
American Kingpin
The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
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Narrated by:
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Will Damron
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By:
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Nick Bilton
The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom - and almost got away with it
In 2011, a 26-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine website hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything - drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons - free of the government's watchful eye.
It wasn't long before the media got wind of the new website where anyone - not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers - could buy and sell contraband detection-free. Spurred by a public outcry, the federal government launched an epic two-year manhunt for the site's elusive proprietor, with no leads, no witnesses, and no clear jurisdiction. All the investigators knew was that whoever was running the site called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.
The Silk Road quickly ballooned into a $1.2 billion enterprise, and Ross embraced his new role as kingpin. He enlisted a loyal crew of allies in high and low places, all as addicted to the danger and thrill of running an illegal marketplace as their customers were to the heroin they sold. Through his network he got wind of the target on his back and took drastic steps to protect himself - including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren't sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet.
Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, Vanity Fair correspondent and New York Times best-selling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks, and unbelievable close calls. It's a story of the boy next door's ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralized web advocates and the old world of government control, order, and the rule of law. Filled with unforgettable characters and capped by an astonishing climax, American Kingpin might be dismissed as too outrageous for fiction. But it's all too real.
©2017 Nick Bilton (P)2017 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“An astonishingly well-researched narrative.... Bilton's storytelling bears not so much as a trace of fat; the book he's conjured is so sharp and bright that it can be whipped through in the airport lounge before the flight takes off." (The Globe and Mail)
"Unbelievably riveting." (Casey Neistat)
“I dare you not to read this book in one sitting. Masterfully reported and written, Bilton’s book drops you hard into the dark heart of the most famous Internet crime to date. A first-rate thrill.” (Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Seventh Sense)
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It had intrigue and backstabbing and some gold old fashioned government turf wars to boot.
I loved everything about this book and did not want to stop until I had finished the whole thing. This has to this point been my favorite nonfiction audiobook release of 2017!
Simply...Amazing!
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Best listen in a long time
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This book got me back into reading.
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Casey neistat recommend the book and he was right, it is like a thriller/drama movie and very interesting how Ross got away with this drug crime for so long.
The book goes into great detail of his life before, after and during the crime in a way that is not boring to hear.
Book is like a Well written film
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Great book!
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great storytelling and great narration!
fascinating insight into the story of the silk road and it's founder!
highly recommend!
fantastic!
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Libertine Nightmare
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Watch out fir F bombs
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Mesmerizing
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A new favorite
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