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The Man Who Hacked the World: A Ghostwriter’s Descent into Madness with John McAfee
*AS FEATURED IN THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY FILM RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL *
John internet pioneer, presidential candidate, and probable madman.
After parting ways with the eponymous McAfee Antivirus software company in 1994, McAfee embarked on innumerable business, political, and criminal enterprises. From investing in cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, to accusations of murdering his neighbor in Belize, to making two unsuccessful bids for President of the United States—the latter attempt done in exile following a federal indictment—this larger-than-life man nurtured a rakish public profile while evading law enforcement for his involvement with drugs, weapons, and murder.
For six months, Alex Cody Foster—hired as McAfee's ghostwriter—traveled with McAfee across America and Europe, occasionally going on the run to evade purported killers and kidnappers. Foster tells the incomparable tale of how the two of them met, where their adventures had taken them, and what precipitated McAfee's death.
"A sprawling, layered, and engrossing account about the need to control one's own story." — Kirkus Reviews
"...unforgettable and utterly impossible to put down." — Readers' Favorite
John internet pioneer, presidential candidate, and probable madman.
After parting ways with the eponymous McAfee Antivirus software company in 1994, McAfee embarked on innumerable business, political, and criminal enterprises. From investing in cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, to accusations of murdering his neighbor in Belize, to making two unsuccessful bids for President of the United States—the latter attempt done in exile following a federal indictment—this larger-than-life man nurtured a rakish public profile while evading law enforcement for his involvement with drugs, weapons, and murder.
For six months, Alex Cody Foster—hired as McAfee's ghostwriter—traveled with McAfee across America and Europe, occasionally going on the run to evade purported killers and kidnappers. Foster tells the incomparable tale of how the two of them met, where their adventures had taken them, and what precipitated McAfee's death.
"A sprawling, layered, and engrossing account about the need to control one's own story." — Kirkus Reviews
"...unforgettable and utterly impossible to put down." — Readers' Favorite
454 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2023
15 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 3, 2023
It's difficult to write a complete review without giving away the story and enjoyment for future readers. The book is a riveting journey through life. You think you're about to dive deep into the world of John McAfee, only to find that the life of Alex Cody Foster is just as if not more interesting. While McAfee's exploits are fascinating, you soon find that the lives of both are intertwined, and you don't have the story of one without both. Without giving too much away, I can say that this book changed the way I think on multiple occasions, and I found myself unable to put it down, even when I had other responsibilities of life to tend to.
January 24, 2023
I found it was dragging on to even get to the John McAfee content and lost interest.
January 11, 2024
Insane. Ridiculous. Not as advertised.
This book tells the over-the-top story of Alex Cody Foster's entire life, and only gets to his work with John McAfee in like the last third of the book. Until then, we're treated to barely believable tales of his chosen homelessness, descent into mental illness, constant run-ins with the most bizarre people on Earth, horrible family, etc. etc. etc. The John McAfee section itself was out there and crazy too, but at least it was about what the title of the book said it would be about.
Foster was trying a bit too hard here to sound... "like a writer," I guess? I don't know how much of this book to believe, but either way, I don't really care.
This book tells the over-the-top story of Alex Cody Foster's entire life, and only gets to his work with John McAfee in like the last third of the book. Until then, we're treated to barely believable tales of his chosen homelessness, descent into mental illness, constant run-ins with the most bizarre people on Earth, horrible family, etc. etc. etc. The John McAfee section itself was out there and crazy too, but at least it was about what the title of the book said it would be about.
Foster was trying a bit too hard here to sound... "like a writer," I guess? I don't know how much of this book to believe, but either way, I don't really care.
June 13, 2023
I have the audio version. The first half was about the author. I did not find it interesting, so I skipped to the second. I listened for awhile. It was about the author. Perhaps the part about McAfee is good. Maybe one day I'll try to find that part. The cover is clear that the book covers two subjects, but the title suggests that McAfee is the main subject. It appears, however, that this is not the case. Of my 250+ audio books. I think this is only the second one I regret buying.
January 31, 2023
John McAfee,
successful businessman
presidential candidate
computer hacker
liar
murderer
secret holder
dead man.
I’m not sure I’ve heard of a crazier life than that of John McAfee. From the young age of 15 he was a killer. Of his own dad, nonetheless. His dad, father, the man who created him, and the same man who drunkenly beat him night after night.
One night, John got tired of his dad’s abuse towards him and his mother, and decided to end his father’s life with the pull of a trigger. From that moment on, John knew what hatred, death, pain, betrayal, and heartache felt like.
