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Books like The Mastermind

A globe-spanning true crime thriller that exposes the terrifying intersection of Silicon Valley savvy and ruthless cartel violence. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The Mastermind.

tense
globe-trotting
dark
high-stakes

01
Kingpin
Kevin Poulsen
A breathless, real-life cyber-thriller that plunges you into the paranoid, high-stakes underworld of digital crime.
Shares:
- tense
- journalistic
- gripping
- cat-and-mouse pursuit
02
American Kingpin
Nick Bilton
A gripping, real-life thriller about the intoxicating descent from idealistic tech startup to ruthless digital cartel.
Shares:
- tense
- high-stakes
- journalistic
- cat-and-mouse pursuit
03
Ghost in the Wires
Kevin Mitnick
A breathless, high-stakes game of digital hide-and-seek that reads like a cyber-heist thriller.
Shares:
- tense
04
Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime-from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door
Brian Krebs
A gripping, real-life cyber-thriller that pulls back the curtain on the shadowy economy operating right inside your inbox.
Shares:
- tense
- urgent
05
The Art of Deception
Kevin D. Mitnick and William L. Simon
A thrilling, eye-opening masterclass in human manipulation that will leave you questioning the security of every phone call and email.
Feels:
- suspenseful
- eye-opening
- paranoid
06
Cult of the Dead Cow
Joseph Menn
A thrilling, clandestine ride through the underground origins of hacktivism and the digital rebels who shaped the modern internet.
Shares:
- urgent
07
The perfect weapon
David E. Sanger
A gripping, sobering plunge into the invisible wars being waged across our digital networks every single day.
Shares:
- tense
- urgent
08
Tracers in the Dark
Andy Greenberg
A high-stakes, globe-trotting cyber-thriller that proves the internet's darkest corners are never as anonymous as they seem.
Shares:
- tense
- high-stakes
- journalistic
- gripping
09
Enemy of All Mankind
Steven Johnson
A thrilling historical heist that zooms out to reveal the hidden origins of the modern global economy.
Shares:
- tense
- journalistic
10
Digital gold
Nathaniel Popper
A globe-trotting, character-driven deep dive into the chaotic frontier of decentralized money and the eccentric visionaries who built it.
Shares:
- high-stakes
- journalistic
11
Sandworm
Andy Greenberg
A gripping, dread-inducing investigation into the invisible cyber wars already raging around us.
Shares:
- tense
- high-stakes
- urgent
12
ZeroZeroZero
Roberto Saviano
A harrowing, globe-spanning descent into the dark economic forces and escalating violence of the international cocaine trade.
Shares:
- tense
- dark
- urgent

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