Get Your Free Audiobook
-
Bad Blood
- Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
Non-member price: $19.75
People who bought this also bought...
-
American Kingpin
- The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road Drugs Empire
- By: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Nick Bilton comes a true-life thriller about the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, the founder of the online black market Silk Road. In 2011, Ulbricht, a 26-year-old libertarian idealist and former Boy Scout, launched 'a website where people could buy anything anonymously, with no trail whatsoever that could lead back to them'. He called it Silk Road, opened for business on the Dark Web, and christened himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.
-
-
riveting story
- By Darren on 11-06-2019
-
Billion Dollar Loser
- The Epic Rise and Fall of WeWork
- By: Reeves Wiedeman
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christened a potential saviour of Silicon Valley's start-up culture, Adam Neumann was set to take WeWork, his office-share company disrupting the commercial real estate market, public, cash out on the company's $47 billion valuation, and break the string of major start-ups unable to deliver to shareholders. But as employees knew, and investors soon found out, WeWork's capital was built on promises that the company was more than a real estate purveyor, that in fact it was a transformational technology company.
-
-
The story of Icarus in the startup world
- By Amir on 19-11-2020
-
The Smartest Guys in the Room
- The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
- By: Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What went wrong with American business at the end of the 20th century? Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomised the triumph of the New Economy. Feared by rivals, worshipped by investors, Enron seemingly could do no wrong. Its profits rose every year; its stock price surged ever upward; its leaders were hailed as visionaries. Then a young Fortune writer, Bethany McLean, wrote an article posing a simple question - how, exactly, does Enron make its money?
-
The Woman Who Fooled the World
- By: Beau Donelly, Nick Toscano
- Narrated by: James Saunders
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud.
-
-
A bit sexist
- By Amazon Customer on 28-08-2019
-
The Spider Network
- The Wild Story of a Maths Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History
- By: David Enrich
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2006 an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor - the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide - was set daily by a group of easily manipulated administrators, and they could reap huge profits by nudging it fractions of a percent to suit their trading portfolios. This group generated incredible riches - until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.
-
-
This guys voice! Urgh.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-11-2019
-
Shoe Dog
- A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
- By: Phil Knight
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
-
-
- By Anonymous User on 17-04-2018
-
American Kingpin
- The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road Drugs Empire
- By: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Nick Bilton comes a true-life thriller about the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, the founder of the online black market Silk Road. In 2011, Ulbricht, a 26-year-old libertarian idealist and former Boy Scout, launched 'a website where people could buy anything anonymously, with no trail whatsoever that could lead back to them'. He called it Silk Road, opened for business on the Dark Web, and christened himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.
-
-
riveting story
- By Darren on 11-06-2019
-
Billion Dollar Loser
- The Epic Rise and Fall of WeWork
- By: Reeves Wiedeman
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christened a potential saviour of Silicon Valley's start-up culture, Adam Neumann was set to take WeWork, his office-share company disrupting the commercial real estate market, public, cash out on the company's $47 billion valuation, and break the string of major start-ups unable to deliver to shareholders. But as employees knew, and investors soon found out, WeWork's capital was built on promises that the company was more than a real estate purveyor, that in fact it was a transformational technology company.
-
-
The story of Icarus in the startup world
- By Amir on 19-11-2020
-
The Smartest Guys in the Room
- The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
- By: Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What went wrong with American business at the end of the 20th century? Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomised the triumph of the New Economy. Feared by rivals, worshipped by investors, Enron seemingly could do no wrong. Its profits rose every year; its stock price surged ever upward; its leaders were hailed as visionaries. Then a young Fortune writer, Bethany McLean, wrote an article posing a simple question - how, exactly, does Enron make its money?
-
The Woman Who Fooled the World
- By: Beau Donelly, Nick Toscano
- Narrated by: James Saunders
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud.
-
-
A bit sexist
- By Amazon Customer on 28-08-2019
-
The Spider Network
- The Wild Story of a Maths Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History
- By: David Enrich
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2006 an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor - the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide - was set daily by a group of easily manipulated administrators, and they could reap huge profits by nudging it fractions of a percent to suit their trading portfolios. This group generated incredible riches - until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.
