Shimmer [Hardcover]

Eric Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2009

In just three years, CEO Robbie Case has grown Core Communications, a data technology company, from 30 people to over 5,000. Now a $20 billion company made legendary by its sudden success, Core is based on a technology no other company can come close to copying, a revolutionary breakthrough known as drawing blood from a mainframe. And Robbie, its 35-year-old CEO, is acclaimed worldwide for his vision, leadership and wealth. Except that all of it is based on a lie. The technology doesn t work, the finances are built on a Ponzi scheme of stock sales and shell corporations, and Robbie is struggling to keep the company alive, to protect the friends who work for him and all that they ve built. Each day, Robbie tries to push the catastrophe back a little further, while his employees believe that they are all moving closer to grace, the day their stock options vest, when they will be made rich for their faith and loyalty and hard work. The details of the lie are all keyed into a shadowy interface that Robbie calls Shimmer, an omniscient mainframe that hides itself, calculates its own collapse, threatens to outsmart its creator and to reveal the corporation s illegal, fragile underpinnings. Shimmer is the story of a high-tech crusade nearing its end. The shell game Robbie has created is finally running out of room. And Robbie is the only one who has a chance to make things right. A breathless debut novel that charges the atmosphere with suspense and surprise and delivers complex characters you can root for in spite of their flaws.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This topical fiction debut from Memphis news publisher Barnes is a cautionary thriller about ambition and corruption in corporate America. Robbie Case, the 35-year-old CEO (and largest shareholder) of Core Communications has managed to grow the business from 30 employees to more than 5,000 in three short years. But his $20 billion company, linking mainframe computers worldwide to the Internet backbone, is built on faulty technology, false promises and questionable finances. Weary of the day when everything inevitably unravels, Case's slow (but accelerating) downward spiral drives the narrative through a number of timely plots, including Ponzi schemes and toxic assets: "The people who worked here, the companies we acquired, the stock we sold-all of it was an unseen disease." Readers may find it difficult, if not impossible, to empathize with Case, but the corporate intrigue should hook anyone fascinated by the collapse of Wall Street and the crimes of Bernie Madoff.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Here’s a timely thriller. Robbie Case is CEO of Core Communications, which in three years has grown from a small company to one that employs 5,000 people and has revenue in the multimillions. At 35, Robbie is on top of his profession, acclaimed around the world as a visionary. There’s only one problem: he’s a fraud. Core Communications isn’t a cutting-edge tech company; it’s a giant, incredibly elaborate Ponzi scheme in which revenue from sales of Core’s (fraudulent) technology masks from its clients the fact that the product doesn’t do what Core claims it does. Eventually and inevitably, the whole thing will come crashing down around Robbie—but when? And, further, is there anything he can do to protect his friends and colleagues from financial ruin? Robbie is one of those engagingly conflicted heroes who come along from time to time, an essentially good man who knowingly perpetrated a swindle of epic proportions and who will now do whatever it takes to minimize the damage. Fans of Joseph Finder’s big-business thrillers will definitely want to read this one. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Unbridled Books (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932961674
• ISBN-13: 978-1932961676
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,056,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Barnes was born in 1968 and has been writing fiction for many years. He published a number of short stories before finding a home for his first novel, Shimmer, at Unbridled Books.

"Case's slow but accelerating downward spiral drives the narrative...." -- Publisher's Weekly

"One is reminded in Barnes' language and locution of Don DeLillo's scalpel-sharp delineation of American corporate culture and paranoia, and of David Foster Wallace's penetration into the heart of the relationship between human consciousness and rapidly changing technologies." -- Fredric Koeppel, The Commercial Appeal

"Robbie is one of those engagingly conflicted heroes who comes along from time to time." -- Booklist

"A remarkable character study, unflinchingly probing the psyche of its flawed but compelling protagonist." -- Benjamin Whitmer, INDenverTimes

Barnes published "Something Pretty, Something Beautiful" in the Best American Mystery Stories 2011. Kirkus Reviews: "Eric Barnes shows teenagers wreaking havoc for no particular reason in his slow-moving "Something Pretty, Something Beautiful."

Barnes is the publisher of The Daily News and The Memphis News, two local publications covering business and politics in Memphis. Eric was once COO of a national publisher of city guides, books, maps, city sites and business directories for cities around the country. The company went under in 2003, a sad and endless and unforgettable experience that culminated in the purchase of a few cases of beer for the remaining staff at one final staff meeting at Union and Mclean.

Prior to that, Eric was managing editor of a business magazine in New York City, which was in the midst a transtion from what's known as a "business opportunities" magazine to a legitimate business magazine. Business opportunities magazines run ads for get rich quick schemes and, it seems now, those ads were an influence on the much bigger schemes in Shimmer.

Eric lives in Memphis. Previously he lived in New York, and before that in New London, Connecticut. He grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and Juneau, Alaska. He attended the Columbia University School of the Arts, Connecticut College, and Woodrow Wilson High School.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shimmer, June 30, 2009

By 

blackdogbooks - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shimmer (Hardcover)

"Come sit down by me; I've got a great story to tell you." That's what I imagine Eric Barnes' debut novel, Shimmer, would say if it could talk. The book was just friendly, I don't quite know how else to explain it; it was by turns exciting, thought provoking, and unusual and always enjoyable. The story follows Robbie Case, the CEO of a tech company that has figured out how to maximize server capacity and data processing. The company is wildly successful, with sales and revenues growing by bounds every day. The problem is that the whole company is based on a lie. Case is selling hardware to his customers that doesn't really do anything while he is secretly moving all of the data, which is meant to be processed his hardware, around a series of secret server farmsand satelittes , hidden around the world. He is lying to his customers; he is lying to his employees; but, mostly, he is lying to himself. He is lying to himself about his his capability to maintain the lies, about the true value of the company and the people he works with, and about what will ultimately be fulfilling and rewarding to him.

