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The Algorithm Game: Power and Betrayal on Wall Street
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January 6, 2026
A compelling biotech-noir thriller...
Samuel Wolf's "The Algorithm Game" weaves high-stakes finance with quiet introspection in ways that feel almost dreamlike. At its heart is Elisha Segal, an astrophysicist pulled into Harmony, a shadowy trading firm run by the mysterious Solomon. There, Elisha builds "Magog," a system that rivals the firm's established powerhouse, "Chocha."
But this isn't just about machines learning to predict markets. It unfolds against America's unraveling—riots, assassinations, airports grinding to a halt. And through all that chaos, Wolf makes space for something gentler: Elisha's memories of Jerusalem, studying flowers and watching stars wheel across the sky.
The cast is wonderfully human—the withdrawn Robertson, the larger-than-life Roman—orbiting the central crisis of stolen code. Elisha's journey eventually leads him back to Israel, to his friend Hilmi, to something like home.
Wolf makes the technical accessible without dumbing it down, and his prose turns inward at just the right moments. The code details occasionally linger too long, but that's a minor stumble. What you're left with is a biotech-noir thriller that actually thinks, actually breathes. Highly recommended.
Samuel Wolf's "The Algorithm Game" weaves high-stakes finance with quiet introspection in ways that feel almost dreamlike. At its heart is Elisha Segal, an astrophysicist pulled into Harmony, a shadowy trading firm run by the mysterious Solomon. There, Elisha builds "Magog," a system that rivals the firm's established powerhouse, "Chocha."
But this isn't just about machines learning to predict markets. It unfolds against America's unraveling—riots, assassinations, airports grinding to a halt. And through all that chaos, Wolf makes space for something gentler: Elisha's memories of Jerusalem, studying flowers and watching stars wheel across the sky.
The cast is wonderfully human—the withdrawn Robertson, the larger-than-life Roman—orbiting the central crisis of stolen code. Elisha's journey eventually leads him back to Israel, to his friend Hilmi, to something like home.
Wolf makes the technical accessible without dumbing it down, and his prose turns inward at just the right moments. The code details occasionally linger too long, but that's a minor stumble. What you're left with is a biotech-noir thriller that actually thinks, actually breathes. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review