This book starts with the story of the author, Alex Cody Foster and his meandering journey through life on his path towards closure from the past and a hope of freedom for the future.
A freedom from himself and his past, a past that echo’d that of John McAfee.
Foster was raised by his mother and father, though he was barely raised at all. His mother was seemingly bipolar, though undiagnosed and unrecognized by her. His father was an alcoholic and an abuser, much like John’s.
This memoir takes us on an exploration of the mind and soul, of love and fear, of the human condition. Foster and McAfee were raised in somewhat similar situations, but as the book goes on we learn about the fundamental core of foundational layers of belief that separate them .
This book leads us to an examination within ourselves, wondering what differentiates John, who killed his father to save himself and his mother, from Alex, who threatened to kill his dad but never did.
Is the thought of murder as evil as the murder itself? Was John courageous for standing up to his father therefore ending the cruelty, and Alex wrong for not and letting it go on for longer?
What is right and what is wrong in the first place?
John, a computer programmer saw life as purely rational. He said though he loved his wife dearly, he would never die for her nor anyone else. He said one would be stupid for dying for another, because in the end we are all, every single one of us, inherently selfish beings.
He saw how parents could kill their children if it meant they could survive. He saw cruelty in the world, and seemed to shut off his emotions in order to live with it. He lived on a roller-coaster of loss, loneliness and fear, claiming that it’s simply how the world works and always will.
Alex, a lost soul found by the love of stories, writing, and companionship, on the other hand says he would die for a loved one.
He tells a story in the book of how he once held his arm against a boiling pot to see if love or pain was greater within him. As his skin reddened and blistered by the heat of the pot, in minutes it became numb and his arm, and pain, could barely be felt. It was the feeling of love for his girlfriend that kept him going up to that point, and from then on, Alex knew that love was the most powerful emotion of all.
It was love that would reconcile the past and love that is the only hope for the future.
The Man Who Hacked The World begins with a memoir of the author’s life, telling us the ever engaging and unexpected story of what lead him to become the (hired…then later fired…) ghostwriter for John McAfee.
Alex Foster felt misunderstood for as long as he could remember. When he tried to help, others would recoil. When he tried to show kindness, others would show malice. He was surrounded by the culture of transactions instead of his operating system of acceptance and love.
This confused him, so he set out on a journey across America from his home state of Maine to the symbol of freedom, California; barely any money in his pockets, hitchhiking along the way.
In California, he saw the great contrast between the have’s and the have nots. The millionaire subdivisions and the tent camps surrounding them. He wanted to bridge the divide, and began filming a documentary featuring the homeless to show how, in the end, we’re not that different after all.
Alex, inspired by the story of the power of love by one of the homeless men he interviewed, began spreading love within the homeless community. He bought Honey Buns and gave them out for free. He gave money to the homeless, all the while being homeless himself.
It was an incident while trying to sleep on the beach that drove Alex ‘crazy’.
Alone on the beach, a professionally dressed man walked up to Alex, drawing a knife and demanding him to remove his pants. Alex barely got away, stabbing the man and leaving him for dead in the process.
When Alex came back to the beach a few hours later to bring closure to this horrific event while being protected by the light of the day, he saw something that stayed in his thoughts for years. The man was gone, leaving sand the color of blood in his place.
Was Alex bad for trying to kill this man in the first place, or was he even worse for not finishing the job and therefore allowing what almost happened to him to surely happen to others in the future?
This was his tipping point. He had seen evil and experienced forms of cruelty, but never before had he been so close to death himself and so close to killing another.
He had a nervous break.
He felt lost.
Alone.
Surrounded by evil, with no place to call home and no rock to hold onto for support.
Though this book is titled ‘The Man Who Hacked The World’, it’s a memoir about Alex as much as it is about John, tactfully weaving a story between the loose ends, high peaks, and dark pits of one searching soul and another.
Much like John throughout his life, Alex started his life as a young adult on the move. On the run, not quite knowing if it were motivated by moving toward something better, or away from something worse.
Alex never felt at home, though he had a house and a family. Alex never felt understood, though he thought his intentions were pure.
It was these underlying feelings that drew him to John McAfee. The same McAfee seemingly so alone and misunderstood by others. Always on the run and never in one place for long. McAfee, the man constantly betrayed by those closest to him, but why?
It wasn’t until Alex Cody Foster became the unsuspecting ghost writer for John that he grew to learn how similar the two really were. Fortunately and more importantly, after 6 months of working for John, Alex was also able to discern where their similarities ended and stark differences began.
