Rating: 
Summary: A Roller-Coaster Ride
Review: I always enjoy Joseph finder's thrillers - they keep me turning the pages late into the night. "Paranoia" was no exception.This time, Finder ventures into the world of corporate espionage in a high-tech business and makes the reader feel all the anxiety encountered by the unwitting and inexperienced spy, Adam Cassiday. At the beginning of the book, Adam is a low-level employee at Wyatt Telecom who gets into some deep trouble, and is then blackmailed by his powerful employer into becoming a coporate spy at a rival company. It is that or jail. He is given a total makeover and prepped by a behavioral psychologist to cope with the demands at Trion Systems. Adam then must pretend to have been a whiz kid at Wyatt after he is hired by Trion, totally based on his false credentials. He is constantly on edge, spending all of his time attempting to keep up with the demands of his new job while trying to spy for Wyatt. Complicating his life are his guilt about his dying father and the new, elaborate lifestyle which he has come to enjoy. His Porsche, his fancy apartment, and his beautiful new girlfriend are not enough to assauge his conscience, though, and he must eventually decide whether to continue the betrayal of his basic principles. I did find it hard to swallow that so many of the corporate people were such bad guys and gals and also that Adam would meet his "keepers" from Wyatt in such public places. But despite a few improbable situations and an abrupt ending that left me scratching my head and wondering if I had pages missing, I enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend it. I am certain that it will be a great success.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast Paced Corporate Thriller
Review: Paranoia is my first Finder book, and by the likes of it I'll be searching out his other titles. The story focuses on a clever but bored junior corporate type, Adam Cassidy. Like many, he's got a ho-hum job and is motivated to do just the minimum to skate by. His latent talent is utilized only to pull a minor scam on his high-tech employer (Wyatt) whereby he jiggers corporate budget accounts to buy a Malcolm Forbes style retirement party for one of his loading dock buds. Cute stunt, but a felony nonetheless. Knowing they could throw his twenty-something carcass in jail for a long time, his employers make him an offer he can't refuse. No prosecution if he agrees to become a corporate mole. He'll fulfill his end of the bargain by becoming employed by Wyatt's rival Trion Systems, the wonderkund company of the high tech world. Given a fake background attractive enough to entice any headhunter as well as a bag of high tech spy gizmos, Adam is soon snatched up by Trion. His espionage gets off to a good start, and he is able feed critical information to his handlers at Wyatt. Through a lucky break, he catches the eye of Trion's legendary founder Jock Goddard and gains access to the brain trust of his quarry. Here the moral dilemma develops (if a book about deceit and lying can have a moral dilemma!). Jock turns out to be the father Adam always wanted and the man he must betray to keep Wyatt from throwing him in jail. What's a scheming junior yuppie to do? This is an exciting book that is fast paced and very tightly written. Finder is very good at developing characters and at keeping the twists and turns coming and believable. There are surprises aplenty in this book as the reader is constantly challenged to wonder what in Adam's world is true and what is a careful deception. This corporate thriller reminded me somewhat of Michael Crichton's book "Disclosure" - intelligent suspense story focused in the high-tech corporate world. Finder is a good and engaging writer who knows how to keep a story moving along.
Rating:
Summary: Superb suspense
Review: One of the first hot thrillers of 2004 is this very clever suspense novel that takes place among the giants of the tech world. Adam Cassidy is an underacheiving employee of a major technological company. He is able to break into the company's charge account and is responsible for putting together a retirement party for a worker on the loading dock. When the upper echelon apprehend him, he is threatened with imprisonment unless he can steal the identity and the workings of a secret project at Trion, a competing tech company. Adam soon proves himself up to the task. However, as he gets closer to the secret he is more and more at risk while seriously questioning where his loyalties lie. The real fun is seeing how it will all turn out in the end.
