INFINITE EXPOSURE

Hughes’ experimental fiction—a blow-by-blow account of the ultimate financial 9/11—is intended as “a wake-up call.”

The plot hinges on FDIC insurance requirements for workers at the offshore data-processing centers of American banks–requirements created to prevent bad guys from infiltrating the clearinghouse. Unfortunately, the United States banking system is still hit by mass identity theft, in which millions of dollars are stolen via transfer and the system is wiped clean. With no chance of recovery, the worldwide banking system teeters on the verge of collapse. In addition to greedy CEOs, the book’s villains are terrorists seeking funding for nefarious activities and a nifty nest egg for bin Laden. The meltdown leads to looting, a run on the banks and a planned nuclear attack, at which point the book ends abruptly with the plaintive plea, “God help us all.” The novel features elements diverse as al-Qaida, e-mail snooping programs, the Reformed Nazi Party, the rollout of new bank software, stem-cell/blood/organ harvesting, stock-market manipulation, ignorant MBAs and “shredding” corporations for profit. The lengthy narrative is punctuated with unnecessary explanations–such as how the phone system works–with no guideposts to help readers tie it together. Generic characters of various nationalities take the same potshots at CNN for shoddy journalism and there’s no standout hero or villain, with the possible exception of hardworking Heidi, who’s dead tired from blood harvesting in the Bohemian Forest. Some scenes are unintentionally humorous, as when National Guard members called to quell riots join the rioters themselves since they can’t get their money out of the bank either. It takes technical brilliance to orchestrate and assess a thorny situation from multiple angles, but the book lacks heart and heat. It reads like an extensive white paper, a worst-case scenario of financial debacle in all its layers of complexity. Infinite Exposure is a necessary reminder of America’s economic vulnerability, but readers may struggle to connect a dizzying plethora of dots.

Wordy, technically elaborate, and lacking emotional payoff.