Breaking Twitter

Breaking Twitter

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

From New York Times bestselling author Ben Mezrich: the book Elon Musk doesn’t want you to read. BREAKING TWITTER takes readers inside the darkly comic battle between one of the most intriguing, polarizing, influential men of our time—Elon Musk—and the company that represents our culture’s dearest hope for a shared global conversation. From employee accounts within Twitter headquarters to the mission-driven team Musk surrounded himself with, this is the full story from all sides. Can Musk miraculously succeed or will he spectacularly fail?  What will that mean to the global town hall that is Twitter?  What, really, is Elon’s end goal?  The whole world is watching.  BREAKING TWITTER will provide ringside seats.  Elon Musk didn't break Twitter. Twitter broke Elon Musk.   
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Bitcoin Billionaires

Bitcoin Billionaires

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

From Ben Mezrich, the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House, comes Bitcoin Billionaires—the fascinating story of brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss's big bet on crypto-currency and its dazzling pay-off. Ben Mezrich's 2009 bestseller The Accidental Billionaires is the definitive account of Facebook's founding and the basis for the Academy Award–winning film The Social Network. Two of the story's iconic characters are Harvard students Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: identical twins, Olympic rowers, and foils to Mark Zuckerberg. Bitcoin Billionaires is the story of the brothers' redemption and revenge in the wake of their epic legal battle with Facebook. Planning to start careers as venture capitalists, the brothers quickly discover that no one will take their money after their fight with Zuckerberg. While nursing their wounds in Ibiza,...
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The Midnight Ride

The Midnight Ride

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

From the celebrated, New York Times bestselling author comes a commercial thriller of an MIT grad student who unwittingly uncovers the hidden connection between the Gardner Museum heist and the most fascinating secret in American history.THE CARD SHARK: Hailey Gordon is looking to make some fast cash to help pay her tuition when she's caught counting cards at the Encore casino in Boston. She grabs her winnings and makes her escape. With guards closing in, she dives into an unlocked room to hide . . . only to find a dead body.THE EX-CON: Recently released from prison, Nick Patterson hasn't felt hope in a long time, but the job he "inherited" in prison promises to change that. He enters hotel room 633 to find that the person he was supposed to meet has been murdered. Next to the corpse stands a terrified young woman—Hailey Gordon.THE PROFESSOR: American history professor Adrian Jensen learns of the death of his...
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The 37th Parallel

The 37th Parallel

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

This real-life mix of The X-Files meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind tells the true story of a computer programmer who tracks paranormal events along a 3,000-mile stretch through the heart of America and is drawn deeper and deeper into a vast conspiracy.Computer programmer and a sheriff's deputy like "Detective Mulder" of the X-Files, Zukowski is obsessed with tracking down UFO reprints in Colorado. He would take the family with him on weekend trips to look for evidence of aliens. But this innocent hobby takes on a sinister urgency when Zukowski learns of mutilated livestock, and sees the bodies of dead horses and cattle—whose exsanguination is inexplicable by any known human or animal means. Along an expanse of land stretching across the southern borders of Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, Zukowski discovers multiple bizarre incidences of mutilations, and suddenly realizes that they cluster around the 37th Parallel or "UFO Highway." So...
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Charlie Numbers and the Woolly Mammoth

Charlie Numbers and the Woolly Mammoth

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Charlie and the Whiz Kids discover a prehistoric mammoth tusk and stumble right into the nefarious clutches of an eccentric billionaire in this hilarious third novel of the Charlie Numbers series.Charlie Numbers and his gang of Whiz Kids—along with a few new allies—are on another mission: this time, to uncover the truth behind the mysterious mammoth tusk they found buried in the Boston Public Gardens. Their hunch? Blake Headstrom, eccentric billionaire, philanthropist, and collector of some renown, has been smuggling mammoth tusks into the city. The only question is: Why? Selling woolly mammoth tusks isn't illegal...but selling elephant ivory is. And Charlie's certain Headstrom's plans are more sinister than they seem. But Headstrom is a powerful man, with powerful connections. If the Whiz Kids want to expose him for the criminal they know he is, they're going to have to catch him red-handed. Now if only Headstrom's henchmen weren't lurking...
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Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History

Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Review"[M]ovie-worthy treatment to the guy who stole moon rocks from NASA"--_The New York Daily News_"[An] in-depth look at Thad Roberts, who along with three other NASA interns, stole pieces of lunar rock to impress his girlfriend. Mezrich has done extensive research to recreate the story of how an aspiring astronaut ended up getting caught for stealing over 100 pieces of the moon."--_The Atlantic Monthly_ "[A]n out-of-this-world heist"--_USA Today_"Mezrich has uncovered another high-stakes, fascinating true story....part love story, part madcap caper, part astro-geekery, the book is one of the summer's most fun reads."--NPR "[E]nthusiastically re-creates this oddball 2002 moon-rock heist"--Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Accidental Billionaires, the basis of the Oscar-winning film The Social Network“Uproarious . . . stimulating enough to keep even the un-medicated narcoleptic awake.”—_ Washington Times_“Mezrich’s prose has a cinematic flavor.”—_ Boston Globe_“You won’t be able to put the book down. The story’s far too compelling, and entirely too personal, to toss aside.”—_ Oregonian_“High-octane page-turners, replete with sex, skullduggery, and plot twists worthy of James Patterson.”—_New York Times_“The book is better; you should read the book.”—Alex Rodriguez “You know you’re onto something when Hollywood calls before your book is even out.”—_Entertainment Weekly_ “Sizzling . . . Mezrich’s pop narrative reveals an American public greedy to read about the most intimate details of the sex, money, and betrayal in Facebook’s formative history . . . energetic.”—_ Telegraph_ “Mezrich paints a story of backstabbing, wild sex, hard drinking, and, at one stage, feasting on roasted koala on a yacht owned by a Silicon Valley millionaire.”—_Guardian_Product DescriptionThad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA program had an idea—a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally. Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impregnable laboratory at NASA—past security checkpoints, an electronically locked door with cipher security codes, and camera-lined hallways—and help him steal the most precious objects in the world: the moon rocks. But what does one do with an item so valuable that it’s illegal even to own? And was Thad Roberts—undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientific posts imaginable, a possible astronaut—really what he seemed? Mezrich has pored over thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts, and NASA documents and has interviewed most of the participants in the crime to reconstruct this Ocean’s Eleven–style heist, a madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity that reads like a Hollywood thrill ride.
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The Accidental Billionaires