Mcafee saw life as a game of winners and losers. Of 1’s and 0’s, reality and fiction, give and take. John saw the world as selfish and ruthless, because that’s what surrounded him. Yet his ego told him that he had life figured out. He was rich, smart, and seemingly successful based on his long list of worldly accomplishments.
He said he lived in peace, yet a piece in him was missing. The puzzle piece of selfless love, which marks the red X on the jigsaw of life.
He was afraid to love, because his whole life all he knew was selfishness, betrayal and loss.
Finishing this book, we discern that it’s the selfishness, betrayal, and loss within himself that keep him from the oneness, truth, and beauty of love for himself and others.
Foster, on the other hand, learned to see life as a journey from the individual one back to the oneness of the whole. Though his mother tried to kill him and he was abused by his dad as a child, he always had something inside telling him there was hope for better.
Trying to find this ‘better’ within John McAfee, he spent the craziest 6 months of his life living along side one of the most wanted and infamous men in the world. He thought he could understand himself better through understanding the enigma of John McAfee.
He wanted to find truth through the lies and healing through the pain that was John McAfee’s life. He thought that through the confusion surrounding John, he could find clarity within himself.
I’m not sure if Alex found what he was looking for in the depths of John’s past, just as the moral of one story can’t be found in the pages of another. Sure, Alex’s story rhymed with John’s, but being written by a different author with the pen bent towards love rather than fear and hate, it did not repeat.
This book is the story of a boy’s search for meaning, acceptance, and love while surrounded by the nihilism, death, and destruction that borders so much of life. He tried to find a path and direction from others, thinking there he could find the missing piece to his unboxed puzzle.
When Alex finally started putting thoughts into words and words into ink did he begin to find himself. The freedom to express, create, and escape opened up a whole new world to him as a boy reading books in the library during lunch break. Through writing did he begin to exercise the innate freedom within. The freedom to create your own stories, characters, good guys and bad. The freedom to find reprieve from the never-ending hamster wheel of life, realizing the necessity of death, because without it, there would be no sacredness to life.
This book, The Man Who Hacked The World is as much a page-turner as it is a reflective mirror into our own journey towards personal freedom. McAfee found his illusion of freedom through lying, cheating, killing, and hiding. Foster finds his through much simpler and wholesome means: creativity and compassion.
Yes, this book contains some absolutely mind-blowing stories of the escapades of the man that was John McAfee. From the story told by John about the backdoor he included in McAfee Antivirus, allowing him to spy on the data of everyone who used it…to the ones that divulged some of the secrets that were found from the data within, this book opened my eyes to what really goes on behind locked doors of the powerful, selfish, and rich. I can’t help myself but to tell the barely believable stories divulged within to any ear within hearing distance, knowing that the story within the story is sure to captivate a curious mind.
But it wasn’t the crazy stories of John McAfee that I’m still thinking of a few days after finishing this book. What stayed with me is how people can disassociate from the world of love and emotion, claiming it’s the world of reality and truth and individuality that are the only things there for you in the end.
If you learn to disassociate from the self, John described, there is no self to hurt. What he didn’t seem to understand, something the author Alex learned as a kid, is that love, if allowed, is far more powerful than pain.
successful businessman
presidential candidate
computer hacker
liar
murderer
secret holder
dead man.
I’m not sure I’ve heard of a crazier life than that of John McAfee. From the young age of 15 he was a killer. Of his own dad, nonetheless. His dad, father, the man who created him, and the same man who drunkenly beat him night after night.
One night, John got tired of his dad’s abuse towards him and his mother, and decided to end his father’s life with the pull of a trigger. From that moment on, John knew what hatred, death, pain, betrayal, and heartache felt like.
This book starts with the story of the author, Alex Cody Foster and his meandering journey through life on his path towards closure from the past and a hope of freedom for the future.
A freedom from himself and his past, a past that echo’d that of John McAfee.
Foster was raised by his mother and father, though he was barely raised at all. His mother was seemingly bipolar, though undiagnosed and unrecognized by her. His father was an alcoholic and an abuser, much like John’s.
This memoir takes us on an exploration of the mind and soul, of love and fear, of the human condition. Foster and McAfee were raised in somewhat similar situations, but as the book goes on we learn about the fundamental core of foundational layers of belief that separate them .
This book leads us to an examination within ourselves, wondering what differentiates John, who killed his father to save himself and his mother, from Alex, who threatened to kill his dad but never did.
