BOOK BITES | Evan Hughes, David Ralph Viviers, Mark Winkler

The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup 

Evan Hughes, Picador

**** (4 stars)

This is a rocking read that takes you inside the world of pharmaceutical company Insys. The business was formed by John Kapoor, who became a billionaire developing a new form of fentanyl called Subsys. The book, written as a crime thriller, tells how Kapoor built a team of shady characters (a guy experienced in the dodgy practices of big pharma, a slimy sales exec, a former stripper) primed to push the drug onto patients through dodgy doctors. The effect of the highly addictive Subsys on patients who were wrongly prescribed it is horrifyingly related, along with the tactics Insys used to push it hard and disrupt the industry in the quest for money. Then, for the first time, investigators were able to pursue criminal charges against the top characters. If you enjoyed the opioid crisis sagas, and the more satisfying downfall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos (recent developments are that she is going to jail), you will love this. — Gill Gifford 

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Mirage

David Ralph Viviers, Penguin Random House

**** (4 stars)

Michael, a university student, is going through a hard break-up. He becomes intrigued by a century-old trunk belonging to Victorian author Elizabeth Tenant, which was discovered in the railway village of Sterfontein. It changes his life. He travels to the Karoo hotel where Elizabeth wrote her book, Mirage. The town is full of myths, beliefs and omens, which Michael tries to weave together as he finds links between Elizabeth’s journal and his cosmologist mother. Viviers has done an extraordinary job in describing Michael and Elizabeth’s worlds — the reader can almost smell the dust in the old Karoo hotel. An intoxicating read. — Jessica Levitt

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The Errors of Dr Browne

Mark Winkler, Penguin

**** (4 stars)

Winkler's latest takes readers to 1662 for one of England's last witch trials. Dr Browne is the inquisitor and witness to two widows accused of witchcraft. Through his eyes, readers watch him grapple with the impossible task of navigating logic leaps, conspiracy theories and confirmation bias. The story exposes society's relentless need to control women. But rather than inviting readers to gape at the follies of the past, the tale appears to be pointing a finger at the present day. — Tiah Beautement @ms_tiahmarie

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