Dark Wire

An Economist Best Book of 2024

A Financial Times Best Book of 2024

“[Cox] swings back and forth between the activities of the white hats and the black hats in the manner of a good crime thriller.”

"Joseph Cox has written an instant true-crime classic, the inside—very inside it turns out—story of the largest global crime sting in history, a fascinating portrait not just of the frontiers of technology but also how organized crime operates in the 21st century. Filled with stranger-than-fiction gangsters and smugglers, this book is part-Miami Vice, part-Sneakers, and part-Ocean's Eleven. Your eyebrows will be raised in amazement page after page."

"A jaw-dropping page turner that truly terrified me. The story of how the FBI subverted an encrypted messaging program should send chills down the spine of anyone who cares about privacy and a free society."

"A tense, deep, beautifully told tale that could be a top-notch technothriller... except it's all true."

“Cox has pulled off a breathtaking feat of reporting. He brings readers into the very rooms where the criminal underworld’s most audacious conspiracies are planned and executed—and into the rooms where the cops are watching it all. His book is true to its namesake, The Wire, but more real, more raw, and played out at a staggeringly global scale.”

“One of the best true crime thrillers I’ve read in years. With its tremendously flawed and persistent characters and crazy plot, it felt instantly like a television show while also illuminating the way the shadowy underworld uses encrypted and special phones.”