Robert Harris has an incredible talent for taking complicated real-world scenarios, and weaving around them thrilling and almost-plausible mysteries. Hedge fund trading, enigma code breaking, papal elections -- Harris has a knack for explaining the unexplainable, and making it work as part of a page-turning drama. I don't think this as the best, most fully realized example of what he can do -- but it certainly was a trip!
In his 2009 novel "Enigma," a perfectly serviceable, old-fashioned "the lady vanishes" story momentarily distracts the real-life Bletchley Park codebreakers from their work developing the prototypes of modern computers to break the Nazi Enigma codes. Here, the increasingly bizarre mystery of who is trying to ruin the life of an obnoxious hedge fund trader plays out against the backdrop of the so-called "Flash Crash" -- a 2010 episode when world stock markets went haywire, losing and then regaining billions in value in about half an hour, before settling down again as mysteriously as it had all started. If you are a nerd (like me), and enjoy a Certain Type of story (NO Spoilers!!!) you'll probably guess what's going on pretty quickly, but it's very enjoyable watching how Harris creates a pleasing narrative smokescreen before he gets to the Big Reveal.
The ending feels less intriguingly open-ended, more like the story ran out of steam (and possibly setting up for a sequel? That always feels like an annoying cheat on the poor, hardworking reader.) But mid-range Robert Harris is better than many authors can dream of on their best day.
In his 2009 novel "Enigma," a perfectly serviceable, old-fashioned "the lady vanishes" story momentarily distracts the real-life Bletchley Park codebreakers from their work developing the prototypes of modern computers to break the Nazi Enigma codes. Here, the increasingly bizarre mystery of who is trying to ruin the life of an obnoxious hedge fund trader plays out against the backdrop of the so-called "Flash Crash" -- a 2010 episode when world stock markets went haywire, losing and then regaining billions in value in about half an hour, before settling down again as mysteriously as it had all started. If you are a nerd (like me), and enjoy a Certain Type of story (NO Spoilers!!!) you'll probably guess what's going on pretty quickly, but it's very enjoyable watching how Harris creates a pleasing narrative smokescreen before he gets to the Big Reveal.
The ending feels less intriguingly open-ended, more like the story ran out of steam (and possibly setting up for a sequel? That always feels like an annoying cheat on the poor, hardworking reader.) But mid-range Robert Harris is better than many authors can dream of on their best day.
