Bad Blood

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What to expect

'A story so incredible you'd think it was fiction' – James Patterson

Winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.

The shocking true story of the breathtaking rise and collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, written by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end.

Seen as the female Steve Jobs, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup ‘unicorn’ promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by wealthy investors, Theranos sold shares that valued the company at more than $9 billion.

There was just one problem: the technology didn’t work . . .

Despite threats of legal action, brave whistleblowers started to talk. They revealed a culture of intimidation and secrecy, technology that repeatedly failed, results sent to real patients that were incorrect but upon which life-changing medical decisions were being made, with devastating consequences.

The riveting story behind The Dropout, in Bad Blood, John Carreyrou investigates the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and scandal set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.

'A tale of corporate fraud and legal browbeating that reads like a crime thriller' – TIME, The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year

Critics Review

I couldn’t put down this thriller with a tragic ending . . . a book so compelling that I couldn’t turn away . . . This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion
Bill Gates, '5 books I loved in 2018'
A dazzling story of deception in Silicon Valley . . . You will not be able to put this book down.
Washington Post
Carreyrou tells the story virtually to perfection . . . Bad Blood reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men.
New York Times Book Review
Riveting . . . a blistering critique of Silicon Valley . . . The real heroes, though, are his sources: the young scientists who worked at the company and risked their reputations and careers by voicing their concerns. Were it not for their courage, Theranos might still be testing blood today
Financial Times
If you’re looking for an engaging non-fiction read, look no further than Bad Blood . . . a pacy, compelling narrative about white-collar crime that’s as incredible as any work of fiction.
Irish Times
In this Silicon Valley drama, he opens his reporter’s notebook to deliver a tale of corporate fraud and legal browbeating that reads like a crime thriller.
TIME
Gripping . . . Carreyrou presents the scientific, human, legal and social sides of the story in full . . . He unveils many dark secrets of Theranos that have not previously been laid bare.
Nature
A parable, with all the usual, delicious ingredients of human folly: greed, pride, vanity, lust, anger. Above all, it is an analysis of the phenomenon of hype.
Daily Telegraph
Simply one of the best books about a startup ever.
Forbes
Bad Blood reveals a crucial truth: outside observers must act as the eyes, the ears and, most importantly, the voice of Silicon Valley’s blind spot . . . It gambled not with our smart phones, our attention or our democracy, but with people’s lives.
Paste
Engaging
The Economist
A beautifully controlled narrative that challenges the gold-rush mentality of Silicon Valley.
Financial Times
[Holmes') story is a parable about Silicon Valley delusion, but the gossipy fun comes from seeing which high-profile man (James Mattis, Joe Biden) gets drawn into Holmes’ scammy web next.
ELLE
Carreyrou tells the full, gripping tale of how he slayed the “unicorn” in a fascinating look at how buzz and billions can blind people to facts.
Marie Claire
You will not be able to put this down.
Evening Standard

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Very enjoyable narrative account of events. Slightly lacking in critique of the California tech scene that promotes this kind of ‘entrepreneur’, suggesting Holmes was some kind of outlier. So limited in analysis, but thorough in storytelling.
talia 12/07/2025
5.0
5.0
DillonCP 15/09/2024
5.0
5.0
Really enjoyed this book. It’s not too technical and gives a great insight into this bizarre elaborate fraud. It’s the ultimate example of the emporer’s new clothes. Good narration,
interesting story and I definitely recommend it.
Jackie p 02/06/2022

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