The Cryptographer

Tobias Hill

Set a few years into the future this novel is proof that you can write a thriller about a tax inspector. The man being investigated is John Law, the richest man in the world and inventor of the world's first great electric currency. Inspector Anna Moore starts with the accounts but soon becomes obsessed by Law himself and the rarefied world of the super-rich.

Extract

Mister Law is full of secrets. The Cryptographer, people call him, or the Codemaker, and other things, expressions of distrust and ill-concealed admiration. It is the new millennium, after all, and no longer acceptable to admire the rich. But Law is both distrusted and admired more than most, more than Anna entirely understands, and that will have to change. She will need to understand her client. Rule number one: information is the inspector's greatest weapon.

Parallels