-
-
This guys voice! Urgh.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-11-2019
-
Shoe Dog
- A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
- By: Phil Knight
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
-
-
- By Anonymous User on 17-04-2018
-
A Promised Land
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 29 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
-
-
My review
- By Rebecca on 23-11-2020
-
Super Pumped
- The Battle for Uber
- By: Mike Isaac
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Mike Isaac
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A New York Times technology correspondent presents the dramatic rise and fall of Uber, set against the rapid upheaval in Silicon Valley during the mobile era. Based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees, along with previously unpublished documents, Super Pumped is a pause-resisting story of ambition and deception, obscene wealth, and bad behavior, that explores how blistering technological and financial innovation culminated in one of the most catastrophic 12-month periods in American corporate history.
-
-
Great story - very prescient
- By Adam Webb on 03-01-2020
-
Steve Jobs
- The Exclusive Biography
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker, Walter Isaacson (introduction)
- Length: 25 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Walter Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs' family members and key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, this is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.
-
-
Fantastic story
- By JPD on 13-06-2019
-
Evil Has a Name
- The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
- By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. Amazingly, it seemed, evil finally had a name. Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
-
-
Best audio book I've ever downloaded
- By Brad Stewart on 14-08-2019
-
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
- The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
- By: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, shares what he has learnt in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address climate problems. He explains how the world can work to build the tools it needs to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions - investing in research, inventing new technologies and deploying them quickly at a large scale. Gates is optimistic that the world can prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
-
-
Great, wasn't on the edge of my seat though.
- By Amazon Customer on 18-03-2021
-
Thicker than Water
- By: Tyler Shultz
- Narrated by: Tyler Shultz
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the hero whistleblower of the infamous Theranos scam, Thicker than Water is a look at never-before-revealed details behind closed doors at the company, revealing a cautionary tale of corporate bullying, gaslighting, ego, and wealth running amok in Silicon Valley. Tyler Shultz had been in the workforce for less than a year when he emailed Elizabeth Holmes, his employer and the CEO and founder of Theranos, with concerns that the company’s lab practices were faulty, ignored quality control, and were potentially dangerous to patients.
-
-
Moving First Person Account of Hero Whistleblower
- By AJBSydney on 30-12-2020
-
The Ride of a Lifetime
- Lessons in Creative Leadership from the CEO of the Walt Disney Company
- By: Robert Iger
- Narrated by: Robert Iger, Jim Frangione
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The CEO of the Walt Disney Company shares the ideas and values he has used to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world, and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was more intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company's history. Twelve years later, Disney is the largest, most respected media company in the world counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties.
-
-
Could have read this on Wikipedia
- By Anonymous User on 27-03-2020
-
Catch and Kill
- Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
- By: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family.
-
-
Fantastic reporting RUINED by narration.
- By Brett Cox on 08-03-2020
-
Fall
- The Mystery of Robert Maxwell
- By: John Preston
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1991, the media mogul and former MP Robert Maxwell made a triumphant entrance into Manhattan harbour aboard his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, to complete his purchase of the ailing New York Daily News. Crowds lined the quayside to watch his arrival, taxi drivers stopped their cabs to shake his hand and children asked for his autograph. But just 10 months later, Maxwell disappeared from the same yacht off the Canary Islands, only to be found dead in the water soon afterward.
-
-
A must read
- By Michael R. Skinner on 26-03-2021
-
Red Notice
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
November 2009. Sergei Magnitsky is led to an isolation cell in a Moscow prison and beaten to death by eight police officers. His crime? To testify against the Russian Interior Ministry officials involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million in taxes. Magnitsky’s brutal killing has remained uninvestigated to this day. Red Notice is a searing exposé of the Russian authorities responsible for the murder, slicing deep into the heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths.
-
-
Super intriguing story
- By Damon on 08-02-2016
-
Disrupted
- Ludicrous Misadventures into the Tech Start-Up Bubble
- By: Dan Lyons
- Narrated by: Dan Lyons
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dan Lyons was Technology Editor at Newsweek for years, a magazine writer at the top of his profession. One Friday morning he received a phone call: his job no longer existed. Fifty years old, and with a wife and two young kids, Dan was unemployed and facing financial oblivion. Then an idea hit. Dan had long reported on Silicon Valley and the tech explosion. Why not join it? What could possibly go wrong?
-
-
A Great Insight to A Juvenile & Toxic World
- By Xcursion on 24-04-2017
-
American Predator
- The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
- By: Maureen Callahan
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
-
-
Incredible story, challenging narrator
- By Anonymous User on 27-03-2021
Publisher's Summary
A New York Times best seller.
Winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2018.
The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup 'unicorn' promised to revolutionise the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes' worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: the technology didn't work.
In Bad Blood, John Carreyrou tells the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.
Now to be adapted into a film, with Jennifer Lawrence to star.
Critic Reviews
"Wall Street Journal investigative journalist Carreyrou presents meticulously researched, clearly written evidence of the fraud perpetrated by business wunderkind Elizabeth Holmes. The former CEO of the once-renowned Silicon Valley startup, Theranos, bilked investors of millions and potentially risked the lives of patients around the world with a groundbreaking diagnostic product that did not work reliably. Will Damron is the perfect choice as narrator. His precisely articulated style makes the entire effort sound as if it is a cloak-and-dagger spy novel." (AudioFile)
"Chilling...Reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men." (New York Times Book Review)
More from the same
What listeners say about Bad Blood
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathleen
- 28-07-2019
You will never want to stop listening to this masterpiece.
This was one of the most amazing and addictive books I have ever read or listened to and to top it off, it was true. Everyone should listen to this book to realize what can go on in the corporate world and what lies can be told. Also what support can be given to a liar by some of the world’s biggest names.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam Webb
- 09-06-2018
Amazing journalism
The best audio book I’ve been fortunate to listen too. The sheer evil audaciousness of Holmes and Theranous are really something to behold. The persistence of Carreyrou is to be admired also.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adriana Belotti
- 14-04-2020
How to take sociopathy to the next level
That should be the title of this book. It’s interesting to see how Holmes got so far by doing everything wrong,lying and cheating. Only in a culture that puts money above everything else that can go on for as long as it did.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daniel
- 28-03-2020
Unputdownable
You'll be listening in every spare minute. Quite the story, and the fact that the story is by the journalist who broke the story is extra spice.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MR P HAYES-ST CLAIR
- 15-08-2018
This is why journalism matters
Such an incredible account. I’d love to hear the other side of this story but not sure that will be forthcoming.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-08-2018
An in-depth investigation presented masterfully
Carreyrou lays out the immense and complicated story of Theranos with great clarity and insight. The book is very well performed; at times it has the suspenseful tone of a spy thriller and is just as exciting. This story went far deeper than I could have imagined with an extraordinary cast of characters that I know I will be returning to.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 05-01-2021
If you haven't read this, then you must next
Unbelievable story from start to finish. Unfathomable the company operated for as long as it did. Must read for those that like non-fiction.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 24-12-2020
Difficult to stop listening!
Fascinating.
Indepth & extensive research into the story
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Was so hard to put down.
Highly recommend, not just for those interested in health or tech. Concepts are easily understood & well explained.
The web of people caught up in the theranos scandal is incredible.
Excellent storytelling too on audible.
I do hope the tv / movie adaptation comes out.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 19-12-2020
Could not stop listening...and I’m supposed to be studying for exams
Don’t know anything about medicine, blood tests, Silicon Valley... but you don’t need to. This is a character driven story of monumental fraud and the ability of a charmer to deceive with a pleasant surface over substance.
The shame all those people should feel.. the lawyers whose actions were based on their own hope of windfall stock and the terrible realisation that ultimately its the tax payers of America who will pay... Murdoch’s $100 million loss just for a start.. is an indictment on so many aspects of American society. Loved it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 11-12-2020
Great story
Great story - got better as the book went on. Hows to show how bad management can sink a ship
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Simon Morrish
- 06-10-2019
Thanks to the author
grateful he uncovered scale of deception when he did, before more lives were put in danger
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Christopher
- 02-04-2021
Ridiculously good
Superb. Just could not put it down, I really struggle to understand how a non-fiction book can be so utterly compelling. What a story and brilliantly written.
If this was fiction I’d give it one star for being far fetched and ridiculous. As it stands, it only gets five stars because I can’t award six. Best thing I’ve read in a long time.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 11-08-2020
Fascinating
Fascinating how Elizabeth Holmes and her second hand man, Balwani managed to manipulate her Investors, the Board, her employees and use scare tactics on her ex-employees to prevent them from disclosing anything. Highly highly recommended
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- K Martin
- 18-05-2020
Riveting, reliable
Reminder of what proper investigative journalism entails: training, ethics, perseverance, time, experience, editorial oversight, thoroughness. Plus fabulous storytelling, great writing.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Prashanth
- 26-04-2020
Incredible listen
What a story. There are scores of documentaries and videos about this scandal out there and this book just takes the cake.
