One of my recent (but not yet reviewed) reads was Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel. That book tracks the progress of the Voyager space probes as they gradually ease their way across the Solar System, the Earth receding to a pixelated dot millions of miles away. My relationship with technology feels a little like that too. If technology is the Earth, my understanding of it is gradually receding into the distance. Ever since I read Little Brother, Cory Doctorow has been my go-to person for gleaning some understanding of the ever-shifting nature of the digital economy. He’s back with a new novel, Red Team Blues, a techno-thriller set against the backdrop of the bewildering world of digital accounting.
What Is Red Team Blues?
Digital accounting doesn’t sound like the most exciting backdrop for a thriller, and I suppose on one level it isn’t. In the hands of Doctorow, however, we have a fascinating look at all sorts of things that I had no idea were going on in the world. The book looks at the myriad ways in which it is possible to move money around the globe unencumbered. It works on the premise that, in cybersecurity, the defenders (the blue team) have to get everything right all the time, whilst the attackers (the red team) only ever need to find one flaw. The game, in theory, is stacked against the blues.
The novel opens with a “one last job” vibe. Aging cyber-detective Marty Hench is a forensic accountant. If somebody has made your money disappear, he’ll find it for you. He made his name by being the finest red team player in the business, cutting through digital obfuscation and shell companies like they weren’t there.
When an old acquaintance, an Elon Musk-type billionaire, asks him to track some missing security keys down, he can’t say no. The keys were unstealable, and yet they have been stolen. His fee, 25% of the value of the missing items, will net him a cool $300M. The keys are very important. The discussion of what they’re for and why they exist starts the ball rolling on the novel’s insights into how modern financing technology works.
Inevitably, things don’t go according to plan. Marty becomes embroiled in a complicated plot orchestrated by multiple crime syndicates. Using his expertise, he has to hide to stay safe. He has to play the blue team, knowing that one mistake and the red team will find him, and if they do, he won’t be spending any of his $300M dollars.
Why Read Red Team Blues?
With Red Team Blues Cory Doctorow delivers an intriguing techno-thriller that educates as much as it enthralls. One of the things I love about his books is the sense you get that they are immersed in counter-culture. What’s curious about them is that, whilst this is true, the books are also very much about what is happening right now in the mainstream. Often stealthily and without most of us knowing.
Doctorow is streets ahead of the field in understanding how our rights are being eroded and how technology can be used and abused. He is adept at articulating what can be a dry, technical, and nebulous subject in a fashion a concerned layman like me can understand.
Red Team Blues dives deep into the pitfalls of cryptocurrency and the complicated structures that are used to hide dirty money, whilst also delivering an entertaining plot. Yes, it’s fiction, but you know a lot of this stuff is going on right now. Docotrow’s fiction always makes me think about the world in a different way, makes me realize how layered and nuanced the technological world is, and how very little of the “progress” technology has made has our best interests at heart. Inevitably, it’s driven by the pursuit of money. Doctorow recently introduced me to the word “enshitification” and, for that, I’ll happily read everything he writes.
Red Team Blues is not as exhilarating as Little Brother, but it’s another great techno-thriller that will make you realize just how deep the world’s money pit is.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Red Team Blues you can do so here in the US, and here in the UK. (Affiliate Links)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.