Is the thought of murder as evil as the murder itself? Was John courageous for standing up to his father therefore ending the cruelty, and Alex wrong for not and letting it go on for longer?
What is right and what is wrong in the first place?
John, a computer programmer saw life as purely rational. He said though he loved his wife dearly, he would never die for her nor anyone else. He said one would be stupid for dying for another, because in the end we are all, every single one of us, inherently selfish beings.
He saw how parents could kill their children if it meant they could survive. He saw cruelty in the world, and seemed to shut off his emotions in order to live with it. He lived on a roller-coaster of loss, loneliness and fear, claiming that it’s simply how the world works and always will.
Alex, a lost soul found by the love of stories, writing, and companionship, on the other hand says he would die for a loved one.
He tells a story in the book of how he once held his arm against a boiling pot to see if love or pain was greater within him. As his skin reddened and blistered by the heat of the pot, in minutes it became numb and his arm, and pain, could barely be felt. It was the feeling of love for his girlfriend that kept him going up to that point, and from then on, Alex knew that love was the most powerful emotion of all.
It was love that would reconcile the past and love that is the only hope for the future.
The Man Who Hacked The World begins with a memoir of the author’s life, telling us the ever engaging and unexpected story of what lead him to become the (hired…then later fired…) ghostwriter for John McAfee.
Alex Foster felt misunderstood for as long as he could remember. When he tried to help, others would recoil. When he tried to show kindness, others would show malice. He was surrounded by the culture of transactions instead of his operating system of acceptance and love.
This confused him, so he set out on a journey across America from his home state of Maine to the symbol of freedom, California; barely any money in his pockets, hitchhiking along the way.
In California, he saw the great contrast between the have’s and the have nots. The millionaire subdivisions and the tent camps surrounding them. He wanted to bridge the divide, and began filming a documentary featuring the homeless to show how, in the end, we’re not that different after all.
Alex, inspired by the story of the power of love by one of the homeless men he interviewed, began spreading love within the homeless community. He bought Honey Buns and gave them out for free. He gave money to the homeless, all the while being homeless himself.
It was an incident while trying to sleep on the beach that drove Alex ‘crazy’.
Alone on the beach, a professionally dressed man walked up to Alex, drawing a knife and demanding him to remove his pants. Alex barely got away, stabbing the man and leaving him for dead in the process.
When Alex came back to the beach a few hours later to bring closure to this horrific event while being protected by the light of the day, he saw something that stayed in his thoughts for years. The man was gone, leaving sand the color of blood in his place.
Was Alex bad for trying to kill this man in the first place, or was he even worse for not finishing the job and therefore allowing what almost happened to him to surely happen to others in the future?
This was his tipping point. He had seen evil and experienced forms of cruelty, but never before had he been so close to death himself and so close to killing another.
He had a nervous break.
He felt lost.
Alone.
Surrounded by evil, with no place to call home and no rock to hold onto for support.
Though this book is titled ‘The Man Who Hacked The World’, it’s a memoir about Alex as much as it is about John, tactfully weaving a story between the loose ends, high peaks, and dark pits of one searching soul and another.
Much like John throughout his life, Alex started his life as a young adult on the move. On the run, not quite knowing if it were motivated by moving toward something better, or away from something worse.
Alex never felt at home, though he had a house and a family. Alex never felt understood, though he thought his intentions were pure.
It was these underlying feelings that drew him to John McAfee. The same McAfee seemingly so alone and misunderstood by others. Always on the run and never in one place for long. McAfee, the man constantly betrayed by those closest to him, but why?
It wasn’t until Alex Cody Foster became the unsuspecting ghost writer for John that he grew to learn how similar the two really were. Fortunately and more importantly, after 6 months of working for John, Alex was also able to discern where their similarities ended and stark differences began.
Mcafee saw life as a game of winners and losers. Of 1’s and 0’s, reality and fiction, give and take. John saw the world as selfish and ruthless, because that’s what surrounded him. Yet his ego told him that he had life figured out. He was rich, smart, and seemingly successful based on his long list of worldly accomplishments.
He said he lived in peace, yet a piece in him was missing. The puzzle piece of selfless love, which marks the red X on the jigsaw of life.
He was afraid to love, because his whole life all he knew was selfishness, betrayal and loss.
Finishing this book, we discern that it’s the selfishness, betrayal, and loss within himself that keep him from the oneness, truth, and beauty of love for himself and others.
