Picks and shovels

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.

Marty Hench's third outing is his origin story, tightly interwoven with the early years of the personal computer revolution. In the late 1970s, Marty fell in love, first with the early Apple computers, and then with the possibilities that even the first versions of spreadsheets made possible. So he left Boston for San Francisco, following a friend and looking for a job in the Wild West days of the industry. Instead of a job, he finds an underfunded start-up and a righteous quest to take down a pyramid scheme masquerading as a computer company. He also puts his friends in danger, gets beaten up by gangsters, and manages to both win and lose--as he often does. VERDICT Told with wit and verve, this is the portrait of the old raconteur and rabble-rouser as a young man and will charm readers who enjoyed Marty's previous outings. It's also a fascinating portrayal of the early wild and woolly days of Silicon Valley, as seen from the perspective of someone in the trenches at the start of it all. Highly recommended for readers of the series and anyone fascinated by the era.--Marlene Harris