Paranoia: A Novel
Paranoia: A Novel book cover

Paranoia: A Novel

Paperback – July 30, 2013

by
Price
$11.92
Format
Paperback
Pages
480
Publisher
St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1250035271
Dimensions
6.1 x 1.27 x 8.16 inches
Weight
14.4 ounces

Description

“The first jet-propelled thriller of 2004... Go along for the ride... twisting, stealthily plotted.” ―Janet Maslin, The New York Times “This year's first contender for Page Turner of the Year is Joseph Finder's Paranoia ... It's as if he has taken Sun Tzu's Art of War as a blueprint to concoct a terrific tale... It's riveting stuff... The corporate thriller just got an upgrade.” ― USA Today “Masterfully told and thoroughly engrossing...” ― People Magazine “Here it is, readers, the perfect thriller for the post-Enron/Martha Stewart era.” ― New Orleans Times-Picayune “Provides more chills than any ghoul with a chain saw.” ― Entertainment Weekly (A-) “This novel is the real deal: a thriller that actually will keep readers up way past their bedtimes. . . . Relentless suspense . . . A first-rate surprise ending packs a wallop . . . The most entertaining thriller of 2004.” ― Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “Don't start this book at 8:00 p.m. or you'll be up all night. Finder's latest is a fun read with a hip narrator, an engaging story set in a world rarely seen in thrillers, and great suspense. Highly recommended.” ―Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, Library Journal (Starred Review “One of those all-too-rare but absolutely unforgettable books that rewrites the rules for contemporary thrillers. Finder's loyal fans have long known what a terrific writer he is, but with Paranoia he has written what is destined to be a classic of suspense fiction. Paranoia is a knock-out - a fresh, original and compelling novel that is impossible to put down.” ―Daniel Silva, author of The Confessor “The real thing - a sleek, hip and fast-paced thriller that gets its hooks in you from the very first page. It's a terrific combination of nail-biting suspense, great characters with depth and real heart, and a fresh, original voice.” ― Lisa Scottoline, author of Dead Ringer “ Paranoia is an incredibly clever novel. I love Joseph Finder's writing, and this time, he surpasses himself with some of the best dialogue and characterizations I've read in a long time. If there's such a thing as an instant classic, this is it.” ―Nelson DeMille, author of Up Country “Crisp, hard, funny, and smart.” ―Robert B. Parker, author of Back Story “Oh yeah, this is good, really good. Sharp, wicked, funny, exciting. I've been saying for years that the best, most imaginative writing is being done in the genres of crime and suspense. Joseph Finder's Paranoia is proof positive.” ―Andrew Klavan, author of True Crimes “Combines a fresh voice, terrific characters, and high-octane suspense. Finder catapults himself into the front ranks of contemporary thriller writers.” ―Harlan Coben, author of No Second Chance “The archetype of the thriller in its contemporary form... The novel's great strength is its fetishistic attention to the idioms and buzzwords of the tech business... late in the book we discover how completely we have been fooled, and with some real escapist pleasure.” ― New Yorker “Provides more chills than any ghoul with a chain saw.” ― Entertainment Weekly “Edge of your seat action... You'll think twice about who's watching you at work!” ― Washington Post “People are not who or what they seem. ...The story is all about deception, and Finder has done his homework. ... "Paranoia" is a lot of flash and dazzle, but Finder also has a good ear for dialogue.... it is a lot of fun. And there's nothing wrong with that.” ― Denver Post (1/18/04) Joseph Finder is the author of several New York Times bestselling thrillers, including Buried Secrets , High Crimes , Paranoia and the first Nick Heller novel, Vanished . Killer Instinct won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Thriller, and Company Man won the Barry and Gumshoe Awards for Best Thriller. High Crimes was the basis of the Morgan Freeman/Ashley Judd movie, and Paranoia was the basis for 2013 film with Liam Hemsworth, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. Killer Instinct is also in development a a major motion picture. Born in Chicago, Finder studied Russian at Yale and Harvard. He was recruited by the CIA, but decided he preferred writing fiction. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association for Former Intelligence Officers, he lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Features & Highlights

