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Empire of Pain cover art

Empire of Pain

By: Patrick Radden Keefe
Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
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Publisher's Summary

The gripping and shocking story of three generations of the Sackler family and their roles in the stories of Valium, OxyContin and the opioid crisis. The inspiration behind the Netflix series Painkiller, starring Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick. Read by the author, Patrick Radden Keefe.

Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction

A BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'

Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books

The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions – Harvard; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Oxford; the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations in the arts and the sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing Oxycontin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis – an international epidemic of drug addiction which has killed nearly half a million people.

In this masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, award-winning journalist and host of the Wind of Change podcast Patrick Radden Keefe exhaustively documents the jaw-dropping and ferociously compelling reality. Empire of Pain is the story of a dynasty: a parable of twenty-first-century greed.

©2021 Patrick Radden Keefe (P)2021 Penguin Randomhouse LLC

Critic Reviews

"Put simply, this book will make your blood boil...Keefe...paints a devastating portrait of a family consumed by greed and unwilling to take the slightest responsibility or show the least sympathy for what it wrought." (John Carreyrou, author of Bad Blood, in the New York Times)

"Jaw-dropping.... Beggars belief." (Sunday Times)

"You feel almost guilty for enjoying it so much." (The Times)

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A frightening testimony on the power of money

A fascinating and terrifying story. Clear and easy to follow. Patrick Radden Keefe has once again created an unputdownable account of the shadow powers that control and influence all our lives. The focus of his attention is essential to help us make our world a safer and more transparent place.

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Excellent read!

A fascinating and balanced look at the very origins of Oxycontin and the extreme wealth and power of the Sackler dynasty.

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Compelling page turner

Devoid of exaggeration and hysteria. A generational saga that would make a great fictional movie if it wasn't true. Well read. A very good value read.

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Unreservedly 5 Stars

Outstanding exploration and expose of a family dynasty, which reads like an unputdownable novel - part historical fiction, part documentary and part medico-legal drama. Meticulously researched, with a balanced presentation and a huge cast of nuanced characters. The narration is superb.

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compelling expose, highly enlightening and a good

companion to Pharma and Premonition.. explains much of why we have faced whatever have since Covid 19 emerged in late 2019

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Great book

Great book extremely knowledgeable and well researched have pass it onto my father and he is 1/2 way through it makes you think of what is a person's real motive.

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White collar crime by modern day drug barons

Such a meticulously researched true story of white collar crime, supported by people in the law medicine and various levels of government. A lesson in parenting children to believe that they are “more special/ talented/intelligent etc “ than others and that they are entitled to succeed …. No matter what it takes.

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Compelling Eye Opening Essential Listening

The Sackler Family provides the perfect case study of ability of the Uber wealthy and powerful to shield themselves from scrutiny for how their money rolls in - in this case by the aggressive marketing of OxyContin to ensure their trust funds stay full, providing the spark and the fuel of the opioid epidemic.

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Fascinating and impressive

Careful and meticulous reporting makes this story of corporate greed and personal indifference to suffering both fascinating and horrifying. Very impressive.

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Pulitzer material

This is a fabulous work of journalism and a thrilling story. It's as well written and gripping as it is thoroughly researched, nuanced and breathtaking for what it reveals about power, greed, and the failure of institutions.

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