Money-laundering, cyber-knavery and shell-company chicanery: Marty Hench is an expert in them all. He's Silicon Valley's most accomplished forensic accountant and well versed in the devious ways of Fortune 500s, divorcing oligarchs, and international drug cartels alike (and there’s more crossover than you might imagine).

THE YEAR IS 1986. THE CITY IS SAN FRANCISCO.

Here, Martin Hench will reinvent the forensic accountant for the digital age – what a bounty hunter is to people, he will be to tech money – but for now he’s an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever.

When Martin is hired by a Silicon Valley startup, Fidelity Computing, to investigate a group of disgruntled ex-employees who’ve founded a competitor, he quickly realises he’s on the wrong side. Martin ditches the greasy old guys running Fidelity Computing without a second thought, utterly infatuated with the electric atmosphere of Computing Freedom. Located in the heart of the Mission, this group of brilliant young women have set out to beat Fidelity Computing at their own game. But they have no idea of the depth of evil they’re seeking to uproot. Or the risks they run.

In this company-eat-company city, Martin and his friends will be lucky to escape with their lives.

"A classic thriller setup: the little guys vs corporate skulduggery" - Daily Telegraph

"Excellent... a technical thriller that entertains and educates from first page to last" - GeekDad

"Reads like a 1980s Silicon Valley startup myth meets spy thriller... This is an origin story for the lead character but you don’t need to have read the whole series. You’ll race through it" - Shortlist

"Will appeal to many things readers are looking for, from serious thoughts to sheer comedy, from finding out obscure facts to agreeing with succinct summarisations, and from nostalgia to helpful advice about living in today’s world. Above all, ‘Picks & Shovels’ entertains" - SF Crowsnest

"The word that most comes to mind is charming: there is something very likeable about Doctorow’s story of decent people trying to do good things" - Morning Star