Weekend picks for book lovers, including 'Dopesick,' a look at the opioid crisis
What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY’s picks for book lovers include "Dopesick," an in-depth look at the nation's opioid crisis, and a new locked-room mystery a la Dame Agatha Christie.
“Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America” by Beth Macy; Little, Brown, 376 pp.; non-fiction
When I was in medical school, a professor instructed me to think of pain as the patient’s fifth vital sign. It was a radical new idea, one that was quickly disseminating across the country, and it was supposed to alleviate suffering, improve outcomes and transform lives.
But as we discover in “Dopesick,” that approach was wildly misguided. It led to thousands of unnecessary deaths and created an underclass of marginalized and debilitated drug addicts. How could we have gotten this so wrong?
We begin in Appalachia, the epicenter of the opioid epidemic, where “few businesses dare to set up shop because it’s hard to find workers who can pass a drug test.” It’s a place that feels forgotten, where Americans are dying in the prime of their lives and those who hang on are known as “pillbillies.”
Macy introduces us to the cheerleader snorting Oxy in the library, the man who traded his family’s mule for a quick high, and countless grieving families.
The narrative moves to Stamford, Connecticut, and Purdue Frederick, a family-owned pharmaceutical company. In 1952, Purdue was purchased by brothers Raymond, Mortimer and Arthur Sackler. They transformed the small operation into a massive conglomerate called Purdue Pharma, cornering the pain-relief market with MS Contin and OxyContin.
USA TODAY says ★★★½ out of four. “Timely…brings a new level of nuance and humanity to a story that has been splashed across headlines for years.”
(This review was written by Matt McCarthy, an internist and author of “The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly.”)
“An Unwanted Guest” by Shari Lapena; Pamela Dorman Books, 290 pp.; fiction
In a modern twist on Agatha Christie’s “And There There Were None,” Lapena imagines a remote inn in the dead of winter (with no Wi-Fi or cell service), an ice storm and a killer who starts knocking off the guests.
USA TODAY says ★★★. “Lapena delivers a solid whodunit with an ending that would make Dame Christie proud.”
“The Incendiaries” by R.O. Kwon; Riverhead, 224 pp.; fiction
Weaves a story of a fictional Christian fundamentalist cult that bombs a New York abortion clinic, filtered through three characters who are at the forefront or fringes of terrorism.
USA TODAY says ★★★½. “Intense … burns with religious extremism … dizzyingly beautiful in its prose.”
“Indianapolis” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic; Simon & Schuster, 448 pp.; nonfiction
Recounts the tragic tale of the Indianapolis, a warship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and the loss of about 880 American men in the closing days of World War II.
USA TODAY says ★★★½. “An account that stands out through its crisp writing and superb research … ‘Indianapolis’ is sure to hold its own for a long time.”
“Mary B” by Katherine J. Chen; Random House, 322 pp.; fiction
The middle Bennet daughter from “Pride & Prejudice,” doomed to be the Jan Brady of Regency romance, takes center stage in this reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic.
USA TODAY says ★★★½. “An ingenious debut novel … ‘Mary B’ is a tribute not just to Austen but to defiant women of any era.”
Contributing reviewers: Matt McCarthy, Mary Cadden, Grace Z. Li, Chris Woodyard, Mark Athitakis