Bad Blood, John Carreyrou, 2018

Bad Blood Review

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou is an investigative thriller about Theranos: a Silicon Valley startup that promised revolutionary blood tests from a finger prick and delivered smoke and mirrors instead. Published in 2018, it traces how ambition, secrecy, and fear can warp a company until truth becomes a liability. For you, this book offers a case study in due diligence and ethics: impressive on the surface, fragile underneath, and dangerous when unchecked.

Overview

Carreyrou follows the rise of Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Sunny Balwani as they court investors, flatter media, and pressure employees while hiding a simple fact: the tech did not work. You will notice careful sourcing, documents, and interviews that build a timeline where small red flags add up. The tension comes from real people facing impossible choices: stay silent and keep a job, or speak and risk everything.

Summary

Theranos claims hundreds of tests from a few drops of blood. Inside the labs, results are unreliable, devices fail, and traditional analyzers do the real work. Whistleblowers try internal routes and find retaliation. A Wall Street Journal investigation gathers evidence across former employees, partners, and patients. Without spoiling beat by beat, regulators intervene, deals collapse, and the myth unravels in court filings and headlines. The final message is sober: culture can turn bright talent into a shield for fraud when leaders reward loyalty over truth.

Author

John Carreyrou writes with a reporter’s discipline and a novelist’s sense of scene. You benefit from clear explanations of lab science and from a narrative that respects sources while moving fast.

Key Themes

You will see incentives as engines of denial. You will learn why verification beats charisma. You will watch how NDAs and intimidation chill ethics. You will meet the difference between building in stealth and hiding in the dark.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: meticulous reporting, strong pacing, memorable portraits. Weaknesses: the technical science is simplified by necessity and some side figures stay sketched. Overall: a definitive account of a modern corporate cautionary tale.

Target Audience

Ideal for founders, investors, clinicians, and readers who like true stories where evidence matters more than image.

Favorite Quotes

Short lines stand out: trust but verify, culture beats slogans, data or it did not happen.

Takeaways

For you, the key takeaway is simple: test claims, protect dissent, and build controls before momentum builds you. Reputation grows slowly and fails fast.