American Kingpin
By Nick Bolton
In 2011, a twenty-six year old libertarian named Ross Ulbricht hatched the idea to create the world’s ultimate free marketplace: the Silk Road. Found on the Dark Web, the Silk Road allowed buyers and sellers to transact drugs, guns and new identities to anyone who had access to the anonymous cryptocurrency Bitcoin. It wasn’t long before government agencies set out to take down the site, and its leader. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the greatest cybercrime investigation in recent history.
“Over time he learned that the way to have a leg up on everyone else was to anticipate something before it happened and then have the answer to it.”
Thoughts
This reads like fiction. I have known about the Silk Road ever since high school. Kids in my school were talking about this website that sold literally any sort of contraband imaginable. I had even heard that you could order a hitman to murder any person on the planet. Needless to say the Silk Road catapulted into the limelight as the most badass website on the internet. American Kingpin is written like a fast paced crime novel following an old school Italian mobster in Prohibition America. Each chapter follows a government agent chasing Ross Ulbricht or Ross himself navigating through his newfound life of being the most notorious drug dealer ever. With scenes that drip with texture and characterization Nick Bolton brings a surreal story to life and makes you wonder how this happened only a few years ago. Palpable and engaging American Kingpin exposes what a modern day criminal enterprise is and how the feds brought it down.
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