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Jeff Aiken #3
Rogue Code
Michael Lewis' Flash Boys revealed how high-frequency trading has created a ruthless breed of traders capable of winning whichever way the market turns. In Rogue Code, Mark Russinovich takes it one step further to show how their grip on high finance makes the stock market vulnerable to hackers who could bring about worldwide financial collapse.
Cyber security expert Jeff Aiken knows that no computer system is completely secure. When he's called to investigate a possible breach at the New York Stock Exchange, he discovers not only that their system has been infiltrated but that someone on the inside knows. Yet for some reason, they have allowed the hackers to steal millions of dollars from accounts without trying to stop the theft.
When Jeff uncovers the crime, the NYSE suddenly turns on him. Accused of grand larceny, he must find and expose the criminals behind the theft, not just to prove his innocence but to stop a multibillion-dollar heist that could upend the U.S. economy. Unwilling to heed Jeff's warnings, the NYSE plans to continue with a major IPO using a new, untested system, one that might be susceptible both to hackers and to ruthless high-frequency traders willing to take any risk to turn a profit.
Now Jeff Aiken must unearth the truth on his own, following the thread to the back alleys of Rio de Janeiro to take on one of the world's most ruthless cartels.
Praised for his combination of real-world technology and quick-paced action, with Rogue Code Mark Russinovich delivers an intense thriller about a cyber threat that seems all too possible---and the Wall Street traders who might allow it to happen.
Includes a foreword by Haim Bodek, author of The Problem of HFT: Collected Writings on High Frequency Trading & Stock Market Structure Reform.
Cyber security expert Jeff Aiken knows that no computer system is completely secure. When he's called to investigate a possible breach at the New York Stock Exchange, he discovers not only that their system has been infiltrated but that someone on the inside knows. Yet for some reason, they have allowed the hackers to steal millions of dollars from accounts without trying to stop the theft.
When Jeff uncovers the crime, the NYSE suddenly turns on him. Accused of grand larceny, he must find and expose the criminals behind the theft, not just to prove his innocence but to stop a multibillion-dollar heist that could upend the U.S. economy. Unwilling to heed Jeff's warnings, the NYSE plans to continue with a major IPO using a new, untested system, one that might be susceptible both to hackers and to ruthless high-frequency traders willing to take any risk to turn a profit.
Now Jeff Aiken must unearth the truth on his own, following the thread to the back alleys of Rio de Janeiro to take on one of the world's most ruthless cartels.
Praised for his combination of real-world technology and quick-paced action, with Rogue Code Mark Russinovich delivers an intense thriller about a cyber threat that seems all too possible---and the Wall Street traders who might allow it to happen.
Includes a foreword by Haim Bodek, author of The Problem of HFT: Collected Writings on High Frequency Trading & Stock Market Structure Reform.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published May 20, 2014
54 people are currently reading
1177 people want to read
About the author
Mark E. Russinovich
47 books366 followersMark Russinovich is a Technical Fellow in Windows Azure, Microsoft's cloud operating system group. Russinovich is a widely recognized expert in Windows operating system internals as well as operating system architecture and design.
Russinovich joined Microsoft when Microsoft acquired Winternals software, the company he cofounded in 1996 and where he worked as Chief Software Architect. He is also cofounder of Sysinternals.com, where he wrote and published dozens of popular Windows administration and diagnostic utilities including Autoruns, Process Explorer and Tcpview.
Russinovich coauthored "Windows Internals" and "The Sysinternals Administrator's Reference," both from Microsoft Press, authored the cyberthriller Zero Day, is a Contributing Editor for TechNet Magazine and Senior Contributing Editor for Windows IT Pro Magazine, and has written many articles on Windows internals. He has been a featured speaker at major industry conferences around the world, including Microsoft's TechEd, IT Forum, and Professional Developer's Conference, as well as Windows Connections, Windev, and TechMentor, and has taught Windows internals, troubleshooting and file system and device driver development to companies worldwide, including Microsoft, the CIA and the FBI. Russinovich earned his Ph.D. in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Russinovich joined Microsoft when Microsoft acquired Winternals software, the company he cofounded in 1996 and where he worked as Chief Software Architect. He is also cofounder of Sysinternals.com, where he wrote and published dozens of popular Windows administration and diagnostic utilities including Autoruns, Process Explorer and Tcpview.
