Review by Booklist Review
Leave it to Doctorow to write a series in reverse. Red Team Blues (2023), the novel that introduced us to the 67-year-old forensic accountant Martin Hench, is set roughly in the present day. The Bezzle (2024), its sequel, is set in the early 2000s, when Marty is substantially younger and less jaded; and this book, the third, begins in the final years of the 1970s, when Marty, who's failing spectacularly at getting an engineering degree at MIT, discovers the joys of computing and accountancy. This is Marty's origin story: the tale of how a kid looking for a direction in life winds up revolutionizing the field of forensic accountancy (and, not coincidentally, getting into a heap of trouble). Not only is Marty Hench an absolutely compelling narrator, but the story, which explores the relationship between computers and crime, is exciting, surprising, and full of suspense. Doctorow's fan base extends well beyond the boundaries of sf, and this novel is a wonderful gift to his fans.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
