Book Summary and Reviews of Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Catch and Kill

Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

by Ronan Farrow

  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2019, 464 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In this instant New York Times bestselling account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move, and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family.

All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance they could not explain -- until now. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood to Washington and beyond.

This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability, and silence victims of abuse. And it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement.

Both a spy thriller and a meticulous work of investigative journalism, Catch and Kill breaks devastating new stories about the rampant abuse of power and sheds far-reaching light on investigations that shook our culture.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"This is an urgent, significant book." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Combines the intricate reporting of All The President's Men with Kafkaesque atmosphere to reveal troubling collusion between the media and the powerful interests they cover. This is a crackerjack journalistic thriller." ―Publishers Weekly

"At the heart of every great noir is a conspiracy of evil that imbues the initial crime uncovered by the hero with a weightier resonance than was immediately obvious. So it goes with Catch and Kill." ―The Washington Post

"Ronan Farrow has entered the pantheon of great investigative reporters. With meticulous research and endless revelations, he exposes a system of abuses and cover ups-a system that for too long has been protected. This is an invaluable book." ―David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon

"Catch and Kill is literally jaw-dropping-a shocking, meticulous record of the vast machinery with which moral bankruptcy protects itself, and of the arsenal of weapons available to colossally powerful men whose careers depend on silencing those seeking accountability and truth...This book reveals damningly widespread corruption, complacency, and cowardice, and against it, the blazing courage of the women who spoke out-it's a blueprint of a hideous world, and a foundational building block of a new one." ―JiaTolentino, author of Trick Mirror

This information about Catch and Kill was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Ronan Farrow

Ronan Farrow is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, where his investigative reporting has won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, the National Magazine Award, and the George Polk Award, among other honors. He previously worked as an anchor and investigative reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, with his print commentary and reporting appearing in publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Before his career in journalism, he served as a State Department official in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.

Farrow has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and one of GQ's Men of the Year. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the New York Bar. He recently completed a Ph.D. in political science at Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in New York.

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