Probably the only investigate journalists that outed the criminal CEO, this book is a first hand account of how Holmes started fooling Silicon Valley and scores of distinguished individuals.
It’s un-put-down-able and yet scary to see how easily one individual can play with the lives of people and play with millions of dollars of money.
A must listen.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anas
- 19-04-2020
Brilliant examination of how start ups can go very wrong
Very well researched and written account, with strong delivery/performance by Will. Highly recommend to any aspiring entrepreneur.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Xavier Lauvergeon
- 03-03-2020
Stranger than fiction
Gripping exploration of the Theranos fraudsters, their willing enablers, the lone voices who blew the whistle on them, and the lives of the people they have damaged along the way.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Seren
- 21-02-2020
eye opener
loved it. could not stop listening. john extensively researched and wrote the story very well
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- harmony
- 03-01-2020
it gets better towards the end
the first half is a bit boring given it is based on second hand resources. love the part about what the whistle blower went through at the end. Holmes might truly believe that theranos is the future and got lost in the fame and reputation it brought her, forgetting advancement, especially scientific one requires tears and sweat.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 12-12-2019
Gripping!
You will not believe this story! Well written, well read. Would recommend. Makes a great gift.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 24-08-2018
Brilliant
Very well written/spoken. Really interesting book and well worth the read, could not put it down
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Nephrite
- 05-06-2020
A fascinating dissection of the real Theranos
Bad Blood: Secrets And Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
Hello again to my readers! This is definitely going to be one of those instances where my review topic is decidedly outside my usual focus topics of science fiction, history, fantasy and crime (to a degree.) Although in this case after finishing the book I feel a compulsion to talk about it in some way even if I end up sounding slightly less focused and more rambling than usual.
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou is one of those books in physical form or in audio you can’t stop yourself from reading. It’s like watching one of those never ending car chases but on live TV. It’s a real story of a strange mix of genuine desire to improve medical science from some individuals, a simple desire to make money and a refusal to actually learn the lessons required to make the necessary changes and improve flawed structures internally and externally. But I should give a basic overview of what the book is about for those who don’t know.
Bad Blood is a book about the Theranos scandal, one of the most recent and horrific incidents of disgraceful misconduct in Silicon Valley. The book tells the story behind the meteoric rise and equally sudden fall of Theranos, a multi billion dollar (using American money since the book gives numbers in American currency) medical technology company. In 2014 they and the owner – Elizabeth Holmes – were seen as one of the great hopes of the Valley, promising to revolutionise healthcare with a machine that would greatly simplify the process of blood testing. At one point the company was worth more than $4.7 billion. Only one small issue: the device was a lie. This book is the full book released by the journalist who initially broke the story of Theranos’s lies.
Carreyrou writes the book mostly in a third-person descriptive style, looking at events from the point of view of select individuals he is quoting or in some select cases paraphrasing. For example at one point when talking about an ex-Theranos employee’s attempts to leave the company building after saying goodbye to long time friends while being hounded by lawyers to sign certain documents, he makes a point of describing the events from their point of view and in some cases using their own words.
The only instance where this is not the case is towards the end of the book where Carreyrou himself comes into ‘the story’ so to speak and describes the rest of the book mostly from his own first person perspective with some moments in third person from other points of view.
Thanks to interviews with individuals who saw behind the scenes such as ex-employees, government department staff, close friends of Elizabeth’s own family and certain famous individuals involved in the story you are able to see to some degree how it felt to work at Theranos during different stages of its life, the various ways in which Theranos’s concepts were inherently flawed and the horrific behaviour and bullying of its Chief Operating Officer Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani. The stories you are told are frankly horrifying. Beyond nightmares. In several ways? This book reminds me of my review of The Church Of Fear from back in January.
Bad Blood is fascinating. It is not easy listening by any means, some of the strategies attempted by Theranos make me feel inherently ill just thinking about how to phrase this article. You will either be like myself and fascinated despite the horror and therefore compelled to continue to the end of this real life story or you will never want to pick this book up in your life.
