American Kingpin: Catching the Billion-Dollar Baron of the Dark Web by Nick Bilton

Author : Nick Bilton
Title : American Kingpin: Catching the Billion-Dollar Baron of the Dark Web
Publsihed : 2017
Publisher : Virgin books
Pages : 352
Genre : True Crime

     In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything - drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons - free of the government's watchful eye. While the federal government were undertaking an epic two-year manhunt for the site's elusive proprietor, the Silk Road quickly ballooned into a $1.2 billion enterprise. Ross embraced his new role as kingpin, taking drastic steps to protect himself - including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the Feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren't sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet.

     I find true crime books to be fascinating, learning the in's and out's of a crime. For the most part in the news, we only get brief insights into any case but with books like American Kingpin, we get so much more. The author really took his time in delving into his subjects' life and trying to give us every aspect that lead to his eventual downfall. This book not only covers the how but also the why. For the most part, you feel that Ross started out his quest with the most noble of reasons. But along the way money and power came into play. It was interesting for me to see this philosophy that came before the empire. More often than not with true crime books, we get facts and important dates but the true reason behind such things gets lost to time. I suppose everyone had their views on drugs be they good or bad. The fundamental problem lies in the fact that they will never go away. Someone will always want to take them and others will always be there to supply. So what then are our choices to keep them illegal or make everything legal and regulate the? For Ross, he decided to take the grey area between. 

     For me, I do remember Silkroad, I recall people talking about it before it hit the headlines. It was some mythical place where you could buy any drug you could think of at it would be handily delivered to your door. Or for some, it was the biggest trap on the internet set up to catch people in illegal acts. Ethier way it was out there doing what it did. I was left surprised by this book, how one man set out in his mind to changes the face of buying drugs. The time and effort he put in to twerking each little detail and trying to stay one step ahead of every movement departs that set there eyes on him. But Ross was a determined man, both clever and driven by one single idea. But as always with all this comes power and that is usually where all things start to go wrong. It also makes you arrogant which leads you to become both paranoid and sloppy. Which do not make for good bedfellows.  

     There is a great deal to take in when reading this book as we get insight into the lives of not just Ross but also those around him on both sides of the laws. I can only imagine the effort Bilton put into gathering up all this information. And if not for such a light style of writing it might well have gotten lost in an overload of information. He makes you want to deliver deeper in the world Ross created and that strangest of places the dark web. With this comes a fair amount of talk of computers since and the in's and outs of how the site its self was put together which for some would not be the most stimulating of topics. But even here Bilton mages to present the information in an easily accessible way. As I made my way through the book it becomes clear that the author has a genuine passion for his subject he cares about what took place and wants us to know it too. And for me, it works I kept devouring the pages to see what these people did in pursuit of their own ideas and dreams. 

     Strangely enough, it is the actual working of the case that takes a back seat in this book. He strives to show the human side of it all the tole it takes on even those with the highest of ideals. With these pages, he raises some very important topics for us to mull over. So as I said a lot to take in. For me, it works not only due to the style of writing but also the short chapters as we move from one person to the next. At the end of the day I would be happy to recommend this book. It gave me a much more human insight into the headlines about the silk road. For better or worse Ross did what he did and I'm sure he will not be the last.