(em português → sol2070.in/2024/03/resenha-livro-the-bezzle-cory-doctorow/ )

"The Bezzle" (2024) is the latest fiction by Cory Doctorow. It's a clever and very relevant page-turning political tech thriller.

It's the second book featuring protagonist Martin Hench, a kind of digital detective who uncovers intricate corporate scams. The first was "Red Team Blues" (2023).

It's a prequel, even better than the previous one. It begins at the time of the internet bubble at the end of the 90s and goes up to the mid-2000s. The central plot involves the corrupt privatisation of the US prison system (which actually took place), creating a horrific techno-dystopian incarceration that would cause envy for today's big techs.

It's one of those books that's hard to put down, even though it lays descriptions even of the lustre of a tie or the filling of an unusual sandwich (makes you hungry).

As a bonus, there are some tasty psychedelic adventures.

Cory, for those who don't know, as well as being a respected and popular speculative fiction writer, also works and writes non-fiction in the area of digital rights.