The Fear Index

The Fear Index could scarcely be more of the moment ― The Times

Populist fiction at its best. ― Spectator

I would recommend The Fear Index. The writing is as elegant as ever. -- Lionel Barber ― Financial Times

Harris writes with a deceptively languid elegance, so that the novel straddles not only the crime and sci-fi genres but also that of literary fiction. A satisfying read on a number of levels, it is strongest as a character study of a man who discovers, pace Hemingway, the true meaning of the phrase "grace under pressure". ― Irish Times

Robert Harris's eighth novel is a timely blockbuster of a thriller that takes the global financial meltdown as its backdrop, with nods to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein . . . An assuredly intelligent and deftly-paced novel, the fear of the protagonist is increasingly palpable as he's buffeted by genuinely unexpected spine-chilling twists. Perhaps the greatest thriller writer around, Harris has delivered his best work yet. A modern classic. ― Irish Examiner

VIXAL-4 succeeds partly by keeping a close eye on the news and clearly so does Harris: the plot ingeniously combines a number of recent phenomena (financial, political, online, artistic) covered by journalism . . . Grippingly dramatising the workings of the economy (I understood for the first time how hedge funds work), The Fear Index is in another sense, an economic novel, not merely in its condensed time-scheme but its sparing wordage. ― Guardian

The Fear Index is a frightening book, of course, as, with its title, it intends. Harris has an excellent sense of pace, and understands as much about fear in literature as Hoffman does in markets. ― Telegraph

There are moments when this book feels so up to date it could have been written next week . . . Not only is Harris a brilliant yarn spinner he also makes the mysteries of what hedge funds do and what short-selling means entirely understandable and spookily exciting. ― Express

Robert Harris is the author of fourteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep and V2. Several of his books have been filmed, including The Ghost, which was directed by Roman Polanski. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.