Listen free for 30 days
-
Empire of Pain
- The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Empire of Pain
Buy Now for $48.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
Say Nothing
- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Matthew Blaney
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 378
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 381
Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I’ve read in years
- By MadameX on 2019-10-26
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Rogues
- True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great voice and interesting stories
- By Lana Hergott on 2023-03-31
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely international crime boss. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inlightening
- By Robert Hoskins on 2022-05-07
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
The Snakehead is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and a dramatic portrait of the underground economy in which America's 12 million illegal immigrants live. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Bad Blood
- Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
- Written by: John Carreyrou
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,510
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,330
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,328
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. 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’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exciting nonfic book
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-06-27
Written by: John Carreyrou
-
Blood and Oil
- Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power
- Written by: Bradley Hope, Justin Scheck
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters comes a revelatory look at the inner workings of the world's most powerful royal family, and how the struggle for succession produced Saudi Arabia's charismatic but ruthless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
first half is amazing.
- By Amandip Sanghera on 2022-08-25
Written by: Bradley Hope, and others
-
Say Nothing
- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Matthew Blaney
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 378
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 381
Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I’ve read in years
- By MadameX on 2019-10-26
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Rogues
- True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great voice and interesting stories
- By Lana Hergott on 2023-03-31
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely international crime boss. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inlightening
- By Robert Hoskins on 2022-05-07
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
The Snakehead is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and a dramatic portrait of the underground economy in which America's 12 million illegal immigrants live. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Bad Blood
- Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
- Written by: John Carreyrou
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,510
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,330
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,328
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. 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’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exciting nonfic book
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-06-27
Written by: John Carreyrou
-
Blood and Oil
- Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power
- Written by: Bradley Hope, Justin Scheck
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters comes a revelatory look at the inner workings of the world's most powerful royal family, and how the struggle for succession produced Saudi Arabia's charismatic but ruthless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
first half is amazing.
- By Amandip Sanghera on 2022-08-25
Written by: Bradley Hope, and others
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- Written by: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 298
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 253
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I loved it!
- By Sam on 2022-05-09
Written by: Bill Browder
-
Chatter
- Uncovering the Echelon Surveillance Network and the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
In Chatter, Patrick Radden Keefe investigates the international eavesdropping alliance known as Echelon, sorting facts from conspiracy theories to determine just how much privacy Americans unknowingly sacrifice in the name of greater security.
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
American Kingpin
- The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
- Written by: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 377
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 374
In 2011, a 26-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine website hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything - drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons - free of the government's watchful eye. It wasn't long before the media got wind of the new website where anyone - not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers - could buy and sell contraband detection-free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best Audible purchase I’ve made
- By P K on 2019-08-04
Written by: Nick Bilton
-
Dopesick
- Written by: Beth Macy
- Narrated by: Beth Macy
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor's offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book
- By Cassandra Schwarz on 2018-10-14
Written by: Beth Macy
-
The Cult of We
- WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
- Written by: Eliot Brown, Maureen Farrell
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn’t just an office space provider. It was a tech company - an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world’s first trillionaire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Story of a Startup Gone Wrong
- By Candice S. on 2023-08-21
Written by: Eliot Brown, and others
-
A Likely Story
- A Novel
- Written by: Leigh McMullan Abramson
- Narrated by: Mia Barron, Cynthia Farrell, James Fouhey, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2
Growing up in the nineties in New York City as the only child of famous parents was both a blessing and a curse for Isabelle Manning. Her beautiful society hostess mother, Claire, and New York Times bestselling author father, Ward, were the city’s intellectual It couple. Ward’s glamorous obligations often took him away from Isabelle, but Claire made sure her childhood was always filled with magic and love. Now an adult, after many false starts and the unexpected death of her mother, she faces her upcoming thirty-fifth birthday alone and on the verge of a breakdown.
Written by: Leigh McMullan Abramson
-
Billion Dollar Whale
- Written by: Bradley Hope, Tom Wright
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 197
Now a number-one international best seller, Billion Dollar Whale is "an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale" (Publishers Weekly), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude—one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating story but can be boring and often extremely difficult to follow.
