Dopesick by Beth Macy
Nonfiction 

What it’s about: Dopesick is not for the faint of heart – it is an investigative account of the opioid crisis that hit the poor, rural southeast first and hardest. Macy delivers a crushing analysis of the ways that pharmaceutical companies aggressively marketed addictive painkillers with blatant disregard of their potential danger, and how the growing addiction to the pills was ignored because of the population it was affecting. Macy follows the development of the crisis as it reached urban areas and younger victims, building her argument with personal, heartbreaking stories of families torn apart by addiction. While a difficult read, Dopesick will open readers’ eyes to the ways in which pharmaceutical companies and the FDA put American citizens in danger, and will make you think twice before you accept those potent painkillers after your next dental surgery.  

For fans of: Other journalistic writers like Jon Krakauer.