Red Team Blues

LoveReading Says

Red Team Blues, Cory Doctorow’s acclaimed first Martin Hench novel, is a sensational sci-fi techno-thriller that transcends genres to present a crisply-voiced, finely-plotted story of cyberworld deception, crypto corruption, money-laundering mayhem and dirty drug cartel dealings. 

At 67, Martin’s hugely successful career as a forensic accountant stems back to the founding of Silicon Valley. As a result, he knows everything there is to know about the folks who hide money, the folks who want to find it, and the kinds of measures both sets of folks take to achieve their respective goals. 

For sure, Martin’s the kind of unique character you won’t have previously encountered on the page, or in real life, for that matter. A single guy who lives in a fully-furnished tour bus that used to belong to a rock star, Martin has always played an attacking role on the red team. But now, on a mission to find the key that’ll unlock a fortune in crypto currency, he finds himself forced to play on the blue team in defence: “when you’re on the blue team, you’ve got to be perfect, and the red team… merely has to find a single mistake”.

Terse and tense, Red Team Blues is a noir-ish page-turner, but not quite as you know them — it’s a super-succinct, super-thrilling ride of a read set in the moneyed microclimate of Silicon Valley.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Red Team Blues

Money-laundering, cyber-knavery and shell-company chicanery: Marty Hench is an expert in them all. He's Silicon Valley's most accomplished forensic accountant and well versed in the devious ways of Fortune 500s, divorcing oligarchs, and international drug cartels alike (and there’s more crossover than you might imagine). ** In cyber-security, RED TEAM plays attack. BLUE TEAM plays defence.

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