  • Adam Cassidy is twenty-six and a low level employee at a high-tech corporation who hates his job. When he manipulates the system to do something nice for a friend, he finds himself charged with a crime. Corporate Security gives him a choice: prison - or become a spy in the headquarters of their chief competitor, Trion Systems.
  • They train him. They feed him inside information. Now, at Trion, he's a star, skyrocketing to the top. He finds he has talents he never knew he possessed. He's rich, drives a Porsche, lives in a fabulous apartment, and works directly for the CEO. He's dating the girl of his dreams.
  • His life is perfect. And all he has to do to keep it that way is betray everyone he cares about and everything he believes in.
  • But when he tries to break off from his controllers, he finds he's in way over his head, trapped in a world in which nothing is as it seems and no one can really be trusted.
  • And then the real nightmare begins...
  • From the writer whose novels have been called "thrilling" (
  • New York Times
  • ) and "dazzling" (
  • USA Today
  • ) comes an electrifying new novel, Joseph Finder's
  • Paranoia
  • , a roller-coaster ride of suspense that will hold the reader hostage until the final, astonishing twist.
  • Now a major motion-picture starring, Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(355)
★★★★
25%
(296)
★★★
15%
(177)
★★
7%
(83)
★
23%
(271)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Absorbing read!

A great book by the masterful Joseph Finder. Absorbing tale!
✓ Verified Purchase

Good book, great twist at the end!!

I really liked the book, the end was a great twist but was bummed that the guy chose to just walk away. The only thing I disliked was the sticker stuck right over the face of one of the main characters on the front cover of book. Good shape for a used book overall.
✓ Verified Purchase

Disappointing

As much as I wanted to like this book, I was put off from the start. All thrillers rely on the reader to suspend disbelief, but this book's plot was so outrageous that I found it impossible to enjoy. Adam's quick rise in the new firm, his mastery of all the technology needed to conduct corporate espionage, and his manipulation of everyone around him were ridiculous.

I've enjoyed other books by Joseph Finder, but I can't recommend this one.

In Joseph Finder's Paranoia, Adam Cassidy gets himself in a jam by authorizing a catered party for a friend's retirement. Using authorization codes that he wasn't authorized to use, he ends up costing the firm where he works $78,000. When he's called before his bosses the next morning, he expects to be fired, and he isn't unhappy with the prospects of being jobless. He's so unenthusiastic about working for a living that he makes an effort every day to do as little as possible.

Instead of being fired, though, he's first threatened with prosecution and imprisonment. After he's thoroughly frightened, he's offered a deal. He will apply for a job at his firm's biggest competitor, and then use his position to work as an industrial spy. Adam applies himself to a crash course in spy craft, gets the job, and begins to seek information that will help his original employer. Before long, however, he begins to be torn by his competing loyalties. He forms relationships at his new job with another employee, as well as with the owner, who becomes a father figure. He decides to break his connection with his former employers, but try to maintain his new status.
✓ Verified Purchase

Could Not Put This Book Down

Maybe I've been reading too many slow moving non-fiction books lately, but it had been a while since I read a book that was such a page turner. I could not wait to see what happened next and found myself rushing to pick up this book whenever I had the free time available to read it. I'm not sure how I discovered this book or the author, but this will not be my last Joseph Finder novel. It read very much like John Grisham's The Firm, and that is not a bad thing. I highly recommend this book, but had to subtract a star because of the unsatisfying ending.
✓ Verified Purchase

Draws you in quicklyi

It's not secret that two of my favorite art forms are film and books. Preferably films and books that are enjoyable to watch or read (this has ruled out most Nicolas Cage films over the past decade). Because of my affinity for book and film, I frequently scour the web for the most recent list of books being made into film. Recently I found out that Joseph Finder's novel Paranoia was being turned into a film starring the permanently sour faced Harrison Ford and the oh so chiseled Liam Hemsworth. Say no more.
Finder draws you in pretty quickly with his fast-paced delivery and the humorous, self-effacing honesty of the lead character, Adam Cassidy. He quickly finds himself entrapped by his current boss, the sleazy Nicholas Wyatt to infiltrate his arch-nemesis in the technology field. Imagine Donald Trump combined with Gordon Gekko with Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. Finder describes him as such, and yet Gary Oldman was chosen to portray him in the upcoming film. I digress.
The rapid fire pace does not slow down as Cassidy spirals deeper and deeper into corporate espionage. For those hoping for a spicy romance mixed into the tale, Finder does deliver but only functionally. The chemistry is hastily written and not to believable. However, the story has at least one steamy moment to move it to PG-13 levels. Although, the book eventually plays out in fairly predictable fashion, I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the above average thriller. In this case, Finder definitely delivers. At the very least, you can imagine Gail Hawthorne in an Armani suit for 400 pages.

Related Books