This book was the most fun and the most difficult to write. It’s loosely based on the Silk Road scandal. I found that fascinating and it was my first time to read about bitcoin, dark web browsers and the frightening things that can be bought there.
There is a real anonymous browser that the book’s was based on including how it was formed and why. Wild, huh?
Bitcoin was the most difficult thing to truly understand along with hacking because a lot of math is involved and I am terrible at math! I read several books on bitcoin and the exchange as well as how to mine them etc…I was going cross-eyed for months. How can I understand this, then write it in a way others can? I hope I did it justice!
I knew going in that I wanted a super fast paced story with fugitives. I used the Chattahoochee, but fudged a little with the degree of currents.
After I researched like a madwoman and wrote the book, Netflix added several documentaries about bitcoin. To say I was irritated at the poor timing (because Netflix should have known I could have used them way earlier ha ha) is an understatement.
I wanted all of these characters in the Security Specialists to have super powers in a sense. Shepherd has ultra keen observation (Deep Waters), Beckett has uncanny tracking abilities (Final Verdict which isn’t in the series but he’s on their team now) and of course Jody suffers from hyperosmia which is a real thing, but I stretched it just a little for fiction’s sake. She has a sniffer like a bloodhound, actually maybe better. Wilder has heightened discernment and of course, uber charm. 🙂
Toward the end of the book during an emotional scene Evan reads a letter from memory. I got that idea from watching a teen drama, Vampire Diaries. I know, right? But it worked.
