Tracers in the Dark
Ratings10
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings10
Average rating4.5
From the award-winning author of Sandworm comes the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, exposing once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence. “[An] absorbing narrative… Each key section of the book... unfolds like a compact mystery.” (New York Times Book Review) Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely—whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking—than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money. But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn’t so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing. Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet. Utterly of our time, Tracers in the Dark is a cat-and-mouse story and a tale of a technological one-upmanship. Filled with canny maneuvering and shocking twists, it answers a provocative question: How would some of the world’s most brazen criminals behave if they were sure they could never get caught?
Reviews with the most likes.
Andy Greenberg has quickly become one of my favorite writers. His pieces for Wired are amazing, but this is the first book of his I’ve read, and it won’t be the last.
He has a masterful way of writing where he simply disappears and you’re fully inside of the story. And not just because “technothriller” is an apt description. His writing is effortless and unobtrusive. I particularly appreciate how he draws out and subtly highlights the importance of small details: a chance meeting in a coffeeshop resulting in a breakthrough, a single search result mentioned at the right time that saves an entire case. It’s an immersive experience, with never a hint of unwieldy dialogue and only a rare first person mention of himself or his role in the interviews. He centers the subjects with enough background to humanize their roles and keep them straight in your mind, weaving threads together so you’re able to see the big picture of many separate ongoing investigations and entities.
He also explains tech constructs simply and effectively. There are no long asides about the blockchain, just enough well-crafted explanations to understand the impact. The end result is the feeling that every sentence is chosen with care; he’s clearly extremely detail-oriented and thorough, which made this a joy to read. I’m also glad to see dissenting voices included in the discussion of the impact of crypto and thoughtful source notes.