Why is this book so successful? Joseph Finder takes his time in developing his main character, Adam Cassidy. We are slowly and carefully brought into Adam's entire world and feel great empathy for him. As Adam enters into Trion, we are with him every step of the way. We know everything he knows and only what he knows. This facilitates the increasing suspense. Further, pages fly as we wonder how Adam will get out of his predicament. Supporting characters are not nearly so well rounded yet they serve their function. Finally the conclusion has enough twists and surprises that the book is closed with a great feeling of satisfaction. The bottom line- a very good value for the entertainment dollar.
Rating:
Summary: Full of twists and turns
Review: Author Joseph Finder has written about espionage and international affairs for the New York Times and other newspapers, and is also a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. So it would stand to reason that he had seen it all in the realm of espionage. Yet, in the acknowledgements at the end of the book, he states that his research on his other novels "has taken me around the world and into places like KGB headquarters in Moscow, but nothing prepared me for how strange and fascinating I'd find the world of the American high-tech corporation." In Paranoia, he combines high-tech business with corporate security and espionage to create an exciting thriller that the reader will not soon forget. Adam Cassidy is the quintessential slacker who is tired of his job at Wyatt Telecom. He diverts corporate funds to throw a large retirement party for a loading dock employee, and he fully expects to be fired for it. But instead he is threatened with criminal charges if he does not agree to steal highly confidential product plans from Trion, a rival of Wyatt. With the help of the Wyatt's CEO, security chief, and executive coach, he is groomed for an executive job at Trion. He is taught to breach the tightest corporate security and turn over his findings. Thus begins his life as a corporate spy, where the game he is playing becomes more and more treacherous, his loyalties to his friends and employers are stretched to the limit, and he is caught in a web of deceit from which there seems to be no exit. The characters are well drawn and believable. Finder expertly depicts Adam's struggle with his conscience, his problems with his ailing father and best friend, his worries about being unmasked as a spy, and his fondness for his Trion CEO. This makes him a very sympathetic protagonist. The two corporate presidents are strongly contrasted: the Wyatt CEO is ruthless, aloof, and vain; the Trion CEO is paternal, benevolent, and demands honesty. Also included in the interesting cast of characters are a quirky staff engineer, some power-hungry middle managers, a jealous and competitive coworker, and a shady security chief with a penchant for violence. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and the final plot twist was a powerhouse. Not only is this a fast-paced thriller, but it provides fascinating facts about espionage and corporate security. Each section defines an espionage term, which is then exemplified in the story line. I was shocked to learn about how lax corporate security can be, permitting access to password-protected PCs and locked offices and file cabinets. Even badge readers and biometric scanners can be circumvented. This is definitely worth reading, but be sure to schedule it for when you have some spare time, because once you start it you will have trouble putting it down. Eileen Rieback
Rating:
Summary: The Real Deal
Review: If you have a life planned for the next seven hours of so, DO NOT pick up Joseph Finder's "Paranoia". This is truly a page-turner on caliber with Grisham's "The Firm" - a high adrenalin corporate thriller that is credible as much as it is pure entertainment. "Paranoia" is the story of Adam Cassidy, a 20-something slacker working in the fictional Wyatt Telecom. After impersonating a company officer and hacking the corporate network to stage a lavish retirement party for a loading dock worker, Cassidy is caught and is given a choice: criminal prosecution which will certainly lead to a long prison term, or work for Wyatt founder/CEO Nick Wyatt - loosely modeled, it seems, after Oracle's Larry Ellison - as a spy inside Wyatt arch rival Trion Systems. As a Trion employee, Cassidy for the first time is productive and flourishes in his new surroundings. He also begins to develop loyalties to the new company and to Trion's immensely popular folk-hero CEO, "Jock" Goddard. Inevitably, he is torn between the forced servitude/espionage of the arrogant and evil Wyatt and allegiance to father figure Goddard (sharing some characteristics with Intel's Andy Grove). The result is a well-paced thriller, with crisp dialog and a tight, unencumbered plot. Finder has researched his topic well, capturing the politics of corporate America and getting it right on the technological details as well. Expect some twists along the way, which Finder sets up with subtle hints leading to a clever and satisfying climax. I found Reed Arvin's recently released and critically acclaimed "The Last Goodbye" muddled and sloppy in comparison to "Paranoia". Not since "DaVinci Code" have I had such a nard time putting down a novel - "Paranoia" is worth your investment!
Rating:
Summary: Rasberry to the reviewer from St. Louis Mo !!!
Review: I really dislike some of the mean reviewers on this site. I think it is sad how they are continually allowed to slam some of these super writers. Shame on all of you jerks! Get a life and stop writing bogus reviews of these books...GEESH!!! Paranoia:A Novedl by pJoseph Finder is truly the book of fiction to beat this year! Buy it and judge for yourself what makes my man FINDER heads above most writers! He is hard to top that's for sure !!!
Rating:
Summary: Finder Wins a New Fan
Review: This was one of those buy-in-a-hurry-at-airport-bookstore situations. And from the first chapter, I knew I was going to like this book. It reminds me of early John Grisham novels where an ordinary guy gets pulled into situations over his head. This one has the best surprise endings of any book I've read in years. Gotta go...must get back to Amazon.com to order one of this writer's previous books. As for you, go ahead and try this one, you'll love it as beach weather soon arrives.
Rating:
Summary: Very well Written
Review: Adam Cassidy just wanted to let a retiring friend that worked on the docks of the same company that Adam worked for (in the cubicle-farms). He stole funds from his company, Wyatt Telecommunications, and used them to throw the party of the year. Corporate security finds out about this as quickly as you would expect (in the middle of it). They give him an option; prison for almost a lifetime (at their rough guess, when he is 81 years old or so) or spying on their largest competitor, Trion Systems, who they know has something huge up their sleeves. As you probably have already guessed, he chose spying. They trained him with weeks of grueling studying, field work, experience for high-tech gadgets (one, the Keyghost, a real gadget that attaches to the keyboard wire to the computer and records everything typed in that computer), etc. He is placed in a medium-level area, but his training quickly moves him through the ranks until he is actually the assistant to the President and CEO, Augustine "Jock" Goddard. Adam sneaks around the company gathering as much data as he can so he won't get squished by his real boss, Nick Wyatt, CEO of Wyatt Telecommunications. He soon comes to really feel that Jock is a father to him, and he falls in love with an employee in the project he is spying on, which makes his emotions get in the way of duty. I am probably one of the hardest book reviewer out of all the teenagers I know, I read a book critically... and very few would I even give a 4/5 star rating... but the top ones, that really keep you up at night wanting to know what's next, and get you thinking really deserve all the stars. Joseph Finder is definitely a writer on the same level with great novelists Michael Crichton, James F. David, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult to put down
Review: Paranoia is a fast-paced, enjoyable read from the very beginning. There is action, excitement, intrigue, and frequent plot twists. In the story itself, underachiever Adam Cassidy finds himself presented with an offer that he cannot refuse. Adam quickly is in the middle of a complicated industrial espionage scheme between two high-tech companies. As the story unfolds and the pressure increases, Adam is increasingly conflicted.....clearly in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. Although some of the action is predictable, confusion, uncertainty, and surprise is the general rule, thus driving the reader to want to read "just one more chapter." Character development is strong, adding significantly to the plot and subplots. Although not as good as Finder's "High Crimes," I strongly recommend Paranoia. It should prove to be an entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: Thin is In
Review: Although the sales certainly haven't lived up to the hype, I thought I'd try this one anyway because of the many 5-star reviews here on Amazon, which I've always found very helpful in the past. BIG mistake! This book is anorexic - where is the content? where is the joy of the written word? where is the interest, creativity, heart? Honestly - where is the author? I couldn't keep my mind in the story for wondering at the thinness of the craft and the blatantly formulaic plot and characters. It's one thing to want an easy, entertaining read for a plane flight. But there's more to a third reading of "Skymall" than there is to this one.
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