Russinovich coauthored "Windows Internals" and "The Sysinternals Administrator's Reference," both from Microsoft Press, authored the cyberthriller Zero Day, is a Contributing Editor for TechNet Magazine and Senior Contributing Editor for Windows IT Pro Magazine, and has written many articles on Windows internals. He has been a featured speaker at major industry conferences around the world, including Microsoft's TechEd, IT Forum, and Professional Developer's Conference, as well as Windows Connections, Windev, and TechMentor, and has taught Windows internals, troubleshooting and file system and device driver development to companies worldwide, including Microsoft, the CIA and the FBI. Russinovich earned his Ph.D. in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
May 24, 2014
Audiobook Review
Although I've enjoyed Russinovich's books in the past, Rogue Code left me feeling like I'd just had a Cartesian join induced migraine. As an old retired techie who's married to a family of Hedge Fund techies and Wall Street brokers, I understood Rogue's complicated narrative. But a reader without this exposure would most likely stop reading -- fast. There are other issues with the book: The intricate relating of how the technology and high-frequency trading works is repeated far too many times. There is little action, with the exception of the ending. A decision of the protagonist Jeff Aiken and his colleague to go to Brasil is quite ludicrous. For characters that are presumably intelligent, one of which has 'saved the world several times,' of which we are repeatedly reminded, it was an incredibly stupid act. However, it's the only way the author can conclude the story, so it feels forced.
Johnny Heller's narration, to be blunt, sucks. It is a 1990's approach to narration. His breathless, rapid-fire reading allows no individualization of characters, so it's difficult to tell who's speaking in the sparse dialogue.
In all, the plot was a great idea. The execution was poor.
Although I've enjoyed Russinovich's books in the past, Rogue Code left me feeling like I'd just had a Cartesian join induced migraine. As an old retired techie who's married to a family of Hedge Fund techies and Wall Street brokers, I understood Rogue's complicated narrative. But a reader without this exposure would most likely stop reading -- fast. There are other issues with the book: The intricate relating of how the technology and high-frequency trading works is repeated far too many times. There is little action, with the exception of the ending. A decision of the protagonist Jeff Aiken and his colleague to go to Brasil is quite ludicrous. For characters that are presumably intelligent, one of which has 'saved the world several times,' of which we are repeatedly reminded, it was an incredibly stupid act. However, it's the only way the author can conclude the story, so it feels forced.
Johnny Heller's narration, to be blunt, sucks. It is a 1990's approach to narration. His breathless, rapid-fire reading allows no individualization of characters, so it's difficult to tell who's speaking in the sparse dialogue.
In all, the plot was a great idea. The execution was poor.
March 3, 2017
So at this point in the series (book 3), I really thought my review for this one was going to mirror my review for Mark Russinovich's first two books in the Jeff Aiken series. And for some parts it will. Just to summarize my thoughts... The Jeff Aiken series suffers from two main flaws. First, it's a series written for and by computer geek(s). Much of the story is heavily based on computers and cyber security. Unfortunately when you think about it, and look (realistically) about how real cyber security works, it isn't all that exciting. There's no hollywood like stunt actions, explosions or great chase scenes. We'll most likely have a person or small group of people hunched over computer with coffee and perhaps a pastry laying around. So an easy way to by pass this interest crippling fact is to add in all of this artifically. The first book in my opinion fell for the trap of trying to go too big in scale, drama, and dooms day plot. It literally pits a cyber security researcher (note I don't mean a secret agent or someone trained in combat) go up against two Al Qaeda cyber hacking assassins, one brandishing a sword by the way if it couldn't get any more ridiculous.
The first book to me is just a parade of cliche's, bad character dialogue, and a plot that is just too James Bond for me. The 2nd book improves upon this in small amounts. It still wasn't perfect, and the characters are as flat as ever, but the plot isn't as bombastic and it cleaned up some of the drama. That being said, it still fell for the same cliches, super evil middle east terrorists and all...
So with that recapped, "Rogue Code" I was prepared to be written in the same vein. And for some of it, it is. But I'll give credit where it's due. Mark Russinovich has improved noticeably. (that or he just wanted to change it up a bit) Either way, the book comes off as far more polished. What I mean by this, is..well here's a check list of things I feel have improved...
Character Development.. Now after 3 books of the same core characters, you'd have to be a really crappy writer if you couldn't get your audience to care at least a tiny tiny bit about them. But in Rogue Code there actually is a noticable increase in character depth here. I mean it's not going to have me trying to psycho analyze the character's driving motivations, but they actually seem far more real in this book. I suppose this could be because it takes places about a year after the 2nd book and both of the main characters who have been dating, have split, and are off making their own way. Now the flip side of this is how quickly the fall back to each other, and the inclusion of having Darryl be like the only person in the world who can assist in this.. (though granted the role she plays is pretty cool, and even a bit painful to read at the end).
A more down to earth story is presented here, which...thank god is also (to me anyway..) more interesting. To some the plot of the hacking of the NYSE for a corruption ring in Brazil, may pale in comparison to the world shattering events of mid east terrorists on the verge of plotting a nuclear attack on the US, and the only man who can stop them is Super Aiken. To me, I mean come on, let's get a far more realistic story to make me feel like these characters are real. Not super hero archetypes. I think this more human plot (the back story of our antagonists is actually fleshed out modestly well too) gives life to Jeff, Darryl and Frank. Character decisions and the story flow itself just felt far more natural because it was a story I could (almost) expect to see on the news.
The action, flow and direction of the story as a whole hasn't changed. And that is a very good thing. One of Mark Russinovich's talents is he can really write a good climax and set the pace so that it becomes a real page turner. For all three of his novels. Despite my dislike of the first two, even those, provided a really entertaining ride at the end. Characters met, faced off, and as unrealistic as the combat usually turns out, It's a fun ride.
In Rogue Code, it seems Mark has also moved away from the preachy style of writing. In his first two novels, they come off as bordering on fables, with a morale that he's trying to ram down our throats. He makes it painfully aware to the reader than we, through the heavy use of the internet and lack of focus on security, leave ourselves open. The idea is one that is very real and the audience is made away of it in the first book. Book two comes along and basically re-hashes that same point. The book Trojan Horse could, in my opinion be a carbon copy of book 1, Zero Day. The same thesis is presented and even the character dynamics, and villains and support characters, are the same. It offers nothing new. This is why Rogue Code was such a breath of (Moderately) fresh air. It lays off the gas of rubbing the terrorist plot in our faces and presents us with a book that is still thrilling, and deals with cyber crime, but not so determined to prove a point.
One complaint that I did have with Rogue Code is that (exactly like the first two books) is that the presentation of the different pieces of the storylines. While the first two books provided a few different points of view and story threads, Rogue Code goes a bit overboard with this, and in the beginning it can be pretty jarring. There's a lot of different people and players in the book and unless you really pay attention to their jobs and titles, and what company they're in, it can get very confusing as to who is who and why they're apart of this story. This came off as me reading about these characters who I wasn't sure if they were even important to the story. (there's quite a few that aren't, but I suppose just add to the feel of the story)
I'll wrap this up by saying that reading Rogue Code is far far more enjoyable than the first two. I think the character interaction, and the way it's presented fueled this. It really feels like an organized, natural and fun cyber thriller. I wasn't rolling my eyes and cringing like I was for the first book. Jeff Aiken and Darryl actually had me smiling for a bit, and the plot of the story was very acceptable in terms of how much I could take in as believible. If Mark were to write a 4th in the series, I'd be hoping that he builds on this, and continues his development as an author.
The first book to me is just a parade of cliche's, bad character dialogue, and a plot that is just too James Bond for me. The 2nd book improves upon this in small amounts. It still wasn't perfect, and the characters are as flat as ever, but the plot isn't as bombastic and it cleaned up some of the drama. That being said, it still fell for the same cliches, super evil middle east terrorists and all...