Foster, on the other hand, learned to see life as a journey from the individual one back to the oneness of the whole. Though his mother tried to kill him and he was abused by his dad as a child, he always had something inside telling him there was hope for better.
Trying to find this ‘better’ within John McAfee, he spent the craziest 6 months of his life living along side one of the most wanted and infamous men in the world. He thought he could understand himself better through understanding the enigma of John McAfee.
He wanted to find truth through the lies and healing through the pain that was John McAfee’s life. He thought that through the confusion surrounding John, he could find clarity within himself.
I’m not sure if Alex found what he was looking for in the depths of John’s past, just as the moral of one story can’t be found in the pages of another. Sure, Alex’s story rhymed with John’s, but being written by a different author with the pen bent towards love rather than fear and hate, it did not repeat.
This book is the story of a boy’s search for meaning, acceptance, and love while surrounded by the nihilism, death, and destruction that borders so much of life. He tried to find a path and direction from others, thinking there he could find the missing piece to his unboxed puzzle.
When Alex finally started putting thoughts into words and words into ink did he begin to find himself. The freedom to express, create, and escape opened up a whole new world to him as a boy reading books in the library during lunch break. Through writing did he begin to exercise the innate freedom within. The freedom to create your own stories, characters, good guys and bad. The freedom to find reprieve from the never-ending hamster wheel of life, realizing the necessity of death, because without it, there would be no sacredness to life.
This book, The Man Who Hacked The World is as much a page-turner as it is a reflective mirror into our own journey towards personal freedom. McAfee found his illusion of freedom through lying, cheating, killing, and hiding. Foster finds his through much simpler and wholesome means: creativity and compassion.
Yes, this book contains some absolutely mind-blowing stories of the escapades of the man that was John McAfee. From the story told by John about the backdoor he included in McAfee Antivirus, allowing him to spy on the data of everyone who used it…to the ones that divulged some of the secrets that were found from the data within, this book opened my eyes to what really goes on behind locked doors of the powerful, selfish, and rich. I can’t help myself but to tell the barely believable stories divulged within to any ear within hearing distance, knowing that the story within the story is sure to captivate a curious mind.
But it wasn’t the crazy stories of John McAfee that I’m still thinking of a few days after finishing this book. What stayed with me is how people can disassociate from the world of love and emotion, claiming it’s the world of reality and truth and individuality that are the only things there for you in the end.
If you learn to disassociate from the self, John described, there is no self to hurt. What he didn’t seem to understand, something the author Alex learned as a kid, is that love, if allowed, is far more powerful than pain.
July 23, 2023
This book is so beautiful, so raw, and so haunting. If you want to reconnect with your humanity, see all the unseen people in the world, and watch the way a powerful and wounded John McAfee directs his own personal circus of guns, drugs, and henchmen, you should read this book. I couldn’t put it down, and to be honest, I had no particular interest in John McAfee’s story.
The first half of the book is the most memorable, well-written, and enduring part of the whole narrative. The story moves through the dangers of homelessness, the struggle of relying on dysfunctional family members, and the perils of falling in love while still healing from trauma. It is an honest, heart-wrenching story of a young man reckoning with his family, his identity, and the dark side of humanity. Oh, and honey buns. There are a lot of honey buns in this book.
The writing is so creative and precise. There are moments when you feel you are actually inside of a panic attack - long paragraphs without punctuation, except the occasional capitalized word to reflect the waves of anxiety that pulse through this unique form of dread. I’ve never seen someone use the tools of grammar and punctuation to write this particular mental and emotional state so precisely. It is novel, and totally brilliant.
The second half of the book is written with the same fearlessness and breathless pace. But, it is less appealing because the subject changes. I just don’t like John McAfee enough to ride in a car with him for 100 pages. He’s so out of control, chaotic, and at times despicable, that I felt I was waiting for the author to abandon ship for far too long. Of course, when he finally does, it is deeply satisfying. If you are interested in John McAfee’s story, this likely won’t bother you as you will gain access to the rarely seen world of his truly crazy and unpredictable personal life.
There are scenes from this book that won’t leave me. Namely, the faces that haunt the author at night, on the side of the road, in his childhood home, and in interviews with clients. All the people he meets in his travels are written with such vivid humanness and vulnerability that they stay with the reader long after the story ends. Read this book to get to know yourself, and all the people you meet and forget, or never bother to notice at all.
