ebjoz3000's review against another edition

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5.0

Aside from the story so captivating that it reads like a novel... complete with horrifying villains... the dedication of this author alone deserves five stars. Excellent, excellent journalism.

mugglemeganreads's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.5

Informative but overall very dry/educational and too slow-paced/longgg for my liking.

cainrdc's review against another edition

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5.0

such a fascinating read

laurbretz's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

5.0

Me the entire time reading this: 🤯🫢 

I couldn't believe some of this is real! At first I wasn’t sure if I’d finish this 500 page book about some family I’d never heard of but I was easily hooked and actually realized i did know this family but just didn’t realize it because of how good they WERE at hiding their dirty secrets. The higher the horse the greater the fall or whatever because they fell HARD. This author did justice to the victims of the crisis by telling this story and letting the facts speak for themselves. I very much enjoyed the reckoning at the end, and felt invested after reading about three generations of the family. 

Well researched, well written, and I learned a lot. 

alisarae's review against another edition

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5.0

Fantastic reporting on an angle of the opioid crisis that has generally managed to stay out of public eye: the owners of Purdue Pharma. One key thing I learned, besides juicy details about this family that makes Knives Out look realistic, is that Purdue Pharma's filing for bankruptcy is not because it had to pay out so much in lawsuits. Far from it--the company was intentionally bled dry by spiking family payouts from the millions to the billions in a preemptive asset drain, and the bankruptcy is a known legal strategy to freeze lawsuits.

I say we vote these schmucks off the planet. They should be the first ones we sacrifice to Bezos's playground.

llacey's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

amyapple's review against another edition

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4.0

The book had a slow start for me and I almost thought to abandon until later as I only picked this up because it’s a book in a book club I am in. Boy, am I glad I continued.

The book really picks up after a few chapters and it was a good read about the Sacklers and how they did what they did to keep their name in good graces.

As much as I can feel the author really pushing his opinion onto the reader, there is merit to be noted that Keefe does make mention that there are other people and factors that come into play, HOWEVER as somewhat pioneers of some of the marketing strategies the Sacklers allegedly took I do feel that there needs to be social liabilities/responsibilities.

One would enjoy this book, if they note that the book is on the Sacklers and not just about the opioid crisis. Failure to do so will eventuate in a book that seems to lack a rounded “bigger picture”.

I’m off to also watch the Netflix mini series now.

janey's review against another edition

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5.0

Exactly the kind of investigative journalism that I like and appreciate.

iris_krauze's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

carriekelley22's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25