- By Tracy on 2018-11-06
Written by: Bradley Hope, and others
-
Red Notice
- A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice
- Written by: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 981
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 856
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 856
Red Notice is a searing expose of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible story, well written and very engaging.
- By Unfluential on 2017-11-15
Written by: Bill Browder
-
When McKinsey Comes to Town
- The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
- Written by: Walt Bogdanich, Michael Forsythe
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
In When McKinsey Comes to Town, two prizewinning investigative journalists have written a portrait of the company sharply at odds with its public image. Bogdanich and Forsythe have penetrated the veil of secrecy surrounding McKinsey by conducting hundreds of interviews, obtaining tens of thousands of revelatory documents, and following rule #1 of investigative reporting: Follow the money. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt, and more dangerous.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling
- By Skigirl on 2023-07-25
Written by: Walt Bogdanich, and others
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- Written by: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 42
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome.
- By Kevin on 2018-07-22
Written by: Robert A. Caro
-
Checkmate in Berlin
- The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World
- Written by: Giles Milton
- Narrated by: Giles Milton
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
From a master of popular history, the lively, immersive story of the race to seize Berlin in the aftermath of World War II as it’s never been told before.
Written by: Giles Milton
-
The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- Written by: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5
In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Written by: Gulwali Passarlay
Publisher's Summary
National Book Critics Circle Nominee
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
New York Times best seller
A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From the prize-winning and best-selling author of Say Nothing
The history of the Sackler dynasty is rife with drama—baroque personal lives; bitter disputes over estates; fistfights in boardrooms; glittering art collections; Machiavellian courtroom maneuvers; and the calculated use of money to burnish reputations and crush the less powerful. The Sackler name has adorned 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 to 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 a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis.
Empire of Pain begins with the story of three doctor brothers, Raymond, Mortimer, and the incalculably energetic Arthur, who weathered the poverty of the Great Depression and appalling anti-Semitism. Working at a barbaric mental institution, Arthur saw a better way and conducted groundbreaking research into drug treatments. He also had a genius for marketing, especially for pharmaceuticals, and bought a small ad firm.
Arthur devised the marketing for Valium, and built the first great Sackler fortune. He purchased a drug manufacturer, Purdue Frederick, which would be run by Raymond and Mortimer. The brothers began collecting art, and wives, and grand residences in exotic locales. Their children and grandchildren grew up in luxury.
Forty years later, Raymond’s son Richard ran the family-owned Purdue. The template Arthur Sackler created to sell Valium—co-opting doctors, influencing the FDA, downplaying the drug’s addictiveness—was employed to launch a far more potent product: OxyContin. The drug went on to generate some 35 billion dollars in revenue, and to launch a public health crisis in which hundreds of thousands would die.
This is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world, a tale that moves from the bustling streets of early 20th-century Brooklyn to the seaside palaces of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Cap d’Antibes to the corridors of power in Washington, DC. Empire of Pain chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability.
Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling. It is a portrait of the excesses of America’s second Gilded Age, a study of impunity among the super elite and a relentless investigation of the naked greed and indifference to human suffering that built one of the world’s great fortunes.
What the critics say
New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of the Year • One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year • TIME Magazine 100 Must Read Books of 2021 • One the Best Books of the Year: NPR, Slate, EW, Boston Globe, Goodreads, The Guardian, Town & Country, BuzzFeed, LitHub, Vulture, and more
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and Finalist for the Baillie Gifford Winner of Winners Award
One of President Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
“An engrossing (and frequently enraging) tale of striving, secrecy and self-delusion….Keefe nimbly guides us through the thicket of family intrigues and betrayals… Even when detailing the most sordid episodes, Keefe’s narrative voice is calm and admirably restrained, allowing his prodigious reporting to speak for itself. His portrait of the family is all the more damning for its stark lucidity.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“I read everything he writes. Every time he writes a book, I read it. Every time he writes an article, I read it … he’s a national treasure.”—Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Blowout
“A true tragedy in multiple acts. It is the story of a family that lost its moorings and its morals… Written with novelistic family-dynasty and family-dynamic sweep, EMPIRE OF PAIN is a pharmaceutical FORSYTHE SAGA, a book that in its way is addictive, with a page-turning forward momentum.”—David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe
More from the same
Author:
Narrator:
What listeners say about Empire of Pain
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rosemarie Boll
- 2021-05-10
It hurts to read this book.
