Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not my usual genre, but a good detective/satirical read. Recommended.

An excellent technothriller that mixes technology and noir. Gripping, highly entertaining, and a solid plot that kept me hooked.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Book was very technical, very American, and very 'neat', by neat I mean too tidy, everything was too easy for the protaginist. It may not suit a non-techie European as well as their American cousins, I'm probably not the target market for this particular novel, so add an extra star for those of you that fit the profile!

La última novela de Cory Doctorow es una historia fácil y algo ingenua que nos da un pequeño barniz sobre temas de seguridad informática y la constante lucha entre el equipo que defiende sus redes e información (el azul) y el que las ataca para conseguir algún beneficio (el rojo).

Me gusta destacar el hecho de que el protagonista sea una persona de 67 años que aunque ya está pensando en el retiro en realidad se da cuenta de que con toda la experiencia que tiene acumulada en su campo les da sopas con hondas a muchísimos jóvenes tiburones. Como último favor a un amigo multimillonario deberá investigar el robo de una claves sobre las que se sustenta una nueva criptomoneda, pero jamás imaginaría todo lo que vendrá detrás.


Como ya he dicho, la mayoría de los personajes que aparecen en el libro ya han superado los 60 años, pero tienen mucho que ofrecer en sus respectivos campos. Diría que el principio tiene un cierto toque “Stephensiano” si me permitís la comparación, debido al carácter de lobo solitario de los personajes, pero es solo una fachada, porque Doctorow no deja pasar la oportunidad de criticar el sistema capitalista que favorece el blanqueo de dinero de las grandes fortunas que fíjate tú por dónde les salen las declaraciones de la renta a devolver.

Doctorow explica muy poco sobre la infraestructura que da soporte a las criptomonedas y menos todavía sobre toda la ingeniería fiscal necesaria para mover el dinero entre sociedades off-shore y paraísos fiscales, pero deja claro que esta es una práctica tan habitual como dañina para la sociedad. Aprovecha la necesidad de ocultarse del resto del mundo del protagonista en un determinado momento de la trama para dar voz a los miles de personas sin hogar que pueblan las ciudades, que no saben ni cuándo conseguirán su próxima comida. Este contraste tan exagerado con el selecto grupo que disponen de su jet personal para los desplazamientos más nimios, que tienen tanto dinero que ni en cien vidas se lo podrían gastar, es quizá el mensaje de mayor calado de la obra.

Red Team Blues es de lectura rapidísima, algo más de 200 páginas que quizá dejen algo fríos a sus seguidores más habituados a especulaciones de mayor envergadura como Walkaway o Radicalized.

There's a loose-limbed quality to Cory Doctorow's Red Ream Blues that fits the age of its protagonist. A 67-year-old forensic accountant who has worked in tech all of his life, when - yep - that could be a thing. A fixer for those who have been hacked, scammed or otherwise bamboozled he is a self-described red team player, ie he works in offense, its his job to find the flaws in systems that others might have utilised. A very different job to the blue team, trying to create unbreakable security. Red Team only has to find one flaw.

What it is, and Doctorow certainly doesn't hide this, is a soft-boiled PI story, an investigator doing one last job for a friend and coming up against organised crime, dames to die for and a McGuffin in and around the cryptocurrency. But this is a Doctorow character and one that seems quite personal, so he may have red team blues but he's wearing a white hat as he plays with the black hats in his green vehicles. There is an element of a shaggy dog story here too, as the initial case is solved in the first third, time passes and things slowly pick up again. Its episodic nature also gives Doctorow an opportunity to play around with another aspect of dot-com millionaire rarely considered - what do you do with all that money when you've spent most of your life eating packet Ramen.

There is much to be said for the vibe of Red Team Blues, even if it does contain the kind of murder and death-toll I would expect of a Dashiel Hammet. At the same time there are moments when it feels like Doctorow is running through his take on dot com morality, maybe I am jaded with the negatives of crypto and the moral ambivalence of the techbros. Also he basically sets up three femme fatels and pays off none of them, in what feels like a stab at gender equality takes an essential building block out of the form. Nevertheless if you want to read a de-tech-tive novel, and one where the lead is unfailingly nice to everyone, you won't find a better example.

Marty Hench is a 67-year-old forensic accountant specialising in unravelling the financial and technological structures people use to hide their money. In Red Team Blues, he agrees to take on one last job before he retires – for a tech billionaire whose crypto keys have been stolen. If the thieves can access his system, they will bring down not just his company but the security systems on which all the major tech companies rely.

The investigation escalates for Hench when he realises that he is treading on the toes of two criminal cartels and that his life is in danger. There is a way out for him if he’s prepared to compromise – but will he?

This is an entertaining tech thriller set in the world of cryptocurrency and financial fraud. It helps if you have a basic knowledge of crypto terminology (mine is limited to following a few tech-critical people on Twitter and listening to their podcasts, and that was enough). Doctorow talks you through the mechanics of Hench’s work without disrupting the flow of the narrative but ultimately all you really need to know is that the bad guys took something and Hench has to get it back.

It’s good to see a boomer (and an accountant!) as protagonist. Like all good private investigators in fiction, Hench has an unconventional and arguably aspirational lifestyle. He lives in a luxury tour bus and tows an electric car, and is successful enough that he can put off responding to a billionaire’s call while he enjoys a dinner date. (He also has a lot of intelligent, attractive women falling into bed with him which reminded me a bit of those 1970s cop dramas where the protagonist has a different love interest in every episode.)

Doctorow has an engaging writing style which keeps the pages turning. Don’t expect deep characterisation or dramatic plot twists – most of the action happens off the page. What Red Team Blues offers is a wealth of wry commentary and fascinating detail about Silicon Valley, and the murky world of tax avoidance and money laundering — from criminal gangs to the apparently respectable professionals who facilitate their crimes.

Particularly pointed are Hench’s observations on the extreme inequality of San Francisco, where billionaires step over rough sleepers. Hench does his own bit of redistribution (veering at times into sentimentality) but as he points out, even the wealthiest individual can’t solve what is a systemic problem.
*
I received a copy of Red Team Blues from the publisher via NetGalley.

Red Team Blues sees tech savvy Marty Hench on the trail of some crypto thieves. I know a little about cryptocurrency and bitcoin but no more than the average Joe and you get more far more insight here than you’ll pick up from a handful of ‘regular’ thrillers. Marty is personable enough and that’s as well as you are in his company every step of the way, I enjoyed the tech teachings, the jibes about corporations and the jaded view of life in the bubble that is San Francisco. Over and above those elements though, Red Team Blues is light on thrills and I found myself wanting more to get my teeth into.

Red Team Blues is a plot-driven detective story told in Cory Doctorow’s distinctive style of high tech internet sub-culture.

The main character of Marty Hench is engaging, and the plot clips along at a good pace, with a good supporting cast of characters. I genuinely wanted to know how everything turned out, and cared about the fate of Hench and his friends.

Doctorow manages to keep the writing accessible and engaging, while also talking about some quite complex technology (in this case cryptocurrency and blockchain). This is done in a way that effectively illustrates how immersed the characters are in this high tech world, without spoon feeding the reader with explanations and exposition that might get in the way of that momentum of the plot - there is just enough explanation to support the narrative and the important aspects of the plot.

While the plot does carry you along, I couldn’t help feeling there was a lack of depth in both the main arc of the plot, and some of the characters. For me, many of the supporting characters were a little too similar, and their personalities not explored or differentiated enough. This didn’t spoil what was a fun and engaging read, but did prevent me from giving a higher rating.

Thank you #NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the free review copy of #RedTeamBlues in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

a dot com Dashiell Hammett...gave this one 5 stars.
Is this a literary masterpiece to stand alongside Moby Dick and Shakespeare? Probably not, but it was aa smart, funny and enjoyable ride that came along at the right time for me.
the writing is breezy but clever - some nice succinct character work to establish who people are
the tone reminded me of Carl Hiaasen or even the Travis McGee series. Our intrepid hero has a tour bus in lieu of a houseboat
I'm not that knowledgeable about crypto or tech jargon but it's not really necessary to follow the story
what surprised and pleased me the most was the subversion of the usual detective novel formula - you think you're gonna be following one mystery but that's quickly wrapped up in the first third of the book....and that's when it really takes off