The first half of the book is the most memorable, well-written, and enduring part of the whole narrative. The story moves through the dangers of homelessness, the struggle of relying on dysfunctional family members, and the perils of falling in love while still healing from trauma. It is an honest, heart-wrenching story of a young man reckoning with his family, his identity, and the dark side of humanity. Oh, and honey buns. There are a lot of honey buns in this book.
The writing is so creative and precise. There are moments when you feel you are actually inside of a panic attack - long paragraphs without punctuation, except the occasional capitalized word to reflect the waves of anxiety that pulse through this unique form of dread. I’ve never seen someone use the tools of grammar and punctuation to write this particular mental and emotional state so precisely. It is novel, and totally brilliant.
The second half of the book is written with the same fearlessness and breathless pace. But, it is less appealing because the subject changes. I just don’t like John McAfee enough to ride in a car with him for 100 pages. He’s so out of control, chaotic, and at times despicable, that I felt I was waiting for the author to abandon ship for far too long. Of course, when he finally does, it is deeply satisfying. If you are interested in John McAfee’s story, this likely won’t bother you as you will gain access to the rarely seen world of his truly crazy and unpredictable personal life.
There are scenes from this book that won’t leave me. Namely, the faces that haunt the author at night, on the side of the road, in his childhood home, and in interviews with clients. All the people he meets in his travels are written with such vivid humanness and vulnerability that they stay with the reader long after the story ends. Read this book to get to know yourself, and all the people you meet and forget, or never bother to notice at all.
July 17, 2023
There is no doubt there are lots of not just interesting but mind-blowing stories in this book, it is well-written and I definitely found it a page-turner. There are a few issues that keep it from being a 5 star masterpiece. First, I am not sure the dual memoir approach worked - yes there were themes of madness and extreme living but I think this was two books crammed into one. Second, the McAfee part was unfiltered ridiculousness and because of that it was hard to separate fact from fiction. Third, there were tales of extreme violence that should come with a trigger warning. Last, I am not sure what the point of it was. What was the writer trying to say? What did he want to reader to come away with? In any book, whether it is a novel or a memoir, the main character(s) should learn something about themselves that makes them a better or different person. McAfee in particular did not have any such character arc. Sure, I enjoyed reading this book and I hope more people do read it but I just don't know who I would recommend it to.
June 22, 2025
DNF
I almost never give critical reviews because even when I don't like a book I think that it might still be good and just not for me at that time. In this case I'm angry that I bought this book. The description of the book implies that it is about John McAfee who by all accounts was a very interesting man who led a strange life.
Unfortunately the book is really about the authors favorite topic, himself. I'm almost 50% into the book and it's all been about the authors time wandering the streets getting to know homeless people and in general hanging around vagabonds. Reasonable people can debate whether this part of the book is interesting but it's not how the publisher marketed the book and I don't believe that was a mistake.
If you want to read a book about the author then check it out. If you are looking for a book about John McAfee I suggest you look elsewhere.
I almost never give critical reviews because even when I don't like a book I think that it might still be good and just not for me at that time. In this case I'm angry that I bought this book. The description of the book implies that it is about John McAfee who by all accounts was a very interesting man who led a strange life.
Unfortunately the book is really about the authors favorite topic, himself. I'm almost 50% into the book and it's all been about the authors time wandering the streets getting to know homeless people and in general hanging around vagabonds. Reasonable people can debate whether this part of the book is interesting but it's not how the publisher marketed the book and I don't believe that was a mistake.
If you want to read a book about the author then check it out. If you are looking for a book about John McAfee I suggest you look elsewhere.
February 19, 2023
The Man Who Hacked the World by Alex Cody Foster
A Ghostwriter’s Descent into Madness with John McAfee
Published November 15th 2022
This memoir sucks you in from the very beginning! The bridge and cemetery scenes were movie theater worthy. The narrator was so talented. I saw and heard him as both the author and narrator! That was weird for me. I don't think I can bring myself to look at the Netflix show. This reality was too intense for me. It very well done and an excellent audiobook experience.
#TheManWhoHackedtheWorld #NetGalley #Biographies #Memoirs #DreamscapeMedia
After parting ways with the eponymous McAfee Antivirus software company in 1994, John McAfee embarked on innumerable business, political, and criminal enterprises. From investing in cybersecurity and cryptocurrency to accusations of murdering his neighbor in Belize to making two unsuccessful bids for President of the United States—the latter attempt done in exile following a federal indictment—this larger-than-life man nurtured a rakish public profile while evading law enforcement for his involvement with drugs, weapons, and murder. For six months, Alex Cody Foster—hired as McAfee's ghostwriter—traveled with McAfee across America and Europe, occasionally going on the run to evade purported killers and kidnappers. Foster tells the incomparable tale of how the two of them met, where their adventures took them, and what precipitated McAfee's death.
