A review by its_kievan
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

Very much an investigative piece, in comparison to Say Nothing’s focus on storytelling. There’s a lot of technical ability on display, as Keefe covers three generations of millionaires and the opioid epidemic in under 500 pages without missing a beat. The book does lose something in the process, though I couldn’t say exactly what that is. Maybe it’s the fact that it feels less like a complete book and more like a very long newspaper article. I don’t know. Regardless, it is definitely required reading on the poisonous relationship between wealth and power, and the sheer horror that can be created by people whose only passion is their own bottom line.