hackoff.com: A Historic Murder Mystery Set in the Internet Bubble and Rubble

Tom Evslin
dotHill press (2006)
ISBN 0977464601
 Reviewed by Cherie Burbach for Reader Views (6/06)


This book, first serialized online, has attracted readers from around the globe with its tale of murder, sex, power, and greed.  Fictional CEO Larry Lazard served time in prison for hacking through bank security systems and obtaining credit card numbers.  He then parlayed his conviction into an online security consulting business, which became hackoff.com.  To start, the main character of Larry Lazard is annoying, abrasive, obnoxious, and yet you find yourself rooting for him.  Lazard started hackoff.com in the time of the Internet bubble, as it were, which makes this story all the more exciting and fun.

Like “hackoff.com”, author Tom Evslin founded a company that went public during the infamous Internet bubble.  Evslin’s personal experience combined with his original writing style makes hackoff.com a page-turner that will keep readers up at night trying to finish.  It keeps the reader guessing, and never loses intensity.  The ending is no less disappointing, making this book a satisfying read from beginning to end.

“hackoff.com” is original in its form and set up as well.  Interspersed with the prose are email exchanges, chat room transcriptions, stock quotes, and interviews with the police.  Each element adds something new to the story, and along the way helps define each of the characters.  There’s Donna, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model that is a CFO but longs for more, Dom, the chief technology officer that starts off as a minor character – we barely know him, and yet ends up as one of the most interesting and unique. 

Besides the characters, the story itself is captivating.  The way the author describes the initial public offering for “hackoff.com” is quite fascinating, and I felt like I was getting a behind the scenes look at what really takes place with an IPO and how the stock market reacts to it. 

This was one of the most original and entertaining books I’ve read.  I loved it.  LOVED it!  It held my attention from beginning to end, and at just under 650 pages that is no easy accomplishment. 

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