Barry Meier has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 3 ratings. The most-rated is Pain Killer.
Pain Killer
Summary
OxyContin, a potent painkiller containing opium-derived oxycodone as its key active ingredient, was first sold in 1996 as a treatment for cancer patients and other chronic pain sufferers. From the start, the drug's manufacturer aggressively marketed its patented time-release formula as a breakthrough in the effort to reduce prescription drug abuse. It wasn't long, however, before thrill-seeking teenagers shattered that illusion of safety; by simply crushing an "Oxy," they were able to tap into a high so seductive it would come to dominate their lives. Some patients, seeking relief from pain, also found themselves drawn to the drug's dark side. Pain Killer takes listeners on a journey of discovery that begins with the true story of Lindsay, a high-school cheerleader in Virginia who gets hooked on Oxys, and expands outward to explore the critical issues of legitimate pain management, prescription drug abuse, and how the misuse of science by the drug industry threatens the public good. With the fast-rising abuse of prescription drugs by young people ringing alarm bells within government, the how and why behind the OxyContin disaster is a gripping listen not only for parents, but also for medical professionals, community leaders, business executives, and all those concerned with this crisis. The dangers described in Pain Killer also reverberate far beyond the threat from a single drug at a particular moment in time. The focus of our government's war on drugs has clearly misled many of us into thinking that only illegal drugs smuggled from beyond our borders can be abused. As Meier tells the dramatic story, some of the most deadly substances are produced and sold legally right here at home. The extraordinary and true story of Oxycontin Equal parts crime thriller, medical detective story, and business expose´, Pain Killer takes a hard-hitting look at how a powerful drug touted as the salvation for millions triggered a national tragedy. At its inception, the legal narcotic OxyContin was seen as a pharmaceutical dream, a "wonder" drug that would herald a sea change in medical care while reaping vast profits for its maker. It did do that; but it also unleashed a public health crisis that cut a swath of despair and crime through unsuspecting small towns, suburbs, and cities across the country. As reports of OxyContin overdoses made front-page and network news, doctors, narcotics agents, regulators, industry executives, and lawmakers raced in, scrambling to slow the damage. Behind it all stood one of America's wealthiest families, and a drug company whose relentless promotion helped fuel the problem Written by award-winning journalist Barry Meier, whose special report in the New York Times triggered national interest in OxyContin, Pain Killer chronicles the rise of the multibillion dollar pain management industry and lays bare its excesses and abuses.
©2018 Barry Meier (P)2018 Random House Audio
Missing Man
Summary
In late 2013, Americans were shocked to learn that a former FBI agent turned private investigator who disappeared in Iran in 2007 was there on a mission for the CIA. The missing man, Robert Levinson, appeared in pictures dressed like a Guantánamo prisoner and pleaded in a video for help from the United States. Barry Meier, an award-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times, draws on years of interviews and never-before-disclosed CIA files to weave together a riveting narrative of the ex-agent's journey to Iran and the hunt to rescue him. The result is an extraordinary tale about the shadowlands between crime, business, espionage, and the law, where secrets are currency and betrayal is commonplace. Its colorful cast includes CIA operatives, Russian oligarchs, arms dealers, White House officials, gangsters, private eyes, FBI agents, journalists, and a fugitive American terrorist and assassin. Missing Man is a fast-paced story that moves through exotic locales and is set against the backdrop of the twilight war between the United States and Iran, one in which hostages are used as political pawns. Filled with stunning revelations, it chronicles a family's ongoing search for answers and one man's desperate struggle to keep his hand in the game.
©2016 Barry Meier (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Spooked
Summary
A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist’s explosive examination of the booming industry shaping our modern world: former journalists and spies going for hire - and financed by companies, politicians, lawyers, and the rich and powerful to excavate the lives of their enemies and opponents for dirt and secrets. While most people now know of Christopher Steele, the British ex-spy, and Fusion GPS, the firm that hired him to dig up dirt on Donald Trump, private investigators have operated behind the scenes for decades, from the end of the Civil War, when Allan Pinkerton formed the first detective agency, to the 1970s, when Jules Kroll founded Kroll Associates to help Fortune 50 companies defend themselves against corporate raiders. But in the 21st century, that’s all changing. Today, private spies are shaping presidential elections, Hollywood management, government policies, and the fortunes of companies. They are also peering into our personal lives as never before, using off-the shelf technology to listen to our phone calls, monitor our emails, and decide what we see on social media. Private spying has never been cheaper and the business has never been more lucrative - while its power to influence has never been more pervasive. Fusion GPS, Black Cube, The Steele Dossier, the Theranos scandal, Harvey Weinstein’s campaign against his accusers - one thing all of these major recent news stories share is the critical, and still under reported, involvement of the private espionage business. Spooked is a twisting and disturbing tour deep inside this hidden billion-dollar industry defined by connections and betrayals, in which information is currency and loyalties shift with every client. Drawing on his depth of knowledge and unique access to sources, Barry Meier takes a fresh look at high-profile events readers think they know, and offers new and shocking revelations about them and the influential yet little-known people involved - powerful stealth operatives who are shaping the world we live in.
©2008 Barry Meier (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers