Marty Hench returns in a prequel (you don't need to read Red Team Blues to enjoy this book, but I think you should because I enjoyed it) about some of his earlier exploits as a forensic accountant. This book starts "small" by tackling MLMs and then moves on to the myriad problems of the American prison system.

This is one of those books that I really loved, and feel like I can't write about intelligently. So I'll just say, Doctorow gets very real with his criticisms on how our prisons are run and how the people within them are abused. I feel like he covers a lot for a novella, without it feeling too info-dumpy.

If you said the ending was idealist, I wouldn't argue, though it definitely wasn't a happy ending wrapped up in a neat little bow. I'll definitely be reading whatever Marty Hench book he writes next, and of course, remain a fan of Doctorow's work overall. ( )

A while back, I saw a tweet from someone who said they only read non-fiction because fiction is lacking "information density." This is someone who obviously hasn't read a Cory Doctorow novel. Both The Bezzle and Red Team Blues, along with the forthcoming third Marty Hench novel, are so information rich and dense that you can't lot learn something. And oh how entertaining that learning is when you're in Cory's hands.

If you know Cory Doctorow as a science fiction writer (as I do) then you might be a little confused by this book and the previous one, Red Team Blues. It's set more or less in contemporary times and, as far as I was able to determine, there's little that is not based on actual occurrences. It's like when Margaret Atwood talks about The Handmaid's Tale, she says there is nothing in that book that hasn't taken place at some point somewhere in the world.

Martin (Marty) Hench is a forensic accountant and he specializes in uncovering fraud and scams. He's not wealthy but he usually has to only work a few months out of the year because when he recovers money he gets 25% of it as his fee. And, usually, the amounts he finds are substantial. So, when his friend Scott Warms invites him to go to Catalina Island with him, Martin is free to do so. Scott is a tech entrepreuner who sold his company to Yahoo! and is very rich. On Catalina Island he socializes with other ultra-rich people and so does Marty by extension. Scott likes to take fast-food hamburgers over to Catalina to give to the locals who live there because there are no fast-food joints on the island. On one visit their driver/guide introduces them to the new scheme that monopolizes all the fast food that comes onto the island by getting people with access to it to give it up in return for shares in the scheme. As the driver explains it Martin and Scott realizes this is just a Ponzi scheme and they know that no-one ever gets rich in them. They disclose this to their driver and get him to withdraw from the scheme and get all his friends to do so. This brings the scheme down and incurs the wrath of the head, Lionel Coleman Jr. Some years later when Scott racks up a third felony charge for possession of cocaine he is sent to prison for life. Marty tries to visit and help Scott but shortly after a private company is given the contract for running all the non-essential services at the prison. Things like meals, visits, commissarry, library, telephone calls. And guess who turns out to be head of the company that got this contract? Yes, their old friend Lionel Coleman Jr. He takes the opportunity to make things as hard as possible for Scott and Scott wants Marty to take the company down. When Marty starts investigating all the shell companies and off-shore accounts, Marty gets roughed up by some police officers who are investors in the company.

Although I've never longed to live in the US, this book made me wonder if I even want to visit there. Who knows what other segments of society are stacked against the ordinary person and when one might run afoul of the "rules". And, especially if a certain person wins the presidential election later this year. ( )

As a Silicon Valley forensic accountant, Martin Hench usually works to untie the knots in startup spreadsheets. In Red Team Blues, he unraveled a scheme involving cryptocurrency. In The Bezzle, he tells a story about the first dotcom boom when he helped the victim of a Ponzi scheme on Catalina Island and a young man who ran afoul of corruption in California’s recently privatized prisons.
Hench can be your “avenging angel of the balance sheet.” But there are limits. He explains that once you have invested in a Ponzi scheme, the money is gone. The best you can do is cut your losses and get out. You may never get your money back, but some revenge may be possible if you can take advantage of the bezzle, the period when an embezzler has his swag, but his victim has yet to feel the loss.
The Bezzle is not the science fiction novel we usually get from Cory Doctorow, but it is one of his most character-driven stories. Hench is like the Ancient Mariner as he tells an unnamed listener his story of labyrinthian greed that fascinates and appalls. ( )

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow is a financial thriller that offers a glimpse along with real insight into financial shenanigans. It is very highly recommended.

In 2006 Martin Hench, a self-employed forensic accountant, is vacationing with his friend Scott Warms on Catalina Island, where there is no crime. Martin uncovers a black market financial pyramid scheme that is based on the resale of fast food on the island where fast food chains are banned. He knows that the man running the scheme, Lionel Coleman Jr., is going to take all the money the islanders have invested so he helps them bring the scheme down. Lionel finds out Martin and Scott were involved in ending the fast food scam, so he gets revenge on Scott, who ends up sent to prison. But this is just the beginning of the scams Martin uncovers that are being perpetrated by the ultra-wealthy, including California’s Department of Corrections.

The fascinating narrative is via Martin telling someone the story about his experiences in 2006 leading up to the 2008 financial crash. Doctorow does an excellent job writing about what could be considered boring financial details that a forensic accountant uncovers and makes the examination interesting. He knows about tech-sector monopolies, copyright laws, and internet ethics. He also understands that some of these wealthy people wield real power behind the scenes.

Most of the novel is akin to a procedural and provides details into the financial aspects of cases leading ultimately up to a final major encounter/case. The writing is clear, clever, and concise. This can work as a stand-alone novel. 4.5 . Thanks to Tor for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/02/the-bezzle.html ( )