He worried nonfiction about sovereign debt would be too boring

November 15, 2024 11:52 AM

A central character of the 2022 novel “Undermoney” is a New York hedge-fund magnate entangled in a world of corrupt spies, Russian mercenaries and vaults of shadowy money. In one passage, a security operative tells the investor, “My guess is that hackers are stealing your data every day, and most of the time your guys don’t even know they’re there.” In real life, an Israeli private investigator named Amit Forlit is on supervised curfew in a posh north London neighborhood, facing extradition to the U.S. on federal hacking charges. Prosecutors are investigating whether Forlit orchestrated the theft of emails from Argentine officials while working on behalf of a big hedge fund that sued the South American country over defaulted debt. from A Financier Penned a Crime Novel. Prosecutors Want to Know How Much Was Fiction [WSJ]
posted by chavenet (4 comments total)

This is why one must observe the age-old tradition of using Venetian couriers, renowned adherence to non sanguinem, discreet use of multiple relays, station points, and running parallels when observing or escaping. These practices and the familiarity of being guilty before proven innocent makes the ideal candidate for secrecy whether it's (no) cell phone or a Vespa.
(10)
posted by clavdivs at 1:47 PM on November 15, 2024 [4 favorites]

This reminds me of a Chinese writer who once worked in the Chinese State Department and wrote a very knowledgeable spy novel series (first one is titled《致命弱点》) -- so knowledgeable that it roused the suspicion of the national security bureau and he was eventually charged with being a double agent by Chinese authorities.
posted by of strange foe at 6:33 PM on November 15, 2024 [3 favorites]

Eh, I can't help but think the "being questioned by law enforcement" angle is overstated and this WSJ article is just an advertisement for the journalist's friend's book.

Kind of like that gimmick where the local sheriff "has to register the boxer's hands as deadly weapons" to help sell boxing match tickets.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:31 AM on November 16, 2024 [4 favorites]

Legend is that when he published "The Hunt for Red October", Tom Clancy was extensively questioned about the amount of classified data he included in it. He was able to show that he found it all in public information. If you read it knowing that, you see a lot of throwaway lines like, "the submarine accelerated to its to speed off 28 knots".
posted by Hatashran at 9:07 AM on November 16, 2024 [1 favorite]