One from Without: A Novel

by Jack Fuller

A large credit reporting company sees the era of Big Data coming. Its CEO dreams of knowing so much about the people it tracks that it will be able to predict what they will do. With the data, he believes, the company will know people better than they know themselves. Meantime, his chief financial officer has come to the corporate world in order to hide in the numbers on his spreadsheets, trying to escape a dark, ambiguous experience from his past in the CIA. Suddenly a hacker breaks into the company’s consumer database and alters individual files. This threatens not only the company future but its very existence. As senior executives struggle with what to do next, they find out who they really are.

416 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2016

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to follow the characters and their backstories. Also, the reasons for committing the crime never became apparent in a way that the conclusion of mystery should. It just did not feel real enough. The writing style was good, just needed more plot and character development.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a very well written thriller involving corporate sabotage and intrigue. It drew me in at page one and kept me hooked all the way. The cast of characters seemed genuine ... more gray than black and white. The intricacies of the business and technology world were beyond my knowledge but they seemed authentic and interesting. The personal side stories in the book were just as fascinating and added to the story's appeal. This was a book that required some concentration but it was well worth the effort.
I'd give the book a thumb's up.

[Barbara Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally it felt as though I was slogging through

When I first started the book it was late and . I was tired. I could make little sense out of it and kept losing trackof the characters. At times it r e minded me of the writing of John Cheever. I was also r e minded of the old book Man in the Gray Flannel. Suit. Once I got into it, I liked some of the characters, others not so much. I'm sure it was just the Kindle version, but it w a s disconcerting that a few bold words indicated a scene shift. I am glad that I read it, but I t is not one that I would feel inclined reread.

[Farhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Pulitzer prize author definitely has the writing chops but he seems too smart for his own good. Or should I use the word 'smug ?'

I don't think he has any idea about the clandestine world of espionage. Terse, cryptic prose does not make a novel intriguing. A convoluted plot, un-said words, un-told events just frustrate the reader. A thoroughly disappointing book from an author who should try his hand on something more up his alley. And the author should learn that less is not always more.

[Denise]

Spies, financial intrigue, personal identity. Interesting combination. Found it a little hard to follow. Didn't keep my total interest. Can see it appealing to others interested in the financial or espionage worlds.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get through this one. Unfinished .