warrior . The world of
covert assassination in Latin America took center stage in High Crimes.
The tone is also much lighter than Finder's early books, with their heavy body count. After watching the movie version of High Crimes, I kept wishing someone would write a nice comedy for Ashley Judd. She deserved it, after the blood and betrayal. This time, death isn't part
of the stakes, and this leaves Finder a bit more room to maneuver and
play people and allegiances off each other. Cutting down on the raw
danger gives him the freedom to build suspense with action and
character. The book is really a light-hearted romp through a
semi-mythical world where fortunes are huge, dreams are made real
through engineering, and everyone drives a slick car. I say "semi-mythical," because despite the downturn, there's still plenty of
money in some corners of technology. Will it always be there? Well,
that's not the point of this book.
It's worth commending Finder for his insight into the technology world.
His background is more in Russian literature and spy things, not in programming. Yet, the tech world he creates is as true to life in
Silicon Valley as books like Po Bronson's The First 10 Million is the Hardest
and Douglas Coupland's Microserfs. Technology is a wonderful domain for a novelist to work within, and we should be glad he came in from the cold to check it out.
Peter Wayner is the author of 13 thrilling technical books on topics like building secure databases ( Translucent Databases ), steganography ( Disappearing Cryptography ), and stopping cheating ( Policing Online Games ). You can purchase Paranoia from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Not sure if this is going to make any sense... (Score:5, Informative)
Or, if this doesn't interest you (Score:5, Informative)
Funny you mention automakers... (Score:2, Informative)
Apparently, a "tourist" glimpsed a model of something, snapped a couple quick shots, and was later sold to the competition. The estimated losses were in the millions.
A "thumbs up" review! (Score:-1, Informative)
I hate to keep the Crichton comparison running, as it is never fair to an up-and-coming writer to be compared to an already-successful one, but Finder's novel also shares another characteristic that Crichton's work has always had in spades: it is timely. Corporate crime is at an all-time high in America, and this book tackles the issue. Finder explores the underhanded actions and questionable motives that drive much of the modern business world. How closely it parallels reality is debatable, but the reader's credulity is not stretched past the breaking point - and it is entertaining. Early critical raves that Finder has somehow "rewritten the rules for the contemporary thriller" are premature, but the book does feature several fresh aspects that are a breath of much-needed air for readers disgusted with the sorry state of the contemporary novel. Chief among these is Paranoia's unique protagonist. Far from a hero, perhaps even an anti-hero, Paranoia's Adam Cassidy is something the likes of which we patient readers have not seen in quite some time. Though the book is narrated in the first-person, here we have a story in which the protagonist's main concern is not, essentially, the book's main concern - a fact that the novel's denouement makes abundantly clear.
And there we get to the book's one real weakness: its ending, which is far too inconclusive. A sequel to the book is not really possible, given the aforementioned denouement; taking this into context, the actual ending of the book is far too sudden and abrupt. It casts something of a negative light onto what is otherwise a quite enjoyable, very readable, and mostly successful contemporary thriller.
In summary, all fans of contemporary thrillers should line up to buy this; fans of Crichton and the like in particular should apply. Finder is a rising star in contemporary writing, sure to become very successful and popular in ensuing years. Paranoia should help him.
Re:Funny you mention automakers... (Score:3, Informative)
Of course this sucks, since now I need to go get a non-camera phone. I think a lot of companies will follow suit.
Re:A "thumbs up" review! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Hype (Score:1, Informative)
Here you go. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Or, if this doesn't interest you (Score:3, Informative)
Problem is: Unless you have a group of players who has a very very strange sense of humour (read like mine) they'll hate it. Nothing is as it should be and with the right people it is a lot of fun.
Re:Unbelievable plot (Score:3, Informative)
The charges are more numerous too, involving hacking (of financial data), counterfeiting (receipts and stuff) and Wyatt was a friend of the DA or whoever it was and could get the book thrown at Cassidy, for these and a number of other federal offences.
What I'm trying to say is read the book before you dismiss the story as 'semi-believable' There is a lot more to it that the brief plot outline above.
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Informative)