The BBA

Bad Blood

John Carreyrou, 303 pages


 

The deeply researched story of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. It leaves no doubt that Holmes is a nefarious person. While each chapter oozed with detail, the theme was the same: Holmes is deceitful and ferocious, conscientious employees are shocked and dismayed, and Sunny Balwani (Holmes boyfriend and co-conspirator) is a tyrant. Repeat again next chapter. Carreyrou inserts himself into the story in the final 100 pages. That was important to show the lengths Holmes and Balwani went to hide their transgressions. Yet, I would have liked Carreyrou to condense some of this sausage-making content. He’s also not afraid to throw 20 new characters at you in a chapter. Keeping them all straight is nearly impossible. The good news is that he covers so many people that tracking each one isn’t necessary.