Before you overdose, opioids kill you one day at a time. In 2013, at age 83, my mother had a hip replacement. It hurt. She saw a locum in the small Canadian town where she lived. “Don’t worry,” he said, “you can take as much as you want, you won’t get addicted.” Anyone who is reading this book knows what happens next.
You can’t recover, or the supply dries up. So you manage to keep getting sicker. One cane became two. Two canes became a walker. The walker became a wheelchair. Terrible, terrible pain, can’t get out of bed anymore. The path to the nursing home strewn with lies, cruelty, recklessness, despair. While her overdoses were not fatal, opioids ruined her, and they tore our family apart. My mom died in 2017, still trying to figure out how to get “something stronger.”
The book resonated with me because it located our experience on the continuum of pain and death created by the Sackler Empire. So much suffering and loss is still happening two decades after the you-can’t-get-addicted lie was exposed. I read the book, and I wept.
Today is Mother’s Day.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jtoronto
- 2021-05-12
One of the best Expose stories I ever read
This is a story of a Pharma scandal (OxyContin) that I knew a little from the recent press coverage of the family’s settlement in court.
Patrick Keefe brings this scandal to life by tracing the Sackler’s family history and the progression of their pursuits as drug manufacturers.
The wealth of data presented in this book, its insightful analysis and beautifully written prose is what makes the book such a delight to read, despite the tragedy associated with the OxyContin scandal.
Most importantly this is a book that is probably best enjoyed in its audio, rather than written version. That is because Patrick does a superb interpretative job of reading it.
Don’t get discouraged by the book’s length. You will be satisfied from beginning to the very end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- G. Day
- 2021-07-04
Great, objective overview of the path of Purdue
Well written, extremely well researched and thorough. Provides a comprehensive insight into how the Sackler family came into their wealth, and more broadly highlights some of the issues around pharmaceutical marketing and general corruption of the government agencies responsible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- eadaoin dempsey
- 2021-06-18
Fascinating, frightening and essential listening!
Ever since reading an article in the Guardian a number of years ago on the Sackler family, I have been both fascinated and disgusted and the complete disregard that this family had for life. Their horrific arrogance to use the blood money they received from all the victims of OxyContin for their philanthropy and an addiction of their own to slap their name on any building they saw fit is beyond comprehension.
There are countless books/articles/videos on the devastation of OxyContin…but no book has ever dived as deep into the lengths that this family has gone to give a false narrative of exactly what their intentions were from the very beginning.
The narrator manages to keep you hooked and interested throughout, not an easy feat for such a long book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- JMS
- 2021-06-09
I predict major awards for this one! Unforgettable
Every once in a while, I listen to work of narrative non-fiction so extraordinary, so outrageous, and so heartbreaking that I’m reminded that truth is stranger than fiction. Empire of Pain is all those things. If you listen to this audiobook, prepare to feel angry. Even outraged. Listen to my complete review on the Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes podcast
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-05-11
Living it
Being one of perhaps thousands of parents with a child in the grips of opioid addiction this book did not provide me relief that perhaps I had hoped for. Rather I am left disgusted and angered and steadfast that we as a society have in no way dealt with what led to this crisis in a way that we could say ‘it’ll never happen again’.
The depth and expanse of the history of repeated failures, criminality and decades of uninterrupted damage the author has revealed provides some understanding of what led us here. There is no mystery. There are however significant unanswered calls for accountability. That the FDA and Canada’s HPFB failed completely to protect the average citizen requires addressing.
A must read for the unveiling of the on-going crisis.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alixe Hale
- 2021-07-01
Amazing book
This book read like a mystery novel, there were so many twists and turns. It was so well documented and researched. I had listened to a podcast called “the Wind of Change” by Patrick Radden Keene and so enjoyed how he narrated and researched this podcast that when I saw he had written Empire of Pain I immediately bought it on Audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 2021-06-13
Wow!