The Accidental Billionaires

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Mezrich forsakes the technical and business aspects surrounding the creation of Facebook and instead opts for juicier stories of "hot girls," all-night celebrity parties, and sex. Much to the chagrin of critics, even these lurid details were not enough to entertain them. They also criticized the author's forays into fiction: it's no secret that Mezrich plays fast and loose with the truth -- he says as much in an author's note -- but reviewers complained that his plot embellishments were laughable. Mezrich's inability to obtain an interview with Zuckerberg and his reliance on Zuckerberg's bitter ex-business partners for information necessitated some conjecture, but even with invented dialogue and imagined motives, Zuckerberg fails to come to life. Facebook addicts may rejoice, but all others should avoid Billionaires.
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Skin

Skin

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Fatal FleshWhen moonlighting medical students "harvesting" skin from a corpse for temporary use accidentally take it from the wrong donor, the results are catastrophic: a New York City hospital ward is destroyed in a bloodbath, and an elderly professor, admitted for a routine skin graft, is suddenly the city's most wanted fugitive.Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are the only ones to suspect something more ominous than a medical procedure gone awry. As the FBI agents investigating the "X-Files"--strange and inexplicable cases the Bureau wants to keep hidden--Mulder and Scully are determined to track down the forces they suspect are behind the murderer.While the police hunt the fleeing professor, Mulder and Scully track the skin that was grafted onto him, a trail that leads from the morgue to the headquarters of a cutting-edge biotech company to the jungles of Thailand. Together they begin to uncover an unholy and totally deniable alliance between a battle...
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Seven Wonders

Seven Wonders

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

When the reclusive mathematician Jeremy Grady is murdered, it’s up to his estranged brother Jack to find out why. Jack's search leads him on a far-flung journey—from Brazil, India, Peru, and beyond—as he unravels the mystery that links the Seven Wonders of the World, and discovers that Jeremy may have hit upon something that’s been concealed for centuries. With the help of scientist Sloane Costa, they discover a conspiracy to hide a roadmap to the Garden of Eden—and the truth behind a mythological ancient culture. With a heart-pounding pace and panoramic backdrops, Seven Wonders is an electrifying read, and will be the first in a trilogy. **
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Bringing Down the Mouse

Bringing Down the Mouse

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Charlie Lewis goes on a roller coaster ride of risk, math, and gaming in this middle grade novel that parallels the New York Times bestselling Bringing Down the House, which inspired the movie 21 with Kevin Spacey. Charlie Lewis is a nerd. All he's ever been good at is math—and he's really good at math. So good that he's recruited by a group of kids determined to game the system at the biggest theme park in the world—and win the grand prize. Soon Charlie is caught up in the excitement and thrill of using his math skills for awesomeness...but what's at stake may be more than he's willing to risk. How far will Charlie go for a chance at the ultimate reward?
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Woolly

Woolly

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Science fiction becomes reality in this Jurassic Park-like story of the genetic resurrection of an extinct species—the woolly mammoth—by the bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and The 37th Parallel."With his knack for turning narrative nonfiction into stories worthy of the best thriller fiction" (Omnivoracious), Ben Mezrich takes us on an exhilarating true adventure story from the icy terrain of Siberia to the cutting-edge genetic labs of Harvard University. A group of young scientists, under the guidance of Dr. George Church, the most brilliant geneticist of our time, works to make fantasy reality by sequencing the DNA of a frozen woolly mammoth harvested from above the Arctic circle, and splicing elements of that sequence into the DNA of a modern elephant. Will they be able to turn the hybrid cells into a functional embryo and bring the extinct creatures to life in our modern world? Along with Church and his team...
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Charlie Numbers and the Man in the Moon

Charlie Numbers and the Man in the Moon

Ben Mezrich

Nonfiction / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Charlie is recruited to use his mathematical prowess to discover what happened to a box of stolen moon rocks in this follow up to Bringing Down the Mouse.Charlie Lewis is really good at math. So good, that he's approached by a mysterious woman who needs his help. The woman is carrying an incredible item: an actual moon rock, one of the most valuable objects on Earth, and she's investigating the theft of a box of moon rocks from NASA's vault at the Johnson Space Center, and believes the stolen rocks are now in the possession of a former astronaut. Although she claims to work at NASA, Charlie suspects she is something else—but he decides the adventure is too good to pass up. Charlie and the whiz kids go undercover by entering the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's paper airplane contest, and head down to the nation's capital. Working together, they master the principles of aerodynamics, wind science, and gravity to excel in the competition....
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