Doug Ross @ Journal

Book Review: Joseph Finder's Paranoia

It's the literary equivalent of crack

I had a pressing appointment yesterday but was running late. The reason? This d**n book. After a several hour read, I hit the last chapter and literally couldn't stop. The mind-bending conclusion -- akin to the closing scene in The Usual Suspects -- literally threw me for a loop.

Adam Cassidy is a low-level corporate drone at Wyatt Telecommunications. Unmotivated and glib, he arranges a massive retirement party for a friend on the loading-dock... all paid for through an unauthorized expense account. The prank is instantly detected by Corporate Security because the party ended up costing over $20K. Cassidy is threatened not only with termination, but also several decades behind bars.

But there's an out offered to him by, of all people, CEO Nick Wyatt. The founder of the telecom company is a ruthless corporate predator. His arch-rival, Trion, is hiring a product manager. And Wyatt desperately needs a mole inside Trion to get the goods on Trion's top secret Project AURORA. That project is rumored to be "transformational", meaning it will mark a new generation in the wireless industry. Wyatt can't afford to be left behind by a new BlackBerry or iPod, so Cassidy is an unwilling pawn in a deadly serious game of corporate espionage.

Given a suitable cover role and prepped with gobs of high-level product information, Cassidy is hired for the job at Trion. At the behest of Wyatt and his security goons, Cassidy instantly begins his intelligence-gathering operations. And he has been prepped well for his day job: his remarks in planning meetings are both controversial and prescient. He soon catches the eye of Trion founder Jock Goddard, a Silicon Valley legend. Within weeks, he's been tapped as Goddard's personal assistant, a role that puts him in close touch with the entire management hierarchy.

Wyatt is ecstatic at the development... and is now demanding more and better intel around AURORA. Compounding Cassidy's stress level, his father is dying of emphysema and he's begun a heavy-duty (and non-HR-approved) relationship with a gorgeous Trion marketing manager. Try as he might to keep it all together, Cassidy's double lives are beginning to spin out of control.

From the opening graphs to the mind-roasting conclusion, I had a very difficult time peeling myself away... even for a pressing engagement. I've heard the book is to be made into a movie. That's outstanding news - and it will mean fewer missed appointments for Finder's readership. Because a movie may be a better idea for some folks than the literary equivalent of crack.