American Kingpin
The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road Drugs Empire
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American Kingpin
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Narrated by:
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Will Damron
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By:
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Nick Bilton
About this listen
The unbelievable true story of the man now pardoned by President Trump
Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of American Kingpin by Nick Bilton, read by Will Damron.
From New York Times-bestselling author Nick Bilton comes a true-life thriller about the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, the founder of the online black market Silk Road.
In 2011, Ulbricht, a 26-year-old libertarian idealist and former Boy Scout, launched "a website where people could buy anything anonymously, with no trail whatsoever that could lead back to them." He called it Silk Road, opened for business on the Dark Web, and christened himself the Dread Pirate Roberts (after the Princess Bride character). The site grew at a tremendous pace, quickly becoming a $1.2 billion enterprise where you could buy or sell drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, guns, grenades, and poisons.
The Silk Road soon caught the attention of the Feds, who embarked on an epic two-year manhunt for the site's proprietor. Ulbricht, in the meantime, struggled to maintain control of his double life and his marketplace, which he originally started to prove that legalising drugs could make society safer. He gradually abandoned his libertarian ideals to rule Silk Road with increasingly authoritarian force. At one point, he engaged the services of hired hit men to take out employees he felt had wronged him. Soon, some of the Federal agents who were supposed to be hunting for Ulbricht were lured into the dark world and switched sides to join him.
This is a true-life thriller about ambition gone awry, spurred on by the defining clash of our time: the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralised web advocates and the old world of government control, order, and the rule of law. Bilton's dazzling rendering and gift for narrative make for an endlessly fascinating drama.
What listeners say about American Kingpin
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Matt Lerner
- 02-27-25
Well researched and riveting
A fascinating story well researched and told. Could have been 20% shorter without losing anything though.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-05-23
Incredible story
This is a true story that reads like a novel. Love the book, highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- A M
- 10-15-17
Really good
No matter how good you are if you gamble too many times you will get caught.
Great book.
It just interesting that there is so much going on out there. You dont know what you dont know.
Its a must read. I finished it in 3 days
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- Mike Walker
- 01-09-19
great story
fascinating story of modern criminal
very well researched and narrated.
highly recommended listen for all.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- yul
- 11-07-19
interesting book
the story itself is very interesting, but the book is written in a report style that I didn't like much
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Klarita
- 08-18-18
Gripping, highly detailed and fascinating listen.
I wasn't actually expecting such a brilliant listen when I bought the book. I'd heard about the Silk Road but didn't know too much. Absolutely gripping story, albeit slightly repetitive at times, but truly fascinating, from every aspect. Wonderful!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 10-08-18
Epic listen
Great story line, well thought out and really well told.
Best audible I have heard so far and definitely recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- James Reihl
- 01-14-25
such accurate and detailed story telling
couldn't stop listening, sometimes a truly unbelievable story of how we can be corrupted by our own ideals
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mark V
- 03-28-19
Simply Amazing
As the title says, this book was simply amazing. The story telling is excellent and no question was left unanswered.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mark Horwell
- 09-08-17
A real insight in to a criminal mastermind
It's extremely well written and level detail is amazing. I want to listen again. :-)
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