I don't even know where to begin. This book will utterly haunt me moving forward. Truth is stranger than fiction. The Hank Show is the craziest true story of how we got Big Brother, and how it has even morphed waaaaay more than we are being told as a public body. It starts off with Hank Asher, a former drug running pilot into a man that, while a super genius mastermind with the intent of doing good, ultimately created a monster of a legacy that we can't run or hide from anymore. Pieced together, almost like a manual of intention and information gathering transforms from a good project to a weapon that can, and ultimately IS used against people, where machine is trusted more than man, where the future is catching up to the past. Think of the show Persons of Interest meets the reality of the aftermath of the hunt for the Boston Bomber, but this isn't fiction, it's our reality that we aren't even aware of until almost a DECADE LATER!!!!!! Craziest story I've ever read!!!
Narrated by Eric Jason Martin, who was easy to listen to and the pace was on point and at the right tone, and prologue by McKenzie Funk, who also was easy to listen to as well.
*I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

What a wild story about all the things this man caused with his technology. He lived a wild life and it was very fascinating to read about. I do think the author got a bit too "end of the world"-esque about tech surveillance though.

This book is capital "S" Scary, and it's not of the horror genre.

Rather, "The Hank Show" is a biography of the guy, Hank Asher, who created Big Data in the early 90's, and whose consumer database eventually helped locate several of the terrorists who flew into the WTC towers.

Doesn't sound too bad, right?

Well, he was referred to as the Dark Lord of Data.

Asher (and others) added driver license photos, social security numbers, social media profile data, and criminal history to these databases. They called it "The matrix."

As we (dumbasses) opted into more internet apps, quizzes, games, and social media accounts, things got even more creepy. And our data profiles got even more sophisticated.

Politicians could target voters. Insurers could approve or deny insureds. ICE could deport illegal immigrants. The police could profile those who may have committed a crime, and arrest them (even though sometimes the data was incorrect). Healthcare workers could treat patients who were the least likely to die.

PLUS, way more creepy analytical tools.

During Covid, the reliance of a "social detrement" algorithm affected those who might get preferential treatment. Of course, it affected people of color. Ugh!!!

Talk about Big Brother...

I really learned a lot from this book written by journalist McKenzie Funk. It will make you both paranoid and smarter on what information you give away.

Lastly, the narration by Eric Jason Martin was superb. Interestingly, it had a computer "A.I.-generated" vibe to it.

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for an advanced listener copy via the NetGalley app

Didn’t really know what to expect with this one, but was actually quite eye-opening!

Hank Asher began as basically a drug addict…who then started a house painting business…and just kept jumping upwards in jobs from there! Those who knew him said he had a phenomenal mind…and after reading/listening to the book, they actually said that his mind did what computer algorithms do now! That’s pretty amazing in my book!

Sad to see how he built things up, and then they were ripped away from him in the blink of an eye…

Also very sad to read about how his life ended…

Also eye opening to see how the data that runs the world now is also responsible for many false arrests. Seems that we just might be relying a bit too much on computers…

Again, wasn’t really sure how this one would turn out, but the premise pulled me in, and I’m so happy I did read it!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for the ARC of the audiobook which was released October 3, so you should be able to find it on shelves now!

#TheHankShow by #McKenzieFunk and narrated by #EricJasonMartin.

If you liked my review, please ‘like’ it here. You can also follow me on Instagram at #BookReviews_with_emsr. Thanks!!

While this book is in fact a work of nonfiction, it is terrifying enough to be considered a thriller. This is the little known story of Hank Asher, the pioneer of data fusion. His life was insane, but even more crazy are the ways in which his technology, originally utilized in part to help find missing children and wanted fugitives, has run completely amok within the past decade. If you are someone who cares about your digital privacy, this is a must read.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.

From the title you get a general idea of what the book will be about. However, the impact of Hank Asher ideas is so much more far reaching in today's society than anyone could believe. His story of collecting data begins with getting Florida DMV information for insurance companies (for risk calculation) and law enforcement entities (for finding criminals). As the book progresses, we see how buying consumer data of all kinds and making connections between these pieces of data has become so prevalent and intrusive in our lives today. We also see that there are entities that use this information for good (in healthcare and fighting crime) to those that only use this for profit or being intrusive. There were so many information companies involved, it kind of got hard to keep track of all the players.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible piece of non-fiction! I can't believe I had no idea who was behind connecting data dots to a scary point! Anyone who is curious about internet anonymity would find this valuable. I am definitely gifting this to people as soon as it comes out! I couldn't stop listening to this one once I started! Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the ALC.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an alc in exchange for an honest review.
The Hank Show releases October 3, 2023

<i>“I set out to investigate not privacy, but power.”</I>

The Hank Show is based on a true story of Hank Asher — a man who went from being a high school dropout, to painter, drug runner, and then a computer programmer that owned and created one of the largest private databases.

The content is a little too far outside of my wheelhouse to be able to provide a nuanced review, but it wholly fascinates me; all of the intricacies of surveillances, data storing and monitoring, and digital footprints.

Funk has provided an extremely factual account spanning many decades, going back as far as the 1950s, and it feels well researched.

I definitely recommend the audiobook format as it’s a much easier way to stay engaged with the large amount of information at hand.


<i>“See yourself through Asher’s inventions, and you see that what may be scariest is not when the machines are wrong about you—but when they’re right.”

“As long as your exhaust is still out there in a database, your history still indexed and easily scored, you won’t be given every opportunity. You’ll be given every opportunity that’s deemed optimal for you.”</I>