Barnes has achieved something unusual with his debut novel, a story that works on multiple levels, either as a quick, mindless read or a good thriller or as a more subtle, study of human interaction and connection. I won't pretend that I am computer savy enough to understand the tech pieces of the story but Barnes doesn't hit you over the head with computer jargon so much that you feel like you're reading a Computer for Dummies book. He gives you just enough to make the story seem believable. Barnes' use of language to create a breakneck pace and frentic aura for the tech company and the people who work there is just right. I found myself reading the early chapters more quickly than usual and with an urgency, all because of the deft prose. All of this would serve any good summer read well. But, if you read a little closer and study the characters Barnes creates, you will find a more subtle examination of unconnected and lonely people, all lieing to themselves in various ways to overcome self loathing and doubt. They are all pouring their lives into the company, feeding their greed or hunger for power as a substitute for human connection. One of the most interesting elements of Barnes' new novel is the give and take between his hero, Case, and Case's evil cousin. The two almost seem to create one, whole criminal; they are drawn to one another and, at the same time, repulsed by one another. Barnes has gotten this relationship just right, reflecting real world co-dependent, criminal pairs.

The light criticism I have is for the ending, which felt a little rushed and a little forced, tied up to prettily in a colorful bow. I didn't think nor did I want to see the story end quite so well for Case and his dark half cousin. And, to get there, Barnes seems to work a little too hard and gloss over a few too many details. But the ending didn't ruin the overall reading experience for the book.

Recommended! This was a solid, enjoyable read. You can take it at whatever level you feel like when you pick it up. It was just that friendly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!, July 3, 2009

By 

Deborah J. Kelly "Picnicgal" (Glendora, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shimmer (Hardcover)

An incredible book! Bravo Mr. Barnes! I was lucky enough to receive this book as an "Early Reviewer" for Librarything.com. For being an "uncorrected proof," I found nothing, absolutely nothing wrong. The story flowed, the intrigue grabbing hold, I enjoyed it immensely. Mr. Barnes' descriptions of the complexities involved in this story were incredible. He made it really easy to understand the inner workings of a vastly large corporation. I loved it and would recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Technical Suspense!, July 12, 2009

By 

Julie Peterson "Booking Mama" (Central PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shimmer (Hardcover)

When I first picked up SHIMMER by Eric Barnes, I had a feeling that I might not be the ideal audience for it. SHIMMER is a unique novel in that I would describe it as a "techno thriller." In the past, I used to read a lot of suspense/thriller books; but lately I seem to gravitate more towards historical fiction and women's fiction. It's not that I have anything against thrillers, it's just that they aren't my first book of choice anymore. And, while I definitely enjoyed (and appreciated) SHIMMER, I'm thinking that maybe I should have passed it on for Booking Pap Pap to read and review. I just don't quite know how to review it -- so all I can do is share some of my thoughts about this novel.

Having said all that, I don't want it to sound like I didn't like this book because I definitely did enjoy reading it. There were times when I was reading SHIMMER when I couldn't put it down. I think a lot of credit goes to the author Eric Barnes for creating so much suspense. This isn't one of those books where there is a lot of action. In fact, almost the entire story takes place in Core Communications Office building. However, I could actually feel myself become shaky and nervous along with Robbie as he faced possible exposure to his secrets. This book really did make me feel like I was on a roller-coaster ride. The story was fast-paced and the characters' actions were at times frantic. It was a very suspenseful read!

As mentioned in the book description, this story is based on a high-tech company that was basically operating a Ponzi scheme. I'm going to be honest and say that I am one of the least technologically minded people out there -- I basically shut down at the first mention of computer terms. And while I wasn't really interested in all the computer lingo and understanding how the company worked, I did think the scheme sounded feasible; and I didn't have any problems comprehending what Robbie was doing with his company. So if you are like me and feel a little overwhelmed by the idea behind this book, don't let that deter you from reading it.

I thought Mr. Barnes did a really good job of developing the characters. The majority of the book was written in Robbie's first person voice so the reader really gets inside his mind. Since Robbie had been keeping so many secrets for so long, he was definitely starting to fall apart; and the stress because so many people were dependent on him really came through on every page. I also appreciated how Mr. Barnes threw in very brief chapters about a few of the executive employees which he wrote in third person. These sections let the readers know more about Robbie's co-workers as well as giving them an inkling that Robbie's secrets weren't all that "secret."

Robbie was an extremely interesting and yet a highly flawed character. So often in these types of books, these characters seem to be one-dimensional. That wasn't the case in SHIMMER. I thought the author did a fantastic job of developing Robbie and giving the reader information about his youth. His insecurities, his fear of intimacy, and his guilt were definitely the result of many things that happened in his past. I found Robbie to be a fascinating character but I didn't always like him. What I did find strange, though, was that despite all of Robbie's deception, I found myself liking him and even rooting for his successes!

I don't want to give anything away about the ending, but I think I can't write a review of this book without mentioning it. I thought the ending made the book for me! As my emotions went back and forth about Robbie depending on his actions -- sometimes I liked him and other times I couldn't stand him -- I thought I had him figured out by the end of the book. Suffice it to say that I was a little surprised with how the author ended this story, but I thought it was perfect for this book and these characters.