The narration for this audiobook edition is performed by a Mr Will Damron who in my opinion does a rather good job. His voice is – for the most part – very calm and relaxed. The only instances where this changes is when he’s quoting the words of individuals who were very angered and furious at the moment in question in which case he does raise his voice or somewhat change his tone to a small degree but the vast majority of the time his voice is calm and surprisingly easy to listen to given the topic in question. I can’t really imagine the audio version being in any way different. When bringing up important details and factual information he does so in a way that made the information relatively easy to understand even on those instances where the information provided to the reader or listener is more technical than the rest of the book. Damron’s narration in short – despite it not usually being my preferred style of narration – worked very well in this audiobook and I’d be more than willing to give him another listen on some of his other audio work.
In conclusion if the subject or the idea behind it interests you I HIGHLY recommend you obtain a copy as soon as you can. So long as you feel you may be able to cope with some of the less savoury elements. I hope I can persuade some of my readers to give this a read or listen despite it not being my usual review topic.
Also for your information according to the all powerful Wikipedia Holmes and Balwani are due to be in court in August of 2020 although whether that information is still accurate or not is debatable.
Sayonara!
Nephrite
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dr J
- 09-01-2019
might be the best book I've read in a decade
this is one of those books that will be talked about for a generation. quite simply a masterpiece.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lydia
- 13-02-2020
Excellent Read!
After a few very bad choices I've made on books from listening to customers reviews, which I have now found out were fake, it was a relief to finally come accross a decent book.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book! I don't normally do this, but as the characters were real, I googled their image so I could put a face to a name and found this worked wonders.
I held back from googling the real story incase it spoilt my read but having finished the book about an hour ago, I have been catching up with the news on these dispicable people.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Customer7
- 31-01-2019
Excellent book
Excellent book. Incredible achievement of the author, who with help of Tyler Schulz and a few other key people together uncovered the con job did by Elisabeth Holmes. A great read but also a great favour to the humanity - they have almost certainly saved lives.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Christopher Dalton
- 15-12-2018
chilling story of ambition and public wishfulness
this was a terrific book, and cautionary tale about our gullibility and confirmation bias. The importance of upholding rigor in journalism is borne out in this very well written account of the Theranos scandal. many people who should have known and acted with more circumspection are revealed to have few scruples, while the serious character flaws and judgment of Elizabeth Holmes is draw-droppingly retold. one is left with the impression, however, that despite all this, she probably still doesn't get it.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 19-09-2018
Like a thriller!
It was my first audible experience and I think this book was a great choice to start that. The book is very well written. It was a gripping story, maybe being a true story made it very interesting. It was well narrated as well. Overall it was a good book.
p.s. I'm really proud of that Tyler kid! Also great ethics by the journalist..
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- gq1108
- 12-05-2020
Very good if you're intrigued by the story
I found this book having read the initial WSJ article and been captivated by the story of Elizabeth Holmes - If you are similarly intrigued you will enjoy this detailed account which follows the story from start to finish.
The only gripe I had was that there was almost too much detail in parts - for example no character is ever just 'driving their car' it is always more along the lines of 'he sat at the wheel of his shiny black AUDI 2017 SUV with tinted windows and a matte finish, a slight dent was visible in the passenger side door from a recent scrape with a blue 2008 Ford in a local grocery parking lot when he popped out to pick up steaks for his wife Belinda...'!!! This level of excruciating detail lends authenticity, but did drag a little by the end.
Overall though I really enjoyed this book and feel I know all there is to know about the Theranos debacle, which I'm sure will make me very fun at parties.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Emma 'K'
- 23-02-2020
Superb, revelatory read
It is flabbergasting that one person could fool so many high profile, seasoned investors. Even Rupert Murdoch had the wool pulled over his eyes.
This is a very human story but one that leaves you thinking how did it all get so far?
Brilliant, read it!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Poyntonian
- 23-08-2018
amazing listen
really enjoyed this, it's an amazing story. the book is so well written it plays out like a Jason Borne film (first three!) . highly recommend
2 people found this helpful
20 Best Fantasy Audiobooks
This genre is so full of talent, it can be difficult to know what to listen to next — so look no further than this list to get you started.



20 Best Nonfiction Audiobooks
From the entire history of humanity to astrophysics, to our gut and mental health, dig into this list and learn something new.



Best Australian Podcasts on Audible
Audible Original Podcasts are free for Audible members. Check out this list of home-grown content, from binge-worthy true crime to self-help.