So with that recapped, "Rogue Code" I was prepared to be written in the same vein. And for some of it, it is. But I'll give credit where it's due. Mark Russinovich has improved noticeably. (that or he just wanted to change it up a bit) Either way, the book comes off as far more polished. What I mean by this, is..well here's a check list of things I feel have improved...
Character Development.. Now after 3 books of the same core characters, you'd have to be a really crappy writer if you couldn't get your audience to care at least a tiny tiny bit about them. But in Rogue Code there actually is a noticable increase in character depth here. I mean it's not going to have me trying to psycho analyze the character's driving motivations, but they actually seem far more real in this book. I suppose this could be because it takes places about a year after the 2nd book and both of the main characters who have been dating, have split, and are off making their own way. Now the flip side of this is how quickly the fall back to each other, and the inclusion of having Darryl be like the only person in the world who can assist in this.. (though granted the role she plays is pretty cool, and even a bit painful to read at the end).
A more down to earth story is presented here, which...thank god is also (to me anyway..) more interesting. To some the plot of the hacking of the NYSE for a corruption ring in Brazil, may pale in comparison to the world shattering events of mid east terrorists on the verge of plotting a nuclear attack on the US, and the only man who can stop them is Super Aiken. To me, I mean come on, let's get a far more realistic story to make me feel like these characters are real. Not super hero archetypes. I think this more human plot (the back story of our antagonists is actually fleshed out modestly well too) gives life to Jeff, Darryl and Frank. Character decisions and the story flow itself just felt far more natural because it was a story I could (almost) expect to see on the news.
The action, flow and direction of the story as a whole hasn't changed. And that is a very good thing. One of Mark Russinovich's talents is he can really write a good climax and set the pace so that it becomes a real page turner. For all three of his novels. Despite my dislike of the first two, even those, provided a really entertaining ride at the end. Characters met, faced off, and as unrealistic as the combat usually turns out, It's a fun ride.
In Rogue Code, it seems Mark has also moved away from the preachy style of writing. In his first two novels, they come off as bordering on fables, with a morale that he's trying to ram down our throats. He makes it painfully aware to the reader than we, through the heavy use of the internet and lack of focus on security, leave ourselves open. The idea is one that is very real and the audience is made away of it in the first book. Book two comes along and basically re-hashes that same point. The book Trojan Horse could, in my opinion be a carbon copy of book 1, Zero Day. The same thesis is presented and even the character dynamics, and villains and support characters, are the same. It offers nothing new. This is why Rogue Code was such a breath of (Moderately) fresh air. It lays off the gas of rubbing the terrorist plot in our faces and presents us with a book that is still thrilling, and deals with cyber crime, but not so determined to prove a point.
One complaint that I did have with Rogue Code is that (exactly like the first two books) is that the presentation of the different pieces of the storylines. While the first two books provided a few different points of view and story threads, Rogue Code goes a bit overboard with this, and in the beginning it can be pretty jarring. There's a lot of different people and players in the book and unless you really pay attention to their jobs and titles, and what company they're in, it can get very confusing as to who is who and why they're apart of this story. This came off as me reading about these characters who I wasn't sure if they were even important to the story. (there's quite a few that aren't, but I suppose just add to the feel of the story)
I'll wrap this up by saying that reading Rogue Code is far far more enjoyable than the first two. I think the character interaction, and the way it's presented fueled this. It really feels like an organized, natural and fun cyber thriller. I wasn't rolling my eyes and cringing like I was for the first book. Jeff Aiken and Darryl actually had me smiling for a bit, and the plot of the story was very acceptable in terms of how much I could take in as believible. If Mark were to write a 4th in the series, I'd be hoping that he builds on this, and continues his development as an author.
November 6, 2016
This was an enjoyable book. It is full of a lot of action. I especially enjoyed the parts about computer hacking. I didn't learn as much as I thought I would. Much of what is in this book I already knew and I can say that it represented it accurately. However there were some new things I didn't know. I found the parts about High Frequency Trading (HFT) very interesting as well. I don't know much about that, though I'm sure I've encountered some of that in my trading activities, and wondered about it. There is a good bibliography on HFT in the back that I may look into.
In balance this is a good action packed booked based on some realistic senerios that I'd encourage you to read if you like that sort of thing.
In balance this is a good action packed booked based on some realistic senerios that I'd encourage you to read if you like that sort of thing.
October 7, 2016
This book was a little scary because it is so plausible. The security in most computer systems is not great. Mark Russinovich has been on the inside of various large systems and understands the threats. He writes about the penetration and the hidden code fairly accurately. It is a fun book with good pacing and lots of action. The adventures that Jeff Aiken get himself involved in are getting a little more far fetched with each new novel. I still enjoy the writing style and pace of the novel.
June 16, 2014
Not as good as the other two. I felt like it was just a ton of exposition. Beating a dead horse. I'm pretty sure at least one paragraph showed up twice.
June 8, 2017
I'm not really sure why I decided to read this but it was pretty boring
May 9, 2020
The conclusion of the Jeff Aiken series, Rogue Code continues the same model as the other two previous books Zero Day and Trojan Horse by providing a light reading approach with easy to consume entertainment.
The same thing I said in my Trojan Horse review, these books are "popcorn."
Rogue Code was a lot of fun, I would say based off of the previous description above and my expectations, a solid 3/5.
The story is predictable, the characters are cliche, you know exactly how it's going to end before you even get started... the hero will win the good fight, he's going to get the girl, and the bad guys are going to be stopped. However, it is still a lot of fun as you go along the smooth ride.
The technical aspects of this book at best are amusing more than anything for me being as I have been in the field for well over a decade, but I imagine someone with little to no technical experience in information tech/security would find this book even more enjoyable and more fun as they learn something new here and there.
A very good companion book for this would be Dark Pools, which you can find my review for at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dark Pools was significantly less entertaining than Rogue Code, but it does go much deeper in the technical side of the house.
I would recommend Rogue Code and the Jeff Aiken series to anyone who is in the IT field and is looking for something fun and light. Or, someone who is relativity foreign to info sec/IT and would like to learn a little bit while they receive a decently enjoyable story line presented in a very entertaining format.
The same thing I said in my Trojan Horse review, these books are "popcorn."
Rogue Code was a lot of fun, I would say based off of the previous description above and my expectations, a solid 3/5.
The story is predictable, the characters are cliche, you know exactly how it's going to end before you even get started... the hero will win the good fight, he's going to get the girl, and the bad guys are going to be stopped. However, it is still a lot of fun as you go along the smooth ride.
The technical aspects of this book at best are amusing more than anything for me being as I have been in the field for well over a decade, but I imagine someone with little to no technical experience in information tech/security would find this book even more enjoyable and more fun as they learn something new here and there.
A very good companion book for this would be Dark Pools, which you can find my review for at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dark Pools was significantly less entertaining than Rogue Code, but it does go much deeper in the technical side of the house.
I would recommend Rogue Code and the Jeff Aiken series to anyone who is in the IT field and is looking for something fun and light. Or, someone who is relativity foreign to info sec/IT and would like to learn a little bit while they receive a decently enjoyable story line presented in a very entertaining format.
March 31, 2022
This author has insight into the mindset of covert operations people. He writes with the sureness of an experienced author who recognizes that the reader may or may not know anything about covert organizations, leading the reader with the story line.
Mr. Black is a young operative but has great potential. His boss recognized this potential and selected him personally for a dangerous mission in Hong Kong. In spite of interference, he succeeded, but this particular mission affected him deeply.
Mr. Black is a young operative but has great potential. His boss recognized this potential and selected him personally for a dangerous mission in Hong Kong. In spite of interference, he succeeded, but this particular mission affected him deeply.
February 10, 2019
I would say about 2/3rds through this book I was convinced that it was the best of the series so far. Then they went to Brazil. WTF? It just seemed super far fetched, weird, and unnecessary. I was wondering where they were going with that whole Brazilian subplot. I didn’t think that was how it was going to go down.
Also it seemed really odd that the FBI never brought up once that the main suspect was almost murdered just as they got evidence on him? Seemed like a bit of a plot hole.
Also it seemed really odd that the FBI never brought up once that the main suspect was almost murdered just as they got evidence on him? Seemed like a bit of a plot hole.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2021
Although I enjoy Russonovich's mix of cybersecurity sleuthing and some action sequences, this one got into the weeds of high finance and I couldn't get intoit as well as I have others in the past. Russonivch's villains are less interesting than previous ones, relying more on their Brazilian cartel background than any individual depth: there are several unnecessary scenes of sexual violence that I suspect were included to ensure we don't sympathize the cool gangsters ripping off Wall Street.
September 22, 2017
The story is interesting and the technical details are refreshingly accurate for the most part. The narrator (audible) is weak, with occasional misplaced or unnecessary pauses. The action parts of the book are formulaic and predictable, and there are a couple of characters who are stereotypical idiots, both of which hurt the story.
January 26, 2023
Much the same as the second book in the series (Trojan), there is a long buildup and then a very sudden conclusion. The chatracters are a little overworked, and there are probably a number os 'scenes' which could be cut completely and only improve the plot. A light read for some tech based escapesim.
March 12, 2023
Russinovich pulled off an impressive feat of writing up a hard sci-fi trilogy of a highly niche field of tech. As a cybersecurity professional myself, I was quite thrilled to find this in the fiction section of the library. Four stars only because I wish there was more exploration of cybersecurity matters in the book.
July 20, 2025
The third Jeff Aiken story and it was good. I have enjoyed these tech themed thrillers by Mark Russinovich. I definitely recommend them for anyone looking for an entertaining story involving hacking and those people who are out there trying to stop them.
The audible version of this novel was well read and I enjoyed the performance and story. Worthy of just over 4 stars all around.
The audible version of this novel was well read and I enjoyed the performance and story. Worthy of just over 4 stars all around.
September 16, 2019
Really enjoyed this book filled with much trading jargon.
Very interesting fictional account of the markets.
It seems we are on the cusp of a market crash after a historical 8+ year Bull run.
Very interesting fictional account of the markets.
It seems we are on the cusp of a market crash after a historical 8+ year Bull run.
December 12, 2022
A strong background in IT is almost essential to fully appreciate the complexity of the plot. Cyber-security is complex. Lots iof smart bad-guys and equally smart good-guys out there on offense and defense. Highly recommended !!
August 3, 2017
Need more books from Mark. These are great!!!
November 24, 2017
felt like I was being patronised for much of this book. terrible end to the trilogy.
May 4, 2018
Another book on cyber security. This one had a totally different twist - the bad guys hacking into Wall Street & planning to siphon off billions of dollars through undetected hidden code.
July 17, 2018
Again, the writing is meh. But I am now kinda grossed out about how much of our world we have surrendered to computers.
August 9, 2019
As much as I liked the other Jeff Aiken novels, this one just seemed to struggle to focus and the conflict took too long to come out and wasn't that interesting once it finally got moving.
October 31, 2019
Technical details are sometimes skimmed in favor of pace elevation, but overall a nice read involving spies turned SecOps.
May 4, 2021
Very much like the previous 2 books. Starts out slow with a computer forensic investigation and ends with a lot of action.
October 13, 2021
For me, this book was too detailed, too much description. Probably would be a good read for others, just not for me.
November 13, 2022
It seemed very repetitive to the previous books. The first part of the book I didn't get enough facts to understand what the story line was getting to.
March 1, 2023
Thriller in the IT-world, same Russinovich style as previous books.
July 8, 2023
Technothriller with some great writing.
March 20, 2024
Given to me by a coder, DS, who was wearing an ankle bracelet, & told me it was based on true stories. Yet I couldn’t get any purchase on the story, so I put it down early.
April 24, 2025
Very good!
December 30, 2021
Builds upon Trojan Horse but the plot is a much better fit for a cybersecurity novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews