# Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Bad Blood by John Carreyrou and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A journalist's account of the Theranos scandal, praised as suspenseful, well written and revealing, and recommended for anyone interested in the people involved.

## Why people recommend it

- Good companion to the Theranos documentaries (2 comments): "I read the book (Bad Blood) and watched the mini-series (The Dropout) -- both absolutely great!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50018921)) "You can just read Bad Blood, too, and skip the movie" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50138017))

## What people warn about

- Some readers think Holmes was treated unfairly (1 comments): "Holmes might have been unfairly treated in Bad Blood" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47697671))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525431993?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780525431992) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Bad Blood by John Carreyrou", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bad-blood/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).