Paranoia: Joseph Finder , Book Review

 ‘If you can’t cry, you’re not alive.’

-Joseph Finder, Paranoia

It has been almost six years since I had first read Paranoia by Joseph Finder and now it has been portrayed on the silver screen. I had obviously pictured all the action and emotion that made me like the book so much, but, had never really thought that someone would make a film adaptation of the same. I love thriller mysteries, but, not of the usual kind. This, to be fair, was not unusual, but, as I read the first few pages of the Reader’s Digest Select Editions, I was hooked. And since then, Finder has been one of my favourite authors. Well, I have just read two of his books- the first being Paranoia and the second called Powerplay; both, corporate thrillers.

Paranoia to me was something new. Simple language but in depth knowledge of the corporate world, all the threads knitted into one huge fabric which pulled me unconditionally towards its very soul. The best part about the fabric though, was the fact that, it changed colours ever so often (which, I felt, also depended on the reader) that you started to see the world around you in terms of the book. It can be bad at times, but, for a thirteen year old then, it seemed beguiling. To tell you the truth, I even dreamt about it.

Paranoia: Official Movie Trailer

The book takes off with the life of Adam Cassidy, a low-grade worker and a slacker at best but who apparently siphons money from the executive fund to throw a retirement bash for a member of the loading dock crew and gets caught (the do-gooder, you think?). You might like to reconsider, because, in the corporate world, it is called fraud. The rest of the events that follow make the book a page turner and you’re left with a feeling of fulfillment in the way the plot spirals to the end. An espionage potboiler, it is a nice read with corporate and tech jargon scattered all over and it aptly portrays the lifestyle of the corporate high-class and the struggles faced by the low-end in the hands of the ruthless corporate and political rulers who own the companies. Though, cliché at times, it does not ruin the fun by being too over-the-top and provides for a nice read for anyone who is bored of all the melodrama. It does have a great climax and I’m looking forward to catching the cinema adaptation pretty soon to see if it justifies Finder’s writing.

Paranoia was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.

Tilte: Paranoia

Author: Joseph Finder

ISBN:0312940912

Kallol Bordoloi

Student, articulate music reviewer and listener and self-motivating writer.

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