The Algorithm Game
Power and Betrayal on Wall Street — A Literary Financial Thriller
by Samuel Wolf
- Literary Fiction
- Literary Thriller
- Financial Thriller
- Political Fiction
The Book
Dr. Elisha Segal has always wanted to make it in academia. But when his career as an astrophysicist fails to launch, he accepts a lucrative offer from Harmony, a secretive Wall Street fintech behemoth, and trades his passion for the privileged world of high-stakes algorithmic trading.
Finally able to give his wife and daughter everything they have ever wanted, Elisha develops MAGOG: a machine-learning trading algorithm that can make anyone filthy rich at the click of a button. But as his creation grows ever more profitable, he uncovers a horrifying truth. MAGOG doesn’t just respond to global disasters and political chaos. It thrives on them.
As the polished facade of Wall Street cracks before his eyes, Elisha watches the ultra-rich profit from civil unrest and fearmongering while America slides into storms, riots, and martial law. Fleeing with his family to Israel, he attempts to regain control of his creation, and his conscience. But a moment of misplaced trust in an old friend living behind the wall in Palestine will set in motion a chain of events that no algorithm can predict.
A thought-provoking literary thriller about power, corruption, and the cost of looking away, The Algorithm Game asks what we owe to each other, and what we lose when we stop asking.
Why This Book Matters
The Algorithm Game combines the propulsive tension of a financial thriller with the moral weight of literary fiction. Its insider portrait of hi-tech, fintech, and quantitative trading culture, drawn from Samuel Wolf’s own decades in the technology industry, sets it apart from the genre. The novel’s central conflict is not just between a man and a corporation, but between individual conscience and systemic indifference, a question that resonates across every market and culture.
Set in a near-future America and Israel, the novel holds up a dark mirror to our own time: the power of algorithms and artificial intelligence over our lives, the growing gap between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else, money flowing into extremist politics, and the erosion of civil liberties. Readers have compared it to “Wall Street meets Black Mirror without the heavy sci-fi jargon.”
At its center is an unforgettable protagonist: a brilliant, gentle scientist who can read the language of stars, desert plants, and financial markets, yet is blind to the malice of the people around him. Wolf’s sharp, ironic voice moves from quirky workplace satire to a suffocating, Kafkaesque nightmare, making the book both intellectually rich and impossible to put down.
About the Book
Genre: Literary Thriller / Financial Thriller / Political Fiction
Published Title | 240 Pages
For readers of Hernán Díaz’s Trust, Robert Harris’s The Fear Index, and Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House, The Algorithm Game is a near-future literary thriller about Wall Street, algorithmic trading, and one scientist’s fight to take back his conscience.
Author
Samuel Wolf
Samuel Wolf is a mathematician, inventor, winemaker, and musician, a writer whose fiction is rooted in a lifetime of real scientific and technological experience. Born to a writer father and a painter mother, he studied in London, California, and Jerusalem, and spent decades in key roles across the international hi-tech industry. He has published extensively in science and holds numerous patents.
It is this insider knowledge of algorithms, institutional power, and the human cost of technological ambition that gives The Algorithm Game its rare authenticity and edge.
Today, writing is his main focus: channeling a rich and varied life into fiction that is precise, humane, and urgently relevant. The Algorithm Game is his fourth novel, following three previous works of fiction, a short story collection, and three books of poetry.
Rights Status
Publishing Rights Available
Translation Rights Available
Film Rights Available
Audio Rights Available
Comparable Titles
This book is suitable for readers who enjoyed:
- Trust by Hernán Díaz
- The Fear Index by Robert Harris
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
BISAC Categories
- FIC019000 – FICTION / Literary
- FIC031080 – FICTION / Thrillers / Political
- FIC037000 – FICTION / Political
Themes
- Power, Money, and Corruption on Wall Street
- Algorithms, AI, and the Illusion of Control
- Innocence vs. Complicity
- Profiting From Chaos and Disaster
- The Rise of Authoritarianism
- Friendship Across the Israeli-Palestinian Divide
- Family, Ambition, and Security
- The Cost of Looking Away
Keywords
For readers interested in:
- Literary thrillers and intelligent commercial fiction
- Financial thrillers set on Wall Street
- Fintech, algorithmic trading, and hedge funds
- Artificial intelligence and technology in fiction
- Near-future and dystopian political fiction
- Geopolitics and the Middle East
- Israeli fiction in translation
- Fans of Hernán Díaz, Robert Harris, Rachel Cusk, and Jennifer Egan
FAQ
What is The Algorithm Game about?
An Israeli astrophysicist who joins a secretive Wall Street fintech firm builds a trading algorithm that profits from global disasters, and must face the consequences when his creation slips out of his control.
What genre is this book?
A literary thriller that combines a financial thriller with political, near-future fiction.
Where does the story take place?
Between Seattle, New York, New Jersey, Israel, and Palestine.
Has this book been published before?
Yes, the book is published in English.
Who will enjoy this book?
Readers of literary thrillers and intelligent commercial fiction, fans of Hernán Díaz, Robert Harris, Rachel Cusk, and Jennifer Egan, and readers interested in technology, finance, and geopolitics.
Rights Agent's Notes
The Algorithm Game speaks directly to the questions of our moment: the power of algorithms and AI, the concentration of wealth, and the fragility of democracy. It sits in the space between literary fiction and the commercial financial thriller, a combination that has proven successful for authors such as Hernán Díaz and Robert Harris.
The author’s decades in hi-tech, his scientific publications, and his patents give the novel an authenticity rare in the genre. English-language readers have responded warmly; one Amazon reviewer called it “a page-turner full of action and suspense, but with personable, nuanced characters and an astute social commentary.” We see strong potential with publishers of upmarket and literary thrillers worldwide.