Try free for 30 days

  • Kill Shot

  • A Shadow Industry, a Deadly Disease
  • By: Jason Dearen
  • Narrated by: Jason Dearen
  • Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Kill Shot cover art

Kill Shot

By: Jason Dearen
Narrated by: Jason Dearen
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

An award-winning investigative journalist's horrifying true-crime story of America's deadliest drug contamination outbreak and the greed and deception that fueled it.

Two pharmacists sit in a Boston courtroom accused of murder. The weapon: the fungus Exserohilum rostratum. The death count: 100 and rising. Kill Shot is the story of their hubris and fraud, discovered by a team of medical detectives who raced against the clock to hunt the killers and the fungal meningitis they'd unleashed. 

"Bloodthirsty" is how doctors described the fungal microbe that contaminated thousands of drug vials produced by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). Though NECC chief Barry Cadden called his company the "Ferrari of Compounders", it was a slapdash operation of unqualified staff, mold-ridden lab surfaces, and hastily made medications that were injected into approximately 14,000 people. Once inside some of its human hosts, the fungus traveled through the tough tissue around the spine and wormed upward to the "deep brain", our control center for balance, breath, and the vital motor functions of life. 

Now, investigative journalist Jason Dearen turns a spotlight on this tragedy - the victims, the heroes, and the perpetrators - and the legal loopholes that allowed it to occur. Kill Shot forces a powerful but unchecked industry out of the shadows.

©2020 Jason Dearen (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"If you like fast-paced forensic thrillers á la Kathy Reichs, you’ll love this tale of death and mayhem.... A harrowing, fast-paced tale of blind greed and sloppy science." (Kirkus, starred review)

"A gripping journey.... Informative and engrossing, this book is a page-turner about a deadly outbreak and a reckless compounding pharmacy. Recommended for fans of true-life medical thrillers." (Library Journal, starred review)

"This unnerving true tale is a crowd-pleaser for fans of true crime and medical mysteries." (Discover Magazine's Must-Read Science Books)

What listeners say about Kill Shot

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.