Ride the Lightning

Summer Reading: Black List by Brad Thor

July 30, 2013

If you want to amp up your paranoia over government intrusions into our private lives, you need to read Black List by Brad Thor. If your name is on the closely guarded black list, it doesn't come off the list – until you're dead. Counterterrorism expert Scott Horvath has just had his name added to the list. This is a heck of a thriller.

The book begins with portions of an interview of Senator Frank Church on Meet the Press in 1975. He was already worried. He said in part, "If this government ever became a tyrant, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capability that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back—."

It's hard to imagine the extent to which that is true now. If you want to know the tech side of how the government collects data on all of us, this book is uncannily on point. If you are curious how close we are to teetering on the precipice, this is the book to read. Don't start it late at night – it's hard to put down.