A review by bailey
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

5.0

“In the end, the courage of women can't be stamped out. And stories - the big ones, the true ones - can be caught but never killed.”

This book is truly amazing. Going into it, knowing the story and knowing who Ronan Farrow is, I was expecting this to be a more in depth look into the Harvey Weinstein reporting and eventually the Matt Lauer and Les Moonves stories. But it actually was the process of investigating these claims and trying to write this story. It was NBC's attempt to shut this story down facing not only calls from Harvey Weinstein but their own internal issues with Matt Lauer. It was also Ronan Farrow's personal issues in this time. He dealt with writing this story and being stalked and watched by a company hired by Harvey Weinstein.

One of the amazing things about this book, is that it reads like a thriller. It's Ronan Farrow saying what happened and how this reporting was blocked, but it was so unbelievable that it feels like a thriller. At one point Ronan is told, "Oh Ronan, I am his people". Like it was that crazy and unbelievable. It highlights just how brave all of these people were. The reporters working on the story and the women. What they went through to make this public was incredibly brave. This is what I took away from this book and what I believe everyone needs to remember. These people risked their careers and they might have even thought their lives, to tell this story.

I can not recommend this book enough. Ronan Farrow is an amazing journalist who did great work. He helped these women and so many women in the future. He clearly lays out the facts. He makes it clear when something was fact with evidence to back it up and when something was hearsay or an opinion. It is absolutely journalism at its finest. If you aren't typically a non-fiction reader, I would still recommend picking this up. It was incredible.