Review: Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich

Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up for a reading challenge for a book involving a heist, though it could also fill the true crime heist. This is a non-fiction book, thought it is as the title suggests so audacious that it reads like fiction. It is hard to tell how much of the story is true and how much is poetic license. It has the feel that it is inspired by true events, but it definitely feels more like fiction than truth.

Thad Roberts, the main character, has a very conservative Mormon background. However, he has big dreams and those dreams lead to NASA. Thad rebels against his upbringing, and finds himself cast out of his family home, married at a young age, but with big dreams he won’t be stopped. He is determined to make it to NASA and hopefully someday to space. He is a persistent person, and portrayed with child-like tendencies as if he had no real understanding of consequences. Even after he was arrested for stealing the safe containing millions of dollars of moon rocks he never expected to be punished. His actions throughout the book were all selfish and self-serving. He was always angling to get to the top of the food-chain and make a name for himself. His motivations are success and love. It is hard to tell if the real Thad is truly like this or if the story just makes him out to be this way. He is doing everything for his lady love Rebecca (not her real name), whom he apparently wrote letters to during his time in jail. The letters are sprinkled throughout the book. They met, had a whirlwind relationship, and claimed he stole the rocks for her. He also took all the blame for her and his other accomplice. If you read the book, you will know that he had already put the plan in motion before he met her. The whole heist is ridiculous, but you just kind of have to keep reading/listening to know what happens in the end.

I listened to the audio book, which is fairly short and read by Casey Affleck. The narration is good and it has the feeling of listening to a movie. This book isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible either. It just just OK as my rating suggests. The characters are pretty unlikable, and the whole plot/true story if you can call it that just feels so unrealistic even if it is based in fact.


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Review: How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft

How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft by Edward Jay Epstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me first say that True Crime is not something I normally read.  I do love to watch a good crime documentary on television though, so you'd think I'd like reading about them.  Unsolved Mysteries was my favorite show for the longest time.  I picked this because on this year's reading challenge there is a true crime book prompt.  I didn't want to read about death or murder, I just wasn't in the mood.  While looking at true crime books at the library, this popped up.  This is a case that I was aware of, kind of familiar with, but not totally aware of the details.  It was a perfect fit for the prompt.  I was in the Navy so I know about how clearances and secure information work.  I won't pretend to understand how the CIA and NSA work, I don't think anyone understands them.   I work in data analysis and I'm pretty comfortable with cyber security as it is part of my job today. 

This was an excellent compilation of facts and gives educated and informed options to fill in the unknowns. You can decide on your own what you think happened but you are presented with the information that is known and unknown. The technical information is presented in a consumable manner and is not overwhelming or confusing. I found this fascinating. While it isn't the end all be all for what happened, I really enjoyed it. This inspires me to read more about the Snowden case and get more information and investigate more opinions on what really happened.

Epstein starts off giving a background on Edward Snowden, his various jobs that gave him access to the sensitive and highly classified information that he should have never had access to. I know how security clearance investigations work, and to find out that pretty much none of Snowden's information was ever validated and he was still granted top secret clearance that granted him access to the people, spaces, and data to steal the data blows my mind. While I'm sure that Snowden would have ended up as a hacker in some capacity or another given his talents with software, the fact that not one of his employers checked on his education or credentials is ridiculous. It angers me on so many levels.

Epstein goes on to give the timeline of how Snowden built his plan and moved from job to job to gain access to the various files he took. How he released the files under the guise of a whistle-blower and gained notariety as a hero in some camps by exposing the government and the NSA for tapping phone calls and collecting data on unsuspecting people. He then goes on to paint the timeline displaying Snowden as a spy as Snowden flees the US for Hong Kong and then Russia. We'll never know Snowden's true intent because we will never know what he told the truth about and where his moral compass points. Epstein leans a bit toward Snowden being a spy and working with Russia, and I kind of have to agree so I don't really mind the bias there. Then again I'd be open to fact based discussion and other opinions.

I do think in addition to the Snowden information Epstein provides alot of great additional historical information in regards to national security, the evolution of cyber crimes, and the history ofnstant sleeper agents that the US and every other country in the world namely Russia had infiltrate each others securiy agencies since the beginning of time. I learned quite a bit from this book. The narrator was excellent as well.

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