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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
This was such an interesting story, but I don't think the telling was very well organized. Some parts felt repetitive, and I would lose track of who the main players were at other points.
As a recovering addict, I found this book tragic but incredibly informative. The drug war needs to end and these stories are just another example of why.
Recommended by the county prosecutor during my jury duty, and this is really right up my alley! But though I read the first 40 pages, I kept getting a weird feeling while reading this, and I ended up setting it down for the night. Then got busy with life and eventually returned it.
Hope to come back to it some day!
Hope to come back to it some day!
3.75 rounded up. The first third of this was so good. Very interesting, learned a lot. And then it got so repetitive I felt like I was just reading the same chapter over and over. It took forever to finish this. A better editor could have really helped but I still found it to be an excellent intro to the opiod and heroin epidemic. There were also several moments where the author seemed a little racist, even though he was explaining others views it rubbed me the wrong way the way he spoke about it so that also knocked it down a bit.
An all around excellent account of how the opium epidemic began in the United States. Towards the end, it felt a little redundant but overall this was really enlightening and interesting. Sam Quinones obviously put in a lot of effort and time in interviewing the people listed in this book and doing subsequent research. His writing style is very precise and at times a little dry but it fits this topic well. I read this book using Audible and the narrator was also very good, though at times a little dry. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about the opium epidemic in the US.
Excellent. A thorough look at opiates and heroin in America. Overwhelming and hopeful at the same time. Highly recommend.
A good read focusing primarily on the prescription pain-pill use and subsequent heroin addiction in a small town in Ohio. The story also touches on the heroin problem on the national level and about the drug trade coming from Mexico. It gives insight into how big pharma pushed addictive pain medication in the 1990s and the role that state and federal governments played (or did not play) in controlling the issue. The story was reported in a matter-of-fact way and stayed away from preaching. It certainly illustrates how anyone could have gotten caught in this net from white collar workers to college football players. The book was careful not to lean towards any one solution, but did nail the point that treatment and prevention is much cheaper and more effective than incarceration for drug users. I wholeheartedly agree.
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
This book is fascinating! I don't think I have every read through a nonfiction book this quickly (two days!) I love how the author wove all the stories together so that it almost reads like fiction. A really great book!
A great look into America's Opiod Epidemic. It compares the change in views on opiod prescriptions with the rise of the black tar heroin trade seamlessly. Represents all sides of the story for a fasinating look into those who influenced this epidemic as well as those who were affected by it.