Loved The Art Thief's obsession overpowering every moral line? Step into Empire of Pain, where chronicles ambition as dynastic empire.
Buy on AmazonWhy It's Your Next Read
- Real-life dynasty → breathtaking moral freefall
- Investigative prose that humanizes monsters brilliantly
- Philanthropy as cover for staggering hubris
- Obsession weaponized across three cunning generations
If you thrilled to Finkel's portrait of obsession trumping conscience in The Art Thief, prepare for the Sackler dynasty—a family whose intellectual cunning and relentless ambition built an empire on opioids while amassing museum wings and cultural prestige. Keefe delivers the same meticulous, judgment-free reporting that humanizes flawed anti-heroes, immersing you in the sophisticated machinery of philanthropy as dragon's hoard, where high-society patronage masks audacious ethical transgression.
Here's your cerebral true crime without gore: corporate schemes dissected with psychological depth, regulatory capture as schadenfreude, and the vicarious thrill of watching entitled manipulators outmaneuver every gatekeeper through sheer, warped brilliance.
This is obsession as inheritance, intellect as weapon, and privilege reframed as destiny.
What Readers Are Saying
"This is investigative nonfiction at its best. It goes behind the scenes and lifts the veils to one of the biggest tragedies in modern American history. Though it was hard to read and stomach at times, I couldn't look away." — Yun, Goodreads
"Empire of Pain is a staggering, whipping, relentlessly infuriating book that swallows you whole as soon as you step inside. I devoured this story as if my life hung on the balance, even when I deeply, intensely abhorred it. Patrick Radden Keefe marshals a wealth of research and journalistic derring-do to tell the story of a family obsessed by greed, secrecy, immortality, and denial." — chai, Goodreads
"Patrick Radden Keefe's research is detailed and thorough and his writing style is captivating with a corporate thriller approach that intersects with a life and death epidemic where key players lack accountability, remorse, and empathy. Highly, highly recommend!" — Sharon Orlopp, Goodreads
