Book Reviews
Macy's strengths as a reporter are on full display when she talks to people, gaining the trust of chastened users, grieving families, exhausted medical workers and even a convicted heroin dealer…Macy captures an Appalachian landscape in a state of emergency and in the grip of disillusionment.
Jennifer Szalai - New York Times
[A] harrowing, deeply compassionate dispatch from the heart of a national emergency. [Dopesick]…is a masterwork of narrative journalism, interlacing stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference…In a poignant early scene…a mother at the grave of her 19-year-old son…wants to know "how Jesse went from being a high school football hunk and burly construction worker to a heroin-overdose statistic, slumped on someone else's bathroom floor." That question—and its larger implications—becomes an engine for the entire investigation, driving it forward with plain-spoken moral force…Taken as a whole…this gripping book is a feat of reporting, research and synthesis.
Jessica Bruder - New York Times Book Review
(Starred review) [A] hard and heartbreaking look at the cradle of the opioid addiction crisis, the Appalachian region.… Macy’s forceful and comprehensive overview makes clear the scale and complexity of America’s opioid crisis.
Publishers Weekly
Macy's use of current research by various experts makes clear how complex the opioid problem is, but the strength of this narrative comes from the people in the day-to-day battle. —Richard Maxwell, Porter Adventist Hosp. Lib., Denver
Library Journal
(Starred review) Macy’s years of following the issue have earned her remarkable access to those suffering from opioid-addiction disorder…. Hers is a crucial and many-faceted look at a still-unfolding national crisis, making this a timely and necessary read.
Booklist
(Starred review) Harrowing travels through the land of the hypermedicated, courtesy of hopelessness, poverty, and large pharmaceutical companies.… An urgent, eye-opening look at a problem that promises to grow much worse in the face of inaction and indifference.
Kirkus Reviews