This reminds me of I'll Be Gone in the Dark in which Michelle McNamara, a crime journalist, tells of the intensive search for a serial killer's identity. McNamara associated with a group of people who tried to solve murders in their spare time. In this book, regular people are tracking down the insurrectionists and sending their findings on to the FBI (which does not come off as a stellar agency when it comes to hunting down domestic terrorists). You can't hide from the internet, at least you can't when people are determined to find you. ( )

Sedition Hunters by Ryan J Reilly details the events of the day, largely through the work of the common citizens who discovered the identities of the traitors involved, and highlights how the justice system is broken.

I should say several of the ways in which the system is broken, and I'm not sure January 6th broke it, but it sure brought all of the flaws to the forefront. Outdated technology, not just in the area of actual investigation but also things as basic as very limiting caps on the size of attachments agents can receive in their email. Too many agents who consider their political leanings to be more important than their oath to enforce the law. An infrastructure and "functional" hierarchy that is both antiquated and dysfunctional. Prior to January 6th there was a reluctance to address domestic terrorism, though when the alleged threat of domestic terrorism was from the left there was never any hesitation to monitor anyone and everyone, from entertainment celebrities to MLK.

I didn't find this as disjointed as some readers did, that may be because I didn't have trouble following along with the events on that day being interspersed with stories about the sleuthing. That said, there were a few places I thought could have been tightened up a bit. Also, because I read the entire title, I didn't expect this to be exclusively about the sedition hunters, or the details of how they are accomplishing their goals. I read with an eye toward how the system was broken.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in the events of that day full of traitors, the work of the regular citizens who helped bring some of them to justice, and what needs to be done to fix the aspects of the system that are broken or, at best, function poorly. And you can read reviews from those who think everything is a conspiracy with more than just a grain of salt.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )