American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal MasterMind Behind the Silk Road

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My main problem with the book was that all the way through it the author describes, in great detail, conversations and meetings where he wasn’t present. He even describes the internal feelings of those involved. This gives the book the feel of a novel, but it is badged as non-fiction and the obvious question is “How does he know these things?” In fairness, he did interview many of the participants, who might have told him of events, but at no point does the author provide any sources for the conversations he reports. In addition, he was unsuccessful in getting an interview with Ross Ulbricht, so I am puzzled, for example, by the following extract, describing Ulbricht’s reaction to being arrested: Ross Ulbricht was an Eagle Scout, a good kid, a very smart kid, who developed a strong libertarian ethos.

I really think I did myself a disservice in reading extensively about the Silk Road and DPR before embarking on this book - as I knew all the twists and turns in this story ahead of time. At first I wasn't sure about how short some of the chapters were, and the ends of some of them didn't leave me NEEDING to continue reading right away. But with so much of the story to be set up, it's understandable why the story was written this way.If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire. Story #1 opens with young Ross with his family in his hometown of Austin, Texas. Ross seems like an average American kid – good home, boy scout, college graduate, etc. Ross is considered an exceptionally bright kid, albeit a bit quirky and disorganized. Additionally, American Kingpin follows the federal investigation, arrest, and conviction of DPR, weaving this thread throughout the entire book. Far from a highly organized federal investigation, the hunt for DPR begins by resembling a keystone cop’s episode as various individuals from different federal law enforcement agencies (DEA, DHS, FBI, IRS, etc.) jump on the case, buy drugs, arrest low-level dealers and drug buyers, and follow leads in pursuit of the Silk Road kingpin. Eventually, these individuals discover each other and cooperate on finding the Dread Pirate Roberts. While their collaboration leads to several dead ends, they eventually put their heads together, piece together all their individual breadcrumbs, and takedown DPR. Ross sat staring at a concrete wall, frightened by where he found himself but unfazed by how long he might be in jail. He had played through this scenario a thousand times before.”

American Kingpin is both a staggering feat of investigative journalism and a triumph of edge-of-your-seat storytelling. This is what true-crime writing should be.” The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom—and almost got away with it.I guess the most important part of me reading this book is that even though the entire thing was a giant neon flashing sign of Ross's guilt - with his association to the sales of drugs, guns and anything else illegal that the Silk Road wanted to dabble in.... At the end of the day I am not entirely convinced that Ross Ulbricht is DPR. Because... I went into American Kingpin blind, putting my faith into my friend’s recommendation. I would highly recommend that you do the same. Do not Google Ross Ulbricht or the Silk Road, and do not read news articles. This allows for the storyline to be suspenseful. Plus, everything you need to know is in this extensive piece of investigative journalism. Other issues that arise: the federal govt is a behemoth that is markedly useless in many of the functions it’s been designed to combat. DEA, FBI, DHS, have to hold regular “deconfliction” meetings bc of all the bureaucratic infighting. These sessions rarely result in ameliorating the pissing contests. Also, two feds ended up doing time for stealing Bitcoin from the Dreadpirate operation. It's a fascinating story that I will likely read again, because it very subtly makes you question your beliefs, morals and integrity as it paints you a portrait of a small idea taken to the grandest of scales and turned awry as a result of its successes.

Bilton worked at The New York Times from 2003 to 2016, as a design editor in the newsroom and a researcher in the research and development labs. Before he left, he was a technology columnist and the lead writer for the Bits blog. [2] First, his libertarian notions about leaving people to use their bodies their own way is certainly correct.The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. Or put simply, inmates manage to get drugs in prison. How then is any force going to stop people not incarcerated, who live freely, to stop?

Tatiana Siegel; Natalie Jarvey (2 June 2017). "Steve Zaillian to Write Fox Thriller 'Dark Web' ". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 15 February 2018.I loved how the author shared Ulbricht's thought process on the daily decisions he made about the Silk Road, which was driven by his hardcore libertarian philosophy. I've definitely never thought about trying to apply a political philosophy to something like selling human organs. Regardless of whether I agreed with his arguments, Ulbricht's musings sparked my curiosity and led me on more than one internet rabbit hole of researching libertarian views. He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions. Even if someone wants to advocate for prohibiting certain drugs, the hypocrisy and the futility should be apparent after decades and decades of failed govt action. Bilton extensively quotes Ross’ journal. Yet, as technical experts know, digital evidence is vulnerable to planting, deleting, altering. Incriminating content could have easily been planted when Ross was arrested (he was on an open source network), or at other times before or after. There are many issues with the laptop investigation, among them: the laptop crashed during investigation and one agent testified that he didn’t follow the guidelines when investigating it.