Last Night in San Francisco - by Scott Alan Lucas (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Bad Blood meets Burn Book in this exposé about tech icon Bob Lee--and what his life and 2023 murder tell us about San Francisco in the Internet Age

FOR FANS OF GOING INFINITE AND SUPER PUMPED: Sex and drugs, parties and violence, genius coders and VC tycoons--welcome to the rip-roaring world of the American tech industry

The full story of an industry, a city, and two men--one who got everything he ever wanted, one who never got what he thought he deserved--and what happened the night it all came apart.

Like his many peers in the tech industry who had poured into San Francisco over the last two decades, Bob Lee was remaking the world, building the most familiar parts of our digital lives, a lead innovator at one start-up after another, such as Google, Android, Square, and CashApp.

When Lee was found stabbed to death one night on the streets of San Francisco, the city's many critics knew exactly what it meant. Just like they had been saying, the city was violent, dangerous, and out-of-control. San Francisco was so bent on creating a liberal utopia that it was failing at its most basic tasks--to keep its citizens safe.

It's a familiar story--familiar and wrong. Bob Lee was a man without limits, and he had a recklessness that led to his triumphs as well as his downfall.

Review Quotes

"Rigorously reported, well written, and difficult to put down. It's a memorable depiction of the seamy side of Silicon Valley." -- Publishers Weekly

"An in-depth exploration of one of the most notorious homicide cases in the city's recent history: the mysterious 2023 stabbing death of tech executive Bob Lee. Based on two years of reporting, this book not only sheds light on the case's fascinating trial, but illuminates the lurid underside of San Francisco's new Gilded Age." -- Gary Kamiya, author of Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco and Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages Through the Unknown City

"Scott Alan Lucas's deep dive into the 2023 murder of tech mogul Bob Lee is part anthropological study, part true-crime mystery novel, and all fascination. He fills in the blanks that everyone wanted to know about this nationally notorious killing, uncovering both salacious and unexpectedly mundane details through meticulous research, while also painting a searingly full picture of the tech world of San Francisco in all its myths and realities. It all makes for an absolutely terrific read." -- Kevin Fagan, author of The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family and Second Chances

About the Author

Scott Alan Lucas is an award-winning journalist who writes about politics, technology, housing, and the environment, with a special focus on California. He was previously an editor at San Francisco magazine, which twice received the ASME award during his time there. His work has been published in outlets including Politico, The Economist, and The Information, for which he covered the Bob Lee killing.