A Ghostwriter’s Descent into Madness with John McAfee
Published November 15th 2022
This memoir sucks you in from the very beginning! The bridge and cemetery scenes were movie theater worthy. The narrator was so talented. I saw and heard him as both the author and narrator! That was weird for me. I don't think I can bring myself to look at the Netflix show. This reality was too intense for me. It very well done and an excellent audiobook experience.
#TheManWhoHackedtheWorld #NetGalley #Biographies #Memoirs #DreamscapeMedia
After parting ways with the eponymous McAfee Antivirus software company in 1994, John McAfee embarked on innumerable business, political, and criminal enterprises. From investing in cybersecurity and cryptocurrency to accusations of murdering his neighbor in Belize to making two unsuccessful bids for President of the United States—the latter attempt done in exile following a federal indictment—this larger-than-life man nurtured a rakish public profile while evading law enforcement for his involvement with drugs, weapons, and murder. For six months, Alex Cody Foster—hired as McAfee's ghostwriter—traveled with McAfee across America and Europe, occasionally going on the run to evade purported killers and kidnappers. Foster tells the incomparable tale of how the two of them met, where their adventures took them, and what precipitated McAfee's death.
January 22, 2024
While this book is as much about Alex Cody Foster as John McAffe, it fosters a wonderful sense of unreality and paranoia. McAffe is left to speak his worldview, and the reader (like the author) has no way of knowing how much of his claims (on famous conspiracies, on his ability to backdoor on so many famous peoples' secrets, on the many people after him) are true. McAffe comes across as a madman and one of the greatest raconteurs ever, while simultaneously being a broken narcissist and wise man.
Foster has a voice of his own nearly pathological empathy (the characteristic that led him to be a ghost writer) and his own trauma or mental illness which adds to the claustrophobia of the story.
Foster has a voice of his own nearly pathological empathy (the characteristic that led him to be a ghost writer) and his own trauma or mental illness which adds to the claustrophobia of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2024
The Man Who Hacked the World was a good read by Alex Cody Foster. John McAfee parted ways with the McAfee Antivirus software company in 1994.He embarked on business, political, and criminal enterprises. He invested in cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, was accused of murdering his neighbor in Belize, and also had two unsuccessful bids for President of the United States.Alex Cody Foster was hired as McAfee’s ghostwriter. He traveled with McAfee across America and Europe for six months. This led to occasionally evading killers and kidnappers. He tells the tale of how they met as well as the adventures they went on. I enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read more by the author.
March 14, 2025
This book is really two stories, with the first half focussed on the author’s formative years that led to the events of the second half of the book. This section charts his time spent as a ghostwriter for hire for John McAfee whilst the paranoid tech giant runs from a gang of malicious agents, perhaps real, perhaps imagined. The first part is better written, but ultimately of lesser interest; it’s a tough ask to expect your audience to be as receptive to what is essentially a personal memoir of a relatively normal life when balanced against the insane story of almost mythic infamy that McAfee presented. In this respect, the book is a little uneven, but an enjoyable enough read nonetheless.
August 30, 2023
I could have skipped the first half of this book. It is the author's very detailed account of his life... with all the time spent on the character Vincent, I thought he was going to pop up later... he did not...
Part 2 finally gets to John MacAfee and his crazy life! While I felt like the author was trying to make himself out to be the strong brazen character, he did seem to do a great job fleshing out John MacAfee as a deeply flawed, but wildly intelligent person.
Interesting read!
Part 2 finally gets to John MacAfee and his crazy life! While I felt like the author was trying to make himself out to be the strong brazen character, he did seem to do a great job fleshing out John MacAfee as a deeply flawed, but wildly intelligent person.
Interesting read!
July 23, 2024
I heard this guy on a podcast talking about his adventures and his ghost writing career, and it struck me then that he has a bit of a revisionist streak. You know that thing where someone is telling a story and it takes you some time to realise you were there, and that is not how that scene really went? [my sister does this a LOT]
And it is worse here.
McAfee’s life is unbelievable, but so is the authors… IDK
3 stars?
So far this year my library saved me $1585.52
And it is worse here.
McAfee’s life is unbelievable, but so is the authors… IDK
3 stars?
So far this year my library saved me $1585.52
January 27, 2023
Think Krishnamurti and the Sinaloa cartel had nothing in common? Think again ...
After reading this book you will rethink philosophy, religion, Qanon and Brock Pierce.
MacAfee, the man.....genius or psychopath? You decide....this book is a must read for deep thinkers as well as deep pockets!... Crypto pockets that is.....
After reading this book you will rethink philosophy, religion, Qanon and Brock Pierce.
MacAfee, the man.....genius or psychopath? You decide....this book is a must read for deep thinkers as well as deep pockets!... Crypto pockets that is.....
September 4, 2023
If you want to read a book about John McAfee, I'm not sure this is the book you want. I'm sure it's probably in there if you look for it. If you want a book about the authors life in detail, this is for you.
"I'm here to tell your story, not mine." If only that were true.
"I'm here to tell your story, not mine." If only that were true.
February 21, 2024
This is good, very good in fact. The writing is so vivid and the events at times so unbelievable it reads more like a novel than anything else. Loses a star purely for the fact that the McAfee stuff doesn't start until halfway through.
June 11, 2024
Arguably this is the best I came across after Greenlights. Very refreshing and row. An average millennial with an ant’s attention span will probably find this book on a long side of things, but I actually enjoyed the “two life stories in one” approach.
May 27, 2023
A little long and at points difficult to continue reading. Tough to get to the McAfee part of the book.
August 14, 2023
First part was interesting and chronicled life of author and his journey to becoming a ghostwriter. Second part was downright crazy when he joins the McAfee circus. Good read.
April 11, 2024
A wild book. I’ve never read anything like it before. The authors story is almost as interesting as John mcafees.
Now I can finally watch the movie/documentary on Netflix
Now I can finally watch the movie/documentary on Netflix
May 13, 2024
Best book of the year.
January 9, 2025
Excellent book! The author’s detailed events made you feel like you were traveling/running alongside McAfee. Exciting & thrilling true life events. Highly recommend.
December 19, 2025
You pick this up expecting a story about John McAfee, but instead you get an autobiography of the author who you don't care about. Self important, self indulgent, and straight up misleading.
July 28, 2025
All the parts about John McAfee are super interesting but ya gotta skip the first half of the book where the author goes on about himself because he is nOt interesting.
July 5, 2025
I enjoyed the book it was compelling and well written. Cody is a truly talented with his words and I liked that he didn’t shy away from darkness and wrote with true grit however the book is a tad to long and by page 300 you wonder where exactly the story is going and you lose interest in John Mcafee.
April 10, 2023
I thought I was reading a book about John McAfee.... but I got a whole lot more than I bargained for. This book takes you places you probably never thought you'd go and makes you think about things you probably wouldn't have otherwise. I listened to the audiobook and was fascinated from beginning to end. I highly recommend!!
August 27, 2023
I've never read a book where the author was as pleased and impressed with himself as this one. He had the opportunity to hang out with John McAfee, a very colourful, enigmatic character, off and on for six months. That's ostensibly what this book is about, but first you have to muddle through more than 200 bloated pages of irrelevant stuff about, ahem, the author himself: mundane things like Foster getting drunk at Oktoberfest, Foster going for a hike in the hills above L.A., and, I kid you not, Foster visiting a casino bar in Vegas. It's bizarre, self-congratulatory, and long-winded.
The stuff about McAfee is better, though essentially just a series of transcriptions of boozy convos with an increasingly unhinged McAfee.
The book would have been much better had it just been an account of a crazy half year in the company of McAfee. Unfortunately the author finds himself just as interesting and keeps inserting his own life story wherever he can.
Near the end of the book, the author tells McAfee, "I'm here to tell your story, not mine." If only he had kept his promise.
The stuff about McAfee is better, though essentially just a series of transcriptions of boozy convos with an increasingly unhinged McAfee.
The book would have been much better had it just been an account of a crazy half year in the company of McAfee. Unfortunately the author finds himself just as interesting and keeps inserting his own life story wherever he can.
Near the end of the book, the author tells McAfee, "I'm here to tell your story, not mine." If only he had kept his promise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2023
It's difficult to write a complete review without giving away the story and enjoyment for future readers. The book is a riveting journey through life. You think you're about to dive deep into the world of John McAfee, only to find that the life of Alex Cody Foster is just as if not more interesting. While McAfee's exploits are fascinating, you soon find that the lives of both are intertwined, and you don't have the story of one without both. Without giving too much away, I can say that this book changed the way I think on multiple occasions, and I found myself unable to put it down, even when I had other responsibilities of life to tend to.
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