The Mastermind

The hunt for the World's most prolific criminal

By: Evan Ratliff

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Paperback | 16 June 2020

At a Glance

Paperback
496 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.5 x 12.7 x 3.1

Paperback

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The extraordinary story of Paul Le Roux - one of the world's most prolific criminals, and the embodiment of a new generation of internet-enabled kingpins - and the US government's clandestine efforts to bring him down.

'Meth, murder and pirates- the coder who became a crime boss. A world that lurks just outside of our everyday perception, in the dark corners of the internet we never visit' - Wired

The Mastermind tells the incredible true story of Paul Le Roux, the frighteningly powerful creator of a twenty-first century cartel, and the decade-long global manhunt that finally brought his empire to its knees.

Le Roux's business evolved from an online prescription drug network into a sprawling multinational conglomerate engaged in almost every conceivable aspect of criminal mayhem. All tied together with encryption programs so advanced that government agencies were unable to break them.

Tracing Le Roux's vast wealth and his shadowy henchmen around the world, award-winning journalist Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together this intricate network. His investigation reveals a dark parable of ambition and greed, and exposes a new age of crime in which a reclusive entrepreneur can build an empire in the shadows of our networked world.

Industry Reviews

With his relentless and fearless reporting, Evan Ratliff has pried open a hidden world filled with high-tech gangsters and drug kingpins and double-crossers and stone-cold hitmen. The story is as fascinating as it is terrifying, and one that will hold you in its grip. * David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z *
One of the most prodigious criminal masterminds or modern times. Compelling... meticulously researched and written with a feverish intensity. A masterwork of investigative journalism. * Daily Mail *
A true crime classic. * Publishers Weekly *
This is a riveting, mesmerizing, absolutely bonkers story about a man as brilliant as he is villainous. You'll find yourself sucked in, freaked out, and, ultimately, blown away by Ratliff's storytelling and tireless reporting. The Mastermind is a masterpiece. * Nicholas Thompson, editor in chief, Wired *
The best book I read this year. It is the insane story of an internet drug lord and the years it took to bring him down. I read this with my heart in my throat-not just because of the violence and mystery, but because it made me jealous as a journalist (how'd he find that out?) and, though it is a true story, as a novelist. -- Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman Is in Trouble * GQ - Best Books of 2019 *

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