BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
(Available as Print: ©5/21/2018; PUBLISHER: Knopf; ISBN: 978-1524731656; PAGES: 352; Unabridged.)
(Available as Digital: Yes)

*This version: Audio : ©5/21/2018; PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; DURATION: 11:41:54; FILE SIZE: 334544 KB; Unabridged

(Feature Film or tv: There is a documentary as well as a film version that is In the making.)

Series: No

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I saw the print version of this while in my favorite bookstore, Newport Beach Public Library’s Friends Used Books, and overheard a fellow-patron who’d spotted it as well, telling the volunteers how thoroughly he enjoyed this book. Indeed, he claimed it was his all-time favorite (and this fellow was around MY age, no Spring chicken). He was asking the volunteer if she was familiar with it and with the case that was currently in the news which the book focuses on. The volunteer was aware, but wasn’t interested in hearing about the book. I got a sense of disapproval on her part, but of what (Book? Author? Biographee?) Anyway, I made a mental note to check my Los Angeles Public Library’s (LAPL) Overdrive for the audio version, and, when I did, was thrilled to find I didn’t even need to place a hold. . . .not for the first check-out. By the time I needed to renew it however, I would have, had I not been rescued by my other favorite library’s (Palos Verdes Library District) Overdrive. I suspect by this time the news had been more regularly airing snippets and the fact that a verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos trial was going to run over into the new year.
Even if you have no interest in medical devices/technology; business, startup companies, or white collar crime, this book is fascinating, not to mention exceedingly well written.

AUTHOR:
John Carreyrou: According to Wikipedia, “John Carreyrou (/ˌkæriˈruː/)[1] is a French-American journalist and writer who worked for The Wall Street Journal for 20 years between 1999 and 2019[2] and has been based in Brussels, Paris, and New York City. He has won the Pulitzer Prize twice and is well known for having exposed the fraudulent practices of the multibillion-dollar blood-testing company Theranos in a series of articles published in the Wall Street Journal. . . . A book-length treatment titled Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018)[34] won the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.[35] A film version is in the works starring Jennifer Lawrence, written by Vanessa Taylor, and directed by Adam McKay.[36] . . .”

NARRATOR:
Will Damron: According to Tantor Media, “Will Damron is an Audie Award–nominated narrator who has recorded books in every genre, from science fiction and fantasy to romance, YA, and nonfiction. Raised in rural southern Virginia, he has appeared Off-Broadway and on stage and screen throughout the country. He lives in Los Angeles, California.”
VERY good narration here.

GENRE:
Biography; Biography; Nonfiction; Technology

LOCATIONS:
Palo Alto

TIME FRAME:
2003-2018

SUBJECTS:
Family; Start-ups; Nepotism; Business; Medical Devices; Labs; Blood tests; fraud; criminal; politicians; celebrities; marketing; Theranos (firm) history; hematologic equipment; industry; Economics; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Biomedical; technology and engineering; trade secrets; whistle blowers; Elizabeth Holmes; deceit; management; ambition; venture capital

DEDICATION:
I didn’t see one in the digital sample on Amazon.

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From the Prologue
"November 17, 2006
Tim Kemp had good news for his team.
The former IBM executive was in charge of bioinformatics at Theranos, a startup with a cutting-edge blood-testing system. The company had just completed its first big live demonstration for a pharmaceutical company. Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos's twenty-two-year-old founder, had flown to Switzerland and shown off the system's capabilities to executives at Noartis, the European drug giant.
'Elizabeth called me this morning,' Kemp wrote in an email to his fifteen-person team. 'She expressed her thanks and said that, 'it went perfect!' She specifically asked me to thank you and let you all know her appreciation. She additionally mentioned that Novartis was so impressed that they have asked for a proposal and have expressed interest in a financial arrangement for a project. We did what we came to do!'
This was a pivotal moment for Theranos. The three-year-old startup had progressed from an ambitious idea Holmes had dreamed up in her Stanford dorm room to an actual product a huge multinational corporation was interested in using.
Word of the demo's success made its way upstairs to the second floor, where senior executives offices were located.
One of those executives was Henry Mosley, Theranos's chief financial officer. Mosley had jointed Theranos eight months earlier, in March, 2006. A rumpled dresser with piercing green eyes and a laid-back personality, he was a veteran of Silicon Valley's technology scene. . . ."

RATING:
5 stars. GREAT book.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
12/27/2021 – 1/25/2022 ( )

Surprisingly readable investigative story. I was worried that there would be too many characters to keep track of, but each chapter concentrates on a certain group that then disappears from focus (often because they get fired).
( )

This is an incredible expose about Elizabeth Holmes, 20 years old, college drop out before sophomore year, charismatic and with a desire for "a purposeful life". She patented her idea to develop an in-home mini lab where individuals can administer their own blood test with a single drop of blood and transfer the info to their doctor for treatment recommendations, if necessary.
In the span of 10 years Theranos, the start-up which Holmes created, went from a little blood testing machine to, well, a little non-functioning blood testing machine. Through quick thinking, being evasive and using outside testing facilities for accurate results was she was able to receive the backing of the US Army and former Secretaries of State, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger.
How does this flimsy start-up come to an end? A phone call to a Wall Street Journal journalist named John Carryrou from a suspicious employee. ( )

Highly informative and interesting. Could barely put it down. Simply fantastic. ( )

The thing about this being a page-turner was no joke: i read it in three days. ( )