An incredible feat of investigative journalism detailing the rise and fall of the Sackler family, who developed, marketed and sold OxyContin with a full understanding of its addictive nature and its contribution to the opioid crisis. Whatever you think you know, there's more. The author is a great narrator, too. Excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-05-26
Remarkable
This seems to be one of the great, revealing works of our time. I am deeply impressed by Keefe’s research and writing style that kept me enthralled throughout.
Greed, by the wealthy, has been a topic I’ve been curious about for many years. This book brings the opportunity to see how the blind greediness of the Sackler family originated in the disturbing brilliance of Arthur Sackler to the blatant horror of the latter generations.
The legal and governing system’s corrupt associations with the wealthy is on full display.
May mercy be extended to the USA because you live in a warped and cruel form of capitalism.
Bravo to Keefe! You did incredible work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- GCG
- 2023-08-14
Outstanding!
This book held my attention from beginning to end; absolutely exceeded my expectations. Narration by the author was excellent. Definitely worth the read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Edward Bisch
- 2021-04-13
Full Account of the Sackler Conspiracy
Since losing my son in 2001 and living much of the book , I can attest that this book covers it all and I believe anyone who listens to this will come to one conclusion that this is a CRIME story.
Only the SacklerACT can prevent a horrible ending to this chapter in history that Patrick masterfully chronicled.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
103 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Lund
- 2021-04-18
MUST READ... you need to know who the Sackler family is
Mr Keefe gives a very informative story with a clear insight to a family that most of us had never heard of. The Sackler family hid behind their pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, making billions of dollars, knowing that people were becoming addicted to their OxyContin that they sold. The Sacklers’ did not have a care in the world that people were dying everyday because of their drug that caused the opioid crisis. The Sacklers’ just continued on living the high life at the expense of other families. Mr Keefe opens your eyes to the corruption that goes on with the pharmaceutical industry and how people with money are offered a different justice then the rest of us. A true tragedy that could have and should have been stopped years before.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
62 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Candy
- 2021-04-21
Definitely a Must Read!
One of the best non fiction books I've read. The story of the 3 arrogant generations associated with the opioid crisis is eye opening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cris McBride
- 2021-04-20
Wow! Now I understand the opioid epidemic!
Having come of age as Valium, then MS Contin, and Oxicontin became major approaches to dealing with anxiety and pain, and having heard physicians repeat the sales pitch they received from a drug sales rep, the information presented in this book was not only very interesting, but more important, very educational.
The author has been meticulous in researching the information that he presents. The book is well written, presenting the information in a historical context to explain how the Sackler family businesses managed to create and market the drugs that would destroy so many lives. I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-04-20
Thank you to Patrick Radden Keefe
I am very grateful for this book that exposes the truth about OxyContin and the Sackler family. My nephew started on OxyContin problem and quickly graduated to heroin use. He has been in and out of drug rehabilitation his whole adult life and struggled now with felonies and other stigma.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
25 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nina Jacobson
- 2021-04-20
Unputdownable
You won't find a better reporter or storyteller than Patrick Radden Keefe. I was spellbound from the first page.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tim
- 2021-04-19
Devil’s Family
How many families will cry over this book, remembering their loved ones passing away from their addiction from Oxycodone? “Empire of Pain” has been highly publicized in the upcoming weeks before it’s debut. We all know the opiate pandemic and the millions of lives that were lost, but how much do we know the Devil’s Family? If you want to know more about the Sackler’s, then this book is all about their family’s history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Barbara
- 2021-10-13
The author missed the whole picture.
Very good book, very interesting but the author misses one extremely important point. We have elected officials and health departments which job was and still is to protect our society but they all participated in the whole process from the very beginning . Officials and politicians, doctors, they all knew what's going on for a very long time. Why we don't blame them? I feel like the book is only focused on one side. Where is the whole picture?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- L. Gronet
- 2021-04-21
Excellent!
Great writing and investigating. This family is beyond evil, and now I know the FDA is too!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neil Solanky
- 2021-04-21
Excellent
Have recommended it to everyone I have talked to since I started the book. I would expect nothing less from Keefe, a magnificent writer, researcher, and journalist. Thorough, but not dull for a single second.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful