Author: Matthew Mather
Genre: SciFi Thriller
Matthew Mather's Darknet asks the question "What do you do when you're
hunted by an autonomous corporation/AI?" In Darknet, the answer is
supplied by Jake O'Connell and his random gang of tech whizzes who,
between running for their lives from violent/sinister/sadistic enemies
directed by a nameless omniscient entity, manage to cause global
financial chaos, upset a psychotic ex-armed forces killer and save
family members and the world all within a month. (Don't you love the
rapidity of it all, now just to catch a breath, phew)
What puzzled me:
If Bluebridge presumably monitored and tracked Sean Womack through
London vis social media (yes, the sinister side of photos and selfies
- and you thought it was merely the sticks that were a menace),
wouldn't it have been easier tracking him through the ubiquitous big
brother cameras. There were millions of those all over London, no
reason for them not to be within the Square Mile. And these would have
been far more efficient. I would have thought that plus those pesky
helicopters mentioned in the opening chapter would be far more
sinister. The bus was freaky, not least because public transport
(including those cabs) have a history of mounting sidewalks even if
it's rare these days.
Conflicted by: The Mohawks. Love the twists and turns but laying cable
that's necessary for the kind of operations described in the book would be
difficult if not impossible. Still, like the idea. Also echoes the militant/civil
standoffs reported in recent months, which increases the feel of proximity to
real life.
What resonated:
Jin's plight of being mistaken for a murderer when her
cousin Shen gets bumped off after that talk about Yamamoto. The part
about the angle of the video is pretty true. Plus, presumably,
Bluebridge is able to manipulate lift systems means it went far beyond
the capabilities in the case of Sean.
Overall impression:
Like it quite a bit. Personally, Bluebridge is not quite Bridgewater in reality.
AI aside, it sounds like a hybrid of Amazon and Renaissance, the latter
being one of the biggest and most notorious quants mecca. The recruitment
of physicists and mathematicians before they even graduate MSc was in full
blast 20 years ago, that was part of the reason why some finalists started
sprouting Beemers in their final year. There were quite a number of talent
writing and trading based on logarithms without really understanding
what lay beneath them.Then a series of bubbles and blowups dealt
heavy blows from 2000 onwards. Things aren't quite the same these days
though there were some instances of revival. As for the dark (and sinister)
transactions, the major players have been authorised to run market maker
and dark pools operations for a long time. Of course, no one really knows
what goes on in dark pools, if the recent rumours and investigations
surrounding dark pools is anything to go by, some of those involved
aren't all that aware of what's going on. Opacity and risk have multiplied,
all or most authorised by the powers that be.
system is the much vaunted case for everything from intelligent homes
to driverless cars. After reading this, what was said at a tech
convention yours truly attended earlier this year became all the
creepier. The head honchos of all the major tech giants and attention
grabbing startups were at the convention and more than one head of
innovation wiseguy said "Taking the human out of the equation means
removing the errors and reducing fatalities." Looking back, I wish I
had read this before the convention.
It's worse when you remember that almost all aspects of tech that
currently run in our lives evolved from military research, how far a
stretch is it that the cardinal rule of do not kill is subverted or
ignored altogether.
I think Jake O'Connell and Sheldon would agree that taking the human
out of the equation would prove to be the start of a slippery slope
into the nightmare that Darknet presents.
Disclosure: I purchased a copy of Darknet. This is not a paid review.
And there have been no inducements or payments made in return for this review.
Rating: 4*
I do not own the image displayed here, it's the book cover of the Amazon edition of the book.
Google Matthew Mather for his blog and links to his books.
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