by Martin Frost is the autobiography and true story behind one of the largest darknet marketplaces in the world: WallStreet Market. A story that interested me for many different reasons and that I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, my expectations were not fully met, but it still remains an exciting book, but more on that later.
The book is about Martin "The One" Frost. A man who made it to multiple millionaire status on the Darknet. Needless to say, this was not done legally. The darknet has always been a place that triggers a kind of magic in many people. The secrecy, the uncertainty and the sheer endless possibilities in a - at least perceived - lawless space are particularly attractive to tech-savvy young people. Martin Frost was one of them and became a "darknet baron" or "darknet prince".
Certainly, he has had a more than contentious "career" and, of course, one simply cannot endorse and support much of what he has done. Nevertheless, I always find it interesting to get into the heads of these people, to experience their stories and to take a lot from them for my own life. Not to become a "darknet baroness" as well, but rather to broaden my own horizons.
I certainly succeeded in doing that with this book, which is why it gets a good rating from me.
Unfortunately, what I didn't like about the book at all and that's why I deducted a point was the writing style. Normally I know biography either written from the first perspective or in a kind of narrative interview form. In this case, however, it seemed in countless places rather like a dry chronological reproduction of facts. I got the impression that certain things were not allowed to be talked about in detail - especially not on the emotional and perceptual level.
But I end up reading biographies not to just absorb the facts, but rather to get a deeper insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character - in this case, Martin Frost. That was almost completely missing for me and takes away the charm of the whole thing.
Nevertheless, the story certainly remains exciting, but there could have been much more.
The prologue of this book is an example of this:
"It's crazy to see what goes on in your brain when the GSG 9 attacks. Within a millisecond, a thousand thoughts flash through Martin's mind. Time has lost its dimension. Everything is in slow motion. Like in a movie.
The first thing he thinks of is: "Shit, this is a robbery! They're trying to steal my car!" Bright light blinds him, he hears the screams: "Police, police!"
He quickly realizes: that's it. You're here for Wall Street Market. Images flash through his mind. What have I missed? How did they find out about me?
Suddenly he has the last hours, days and weeks before his eyes. He analyzes.
Should I have noticed something? Did I do something wrong? And: What was my goddamn mistake? Life passes him by like a near-death experience. All synapses are working at full speed. In situations like this, you realize how powerful the human brain is - all your knowledge is available for a brief moment."
This reads for somehow all a bit strange and I would rather wish to get an exciting narrative from the first-person perspective and from me also in interview form to be able to go much deeper into his world of thoughts.
Martin Frost stands at this point on the cover as the author, but the words are then probably rather by D. P. Ginowski, about whom one finds relatively little on the net, however. In the preface Martin Frost writes that he decided to write this book together with an author to guarantee the greatest possible neutrality. He would like to work through his experiences in an unvarnished and honest manner and also serve as a cautionary negative example. I can understand the approach, but the implementation is not ideal - in my opinion.
I would have liked the start of the preface better as a type:
"My name is Martin Frost. I am 32 years old and come from the Stuttgart area. In 2021, I was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison for gang-related drug trafficking and embezzlement. Together with two accomplices, I operated the second largest darknet marketplace in the world for several years."
Martin Frost
Or even at a later date, it becomes more personal again:
"You ran the second largest darknet marketplace in the world. Are you proud of that?
Very difficult question. There was a time when I was proud, mainly of the technical performance. Anything else would be a lie. Today it's hard for me to be proud of it, I see the consequences now, I wasn't aware of them before, and I don't just mean my prison sentence. I have met many people who have tragic drug stories behind them. Some of them bought drugs from us. We, but also I, have brought a lot of misery into the world."
Martin Frost
At this point a few words about the main character:
Martin Frost was born in Stuttgart in 1989. He came into contact with the darknet and the so-called fraud scene at a young age and acquired knowledge in the fields of cybercrime and IT security. In 2016, together with two accomplices, he founded the second largest darknet marketplace worldwide: the WallStreet Market. Since his arrest in 2019, he has been conducting education and prevention work in various formats. Martin Frost was sentenced to a total of seven years and nine months in prison for his actions in July 2021.
The title "Out of the Dark" is meant to represent the main character's personal journey out of the darkness of crime and into the present day. For him, an arduous path back into the light. Basically understandable, although it must be noted that his arrest must also have been a drastic experience and his options afterwards will undoubtedly have been manageable. Accordingly, the only way left for him was to go into education and prevention ("back into the light") or to relapse, as other offenders in a similar spectrum have already done.
It's good that he has chosen the positive alternative and is now telling his story in his book about how the young Martin Frost, who grew up in well-protected circumstances, became the cybercriminal "The One. As in all life stories, there is a lot to take away from this one, and the author himself sees his failure as a great opportunity. Let's hope that he will continue to accept it with gratitude and remain active.
"The young family lives in a rented apartment in Stuttgart-Giebel, a middle-class district at the time. Stuttgart, which fits like a cauldron into the landscape of Baden-Württemberg, is not conspicuous for its excessively high crime rate. Unlike the Ruhr area, there are no conurbations, society here is not characterized by clan crime or street gangs, and there is little fear of social poverty or relegation. Large companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Bosch have their headquarters in Stuttgart. The city has its own vibe. Art, culture and joie de vivre make Stuttgart a place worth living. Perfect for partying for young people, ideal for the still-young family."
D. P. Ginowski
All in all, this is an exciting biography, but I didn't particularly like the retelling style. This makes everything seem rather chronologically rattled off and superficially rendered, instead of really entering into the depth and feelings of the main character and thus lifting the real treasures of this story. I would like to see less a list of facts in biographies and more depth in the description and just all the content that you could not read with two clicks on the Internet.