Paranoia : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: "Data at Rest... Stays at Rest?"
Review: Pros: Great portraiture, novel is multi-layered in its ethics, makes you question what you value.
Cons: Would've preferred a messier ending and more closure for Antwoine.



Full Review:

Paranoia, $4.88 US, penned by New York Times bestselling writer Joseph Finder, is told in ninety-three brisk chapters organized under nine key principles of espionage. The author is mainly known for his previous novel High Crimes, and Paranoia - his sixth book - should garner him an even wider audience. Finder's website reveals that Paranoia is also headed toward being a film, and that Michael Tolkin has already penned the screenplay, which I consider to be good news. My hope is that Carl Franklin is allowed to direct.

Adam Cassidy is our protagonist, in Paranoia and he's gotten himself into quite a pickle. The Wyatt Telecom junior staffer has pulled a "Class A" prank, diverting cash from the executive slush fund to throw a party for his loading dock pals, but the whole incident backfires. What he initially thought a harmless bit of mischief has set the company back 75K. The CEO of Wyatt Telecom wants his money back immediately! Nicholas Wyatt would rather see the embezzler's head on a spear, but after a carefully guided conversation with the young man - and two of Wyatt's closest advisors - Nick makes Adam an offer he can't refuse.

Rather than face prison, Cassidy agrees to take on a project for Wyatt. Adam will infiltrate Trion Systems - Wyatt Telecom's chief competitor. Nicholas will remake Cassidy into a hotshot Wyatt Telecom executive, responsible for a major success at Wyatt - with the credit report, credentials, qualifications, and six-figure salary to match. Wyatt is anxious for details about the competition. Cassidy will funnel info to Wyatt. Adam will penetrate Trion's Inner Circle, be a spy, a mole. Nicholas demands full access to Trion's intellectual property. Adam will perform the corporate espionage. He's afraid to take the risk, but his back is against the wall. When Wyatt threatens him with prosecution, Adam will do anything to avoid it. Even if it's immoral.

After training with a team of engineers from Wyatt, and learning the fundamentals of espionage from Wyatt Telecom's security honcho Arnold Meacham, Cassidy is then sent to train with Judith Bolton, an "executive coach." Bolton is in her forties, has a fit body, perfect apparel, long coppery hair, and a fading attractiveness. She looks hard, to Adam, but they form a working bond. She coaches him on handshakes, interviewing, mirroring techniques, and punctuality. She arranges a leased Audi for Adam, buys him Armani and Zegna suits, and approves of his newly salon-cut hair. She nixes his aftershave, arranges his cover, cultures him, and puts a stop to Cassidy's drinking and smoking. In short - she makes him the perfect job candidate.

Not everything in Adam's life improves immediately however. He still lives in a cruddy little apartment in San Jose, until he can get plugged in at Trion. He still has to arrange for a home healthcare worker, Antwoine, to look after his widowed and bad-tempered father, Francis X. Cassidy. His Pop has a bad case of emphysema, a habit of hiding his smokes, and lives in a similar crappy apartment across town. Adam still hangs out with his same old friends, especially the handsome goateed Seth Marcus, who works as a slacker law clerk by day - and as a slacker bartender at night. But Adam will have to let go of these old connections soon, or he'll blow his new cover.

Of course - he lands the big prestige job at Trion Systems. Then their ruse begins.

I don't want to disclose much more beyond this, but I can tell you from personal experience that Finder has done an excellent job of conveying the internal machinations of an American high-tech company. It's almost as if he's been a fly on the corporate wall, mentally photographing the lurid visual undertones. As if he's been privy to the `techno babble' spoken in muted beige corridors, where everyone discussing rumors wears either a lanyard or a badge.

Despite the controversial ending, I recommend this Silicon Valley novel. It didn't have any dull spots or ring any false notes.



The Book:
Paranoia
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover 2004
St. Martin's Paperbacks
January 2005

Pages:
450 Pages

Rating:
5 Stars

Chapters:
93 Numbered Chapters

If You Like Paranoia, You Might Enjoy:
High Crimes
The Zero Hour
Extraordinary Powers
or
Corporate Espionage: What It Is, Why It's Happening in Your Company, What You Must Do
Spooked: Espionage in Corporate America
The Spy's Guide: Office Espionage

Visit the Official Websites:
www.josephfinder.com
www.stmartins.com

Recommended
Yes

Rating:
Summary: Time For A Change?
Review: It's interesting to me what the top Amazon reviewers have written about this book. They seem to know just what to look for to make certain the writer has been a good boy and followed all the rules. Maybe that's one of the reasons that publishing is not doing very well. Finder's book is a formula thriller. It manages to check off each and ever requirement for a formula thriller, and it got published and promoted. However, it failed in sales. Why? Because it has no basic human truth, no creativity, is mired in cliches, doesn't move the reader, who never cares about the characters, and the plot accomplishes nothing. Bottom line--it's boring.

I couldn't read more than a hundred pages before I started to skim. This disappointed me. I wanted to be entertained. I wanted to read something that kept me interested, but everything in this book was clearly only designed to fit, to duplicate, to please dull minds, so that I lost interest. It's fine to try and excuse the bad writing as being Adam's POV, but in the end, it's just an excuse. Even when Adam makes his gesture, it falls flat, because it's a device to make us ordinary people like him. Why is he slacker? (And what major corporation is going to go through all that trouble over a slacker?) Again, only so us ordinary people can identify. I didn't. I just felt manipulated and annoyed that I'd spent money on this book. Believe me, when an author has let me down, I won't be fooled again. Maybe it's just me, but isn't it time for something fresh? Anyone know any books that have some heart, were the author has some integrity, and some guts to not just perform the same boring formula writing? Finder isn't the problem. The fact that books like this are getting published is. Oh, and as far as this big twist ending, a dead toad would have seen that crawling.

Rating:
Summary: Whoa.
Review: I was shocked when I started reading this book. I wasn't expecting brilliant literature out of a crime novel, but I thought for the first several pages that the author was starting the book in farce mode, making fun of the genre, and I was laughing along with him (or so I thought) at how absurdly poor the writing was, cliches, cheap voice, hollow characters, etc. But then I realized it was actually the book. Whoa. Kind of made my skin crawl. Then I continued in pure fascination as the monstrosity unfolded. I actually got worried about myself wondering if I was indulging some type of masochistic behavior so I stopped. Was it just me?

Rating:
Summary: Bravisimo!! Punk'd Corporate America Style!
Review: The suprise ending is a stroke of genius. I half expected Ashton Kutcher to appear out of the shadows and tell the main character that he had been punked. I won't give the ending away, but once you read it you will know what I mean. This should definitely be made into a movie. If you like corporate espionage thrillers, then you will LOVE this!

Rating:
Summary: suspense thriller
Review: This book grab's hold of you right from the start, and does not let go.
Corporate shananigan's abound!