ProseWise

Breaking And Entering

by Jeremy N. Smith, 2019 · 304 pages

Reads like a caper told with journalistic precision, moving briskly through heists, cons, and keyboard exploits with a biographical throughline. The prose is accessible and propulsive rather than technical, aimed at making hacking feel cinematic and human.

narrative nonfiction · thrilling · cerebral · audacious

What Breaking And Entering feels like to read

• Page-turner: 75%
• Darkness: 40%
• Emotional intensity: 40%
• Humor: 30%
• Romance: 5%
• Complexity: 30%

Reading age: 14+ (adult)

Spice: 0 out of 5. none

Breaking And Entering tropes

• found family / mentor networks
• underdog outsider
• heist mechanics
• dark academia

Books like Breaking And Entering

• Ghost in the wires by Kevin D. Mitnick: Shares the social engineering focus and the thrill of outsmarting institutions.
• Kingpin by Kevin Poulsen: Similar true-crime hacker biography energy with fast pacing and technical intrigue.
• The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll: Same blend of real-world hacking detail and personal narrative told like a detective story.
• Flash Boys by Michael Lewis: Similar character-driven tech industry storytelling with a breezy, explanatory style.