Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow.
I ventured into my local branch of the Toronto Public Library recently since I hadn't been in a while. It's kind of a prblem, I renew my library card every year, but I had gotten out of the habit of borrowing books. Buying books physically or online had replaced that for me, as well as just reading fiction and news online.
Anyways, I am glad that I walked in and spent some time browsing the shelves. I've been a fan of Doctorow's writing since I read his novel Little Brother over a decade ago. I quickly devoured Homeland and For the Win as well, enjoying the settings of all three of these books. Young people, technologically savvy, navigating a world that blends between the physical (meatspace), the online (cyberspace) and even the darknet. Red Team Blues departs only a little bit from that setting.
Martin Hench
Instead of a teen or twenty-something, we get Martin. A sixty-seven year old hacker who's been in the game longer than the script-kitties have been alive. Martin's looking for his final few scores before retirement. A setup we've no doubt all seen before in movies and other stories. But Doctorow pulls it off quite well. The dramma ratchets up throughout the book, and a new engagement starts just as one ends. It makes you think, how many "last jobs" is this guy going to take?
Rushed Introductions
And this brings up the only gripe I had with the novel, at a tight 212 pages, this story moves fast. As each job rolls into the next, we barely get introduced to a set of characters before the are out of the picture and someone new strolls into frame to give Martin the next "quest". I mean, given that this guy is near retirement after a successful and lucrative career, of course he has a network. This is how it works in real life, people come and solicit your services, but the way new characters are introduced as they bring quests just makes everything seem a bit too convenient.
Touches On
The story touches on lots of tech themes that are familiar if you've read Doctorow's work before. We have cryptocurrency, blockchain, 3-letter agencies surveilling the innocent, and some San Francisco counter-culture. What's new is a perspective of tech CEOs, though down to earth. There are more gangs and death in this novel as well.
Overall
The book was good. Digestible. And since it's publishing Doctorow has released two more Martin Hench novels, which I think I'll checkout when I get the chance.