Red Team Blues

January 1, 2023

Cyber detective, forensic accountant--whatever his title, 67-year-old Marty Hench is one of those rare people who tries to prevent financial crimes. He's spent his whole career as a member of the Red Team, as an attacker, one who always has the advantage. Now ready for retirement, he's living it up in California and trying to decide what he wants to do when he grows up when he's hired by an old friend. Danny Lazer, the founder of the new crypto titan Trustlesscoin, needs Marty to recover stolen cryptographic keys and prevent the type of financial crisis that people lose their lives over. Marty delves into the shady underside of the private equity world, where he's caught between warring international crime syndicates. The sincere and intelligent writing has a noir feel to it, enhanced by Marty's dry humor. There's a sense of satisfaction as this unassuming retired man dishes out comeuppance. VERDICT This absorbing and ruthless cyberpunk thriller from Doctorow (Attack Surface) tackles modern concerns involving cryptocurrency, security, and the daunting omnipotence of technology. Great for fans of Charles Stross.--Andrea Dyba

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February 1, 2023
Well, talk about timely. In the wake of the late-2022 collapse of cryptocurrency comes this novel about a forensic accountant who's hired to work a case involving electronic theft of cryptocurrency. The guy's name is Martin Hench; he's in his late sixties, with decades of experience, and he thinks he's seen it all. Until now. Doctorow, author of such novels as The Rapture of the Nerds (2012) Homeland (2013), and Pirate Cinema (2012), is a leading force in cyberpunk fiction, and here he mixes cyberpunk with traditional private eye motifs (if Martin Hench feels a bit like Philip Marlowe or even Jim Rockford, that's probably not a coincidence). Doctorow's novels are always feasts for the imagination and the intellect, and this one is no exception: it's jam-packed with cutting-edge ideas about cybersecurity and crypto, and its near-future world is lovingly detailed and completely believable. Another winner from an sf wizard who has always proved himself adept at blending genres for both adults and teens.

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February 6, 2023
Bestseller Doctorow (Little Brother) plumbs the murky systems of cryptocurrency in this earnest techno-thriller and series launch. Martin Hench, a 67-year-old forensic accountant turned hacker for hire, is kept from retiring by one last job for a good friend. Danny Lazer, cryptocurrency entrepreneur, has been stung by his own staff and needs to retrieve the stolen decoding keys that secure his crypto cash vaults or he’ll face ruin and trillions of dollars of financial disruption. Martin, working both physical and digital detective beats to crack the case, turns up some answers—but also some dead bodies. Now the families of the deceased and the criminal cartels that they crossed are out for blood, landing Martin himself in the crosshairs. Doctorow brings a thoroughness and honesty to a subject masked by techno-babble and emotional hype (“all that blockchain for good shit”) to deliver a clear-eyed warning about how crypto is used (money laundering) and what it costs (billions of tons of CO2
). The jargon may overwhelm less tech savvy readers, but with unconventional gumshoe Martin at the helm, fans can expect good things from the series to come.