THE BEZZLE Paperback – June 4, 2024

A furious fictional description of the reality of privatised prison system . One of Cory Doctorows best and most relevant books

This one takes on the dot com winners and the prison system. It starts pretty funny, gets kind of disturbing, and ends up being totally horrifying. Still, a great read, and all true about the prison system.

Wait to read this book until you're in a calm, peaceful frame of mind. When you get to the end, you'll start digging your bunker and setting in provisions.This book follows Cory's previous book "Red Team Blues" but occurs sequentially <i>before</i> it.It seems like this book is in the very near future and it describes the logical outcome of the monopolistic practices of many large corporations in buying smaller competitors not to absorb their talent or any value but merely to eliminate their competition. This book deals with prison management systems and their victims (as if prisoners didn't already have it hard enough).In one sense, I thought that the ending was a bit weak. Marty provides some relief to his friend Scott (in prison) but Scott is more interested in providing broader relief to his fellow prison mates. In one sense, given the title and subject matter, I expected Marty to do a "bezzle" on the antagonist. Either way, it was a good (instructive) story with compelling characters.Oh, and if you'd like more information on how current affairs bridges over into the future described in Cory's novel, start with this Twitter (sorry, not using "X") thread: [I tried to put a direct link to the post but Amazon was not happy; search for "@doctorow prison" on Twitter and it should be the first search result.]There needs to be a "Martin Hench #3" book but given how busy Cory is, that might be a while in coming...

A good story. I liked the details sourced from EFF back in the 90’s about making legal resources available on line, something Cory worked on and the potential to fix the abuse of telephone services for prisoners.

I consider myself a rather devoted Cory Doctorow fan and this book has a lot of what I've loved going back to Little Brother. However while its still very interesting and full of specific San Francisco and tech industry references that are extremely spot on, the action is more limited here and it feels like there are multiple times where the text is off on a tangent that doesn't end up connecting back in any significant way.That being said, it is probably very similar to how i myself would tell the same story IRL which actually circles us back around to a compliment! If you're familiar with Cory's style you're very likely to enjoy this. If you're new to his work I wouldn't necessarily start here because some of the other titles are more likely to keep you more actively engaged. Overall definitely enjoyable though. One of my all time favorite authors.

Thanks to Net Galley for the preview. As always Doctorow is very readable and I learn about some sector of society with which I have no exposure.This time around, the privatisation of prisons is the issue du jour. Per usual, the foils in the narrative are fueled by greed and power, and their cruelty knows no bounds.I enjoy Martin Hench a great deal, as well as his nomadic compadres. Otherwise, the ensemble of rich technocrats get a bit tiresome.Back to the prison issue- private companies have no business running prisons. Like for profit charter schools and universities, looking out for the best interests of investors as well as the residents is impossible. The investors win.

...You'll like this one. Not Science Fiction-y but an interesting romp through California's dot-com era. Corey manages to make forensic accounting, interesting (I suppose you could call that the sign of an accomplished Author). The book moves along, I think critics call it "gripping" and held my interest through all the twists and turns that Our Hero goes through to win out (mostly) in the end. I gather the Author is planning more Martin Hench novels and I am all in on this series. highly Recommended.

Cory Doctorow’s latest, a second Marty Hench novel, delves into the disturbing world of for-profit prisons. It is not pleasant. It is and should indeed be disturbing to the average reader. Doctorow weaves in threads of international tax evasion, outlining inversion, shell companies, and (nearly) anonymous boards of directors, with a shoutout to Ernst & Young’s scandal where aspiring financial professionals cheated at no less that the ethics component of the CPA exam. Marty Hench is less spirited protagonist than vehicle to take us on this ride; Doctorow’s prose is thankfully less pedantic that it could be. I thoroughly enjoy the book and look forward to the next of Marty Hench’s adventures!If you enjoy financial crimes nonfiction, David v. Goliath public interest stories, or films like The Firm, this book is for you! Stick with it past the flowery pastels of the opening chapters - you’ll know immediately when you reached the meat of the story!

Spannendes Buch! Gut geschrieben! Konnte richtig mit dem Protagonisten mitfiebern.Nach der Lektüre bin ich aber auch froh, nicht in den USA zu leben.

Classic Cory Doctorow by which I mean namely fun smart plausible and expansive and a pleasure to read for anyone

Starts slowly setting the background. Sneaks up on you with devestating revelations. How long can a nation that permits these atrocities continue to exist?

Loved the book in the end and I'm glad of the plot twist. It's interesting that if this predates Marty's later life (RTB) it has so little impact on RTB. You would have thought there would be some ongoing interplay between the characters etc. - Like in the Rivers of London series where there is some continuation of characterisation. Yes, Marty is a geek and a forensic accountant and so he's going to be annoying but the level of description...and the meals he cooks...the man is always eating tenderloin steaks...cooked on a barbecue of some kind...over some special type of wood...with two-three-four fingers of rum...dear God...this is Dickensian in its repetition of tropes. But I read it and enjoyed it and will probable be suckered into buying the next...

Wie der Vorgänger auch eine spannende Geschichte über die Verbrechen der herrschenden Klasse. Besonders gefallen hat es mir, dass das Buch auch ein Gefühl der letzten 2 Jahrzehnte vermittelt.