Long-winded and full of dull, repeat information.

Similarly to the self-righteous, yet infinitely more interesting Dreamland, this book is full of obnoxious, flowery platitudes followed immediately by judgmental language and terminology that conveys no compassion whatsoever. The author still calls addicts “junkies” most of the time, while acknowledging in other parts that terms like “junkie” are problematic. He still calls sex workers “prostitutes,” apparently still unaware that not all sex work is illegal and oblivious to the baggage that “prostitute” entails.

For every interesting (and very short) chapter about how drugs like Fentanyl or methamphetamine fit into the narcotic ecosystem, there will be three (long-winded and very long) chapters where he will lick the boots of Republicans who were forced to act because the people affected by opioid addictions are their precious white children and overwhelmingly white constituents. Absolutely no critical thinking about what this kind of approach to public health crises would mean for the population at large. The author spent an irritating amount of time on the subject of licking the boots or Republicans who finally do what many liberals have been SCREAMING for decades.

Sam Quinones sounds insincere, at best, and exploitative and uncaring at worst. Just read “Empire of Pain” by Patrick Keefe instead. You get a much more thorough, interesting and a writing style that isn’t full of Quinones’s irritating idiosyncrasies.