Author Guide · Investigative Journalism
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In 2014 Theranos was valued at nine billion dollars, and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, was hailed as the next Steve Jobs for a device that would run a whole range of lab tests on a drop of blood. In October 2015 John Carreyrou, an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal, published the first article showing that the technology did not work as claimed, despite threats of legal action against him and his sources. His book tells the whole story. This guide covers it and what to read next.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 books · Investigative journalism · 2018 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
John Carreyrou has published one book: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018), about the blood-testing company Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. He broke the story at The Wall Street Journal and has been an investigative reporter at The New York Times since 2023.
Where to Start with John Carreyrou
His one book
→ Bad Blood (2018).
The Book by John Carreyrou
Bad Blood
The rise and fall of Theranos, from Holmes's dropping out of Stanford and the company's celebrity investors and board members to the employees who tried to raise the alarm and the reporting that exposed it. Holmes was later convicted of fraud. It was the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year in 2018.
How Many Books Did John Carreyrou Write?
One book, published in 2018.
- Investigation — Bad Blood (2018). Read the entries →
How to Read John Carreyrou
There is only one book. His podcast Bad Blood: The Final Chapter (2021) follows Holmes's trial.
A reading path
1. Bad Blood (2018)
The years · 1999–2023
Quick facts about John Carreyrou
- Known for
- John Carreyrou is known for exposing the blood-testing company Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, first as a Wall Street Journal reporter and then in his book Bad Blood.
- 1999
- Joins The Wall Street Journal
- 2018
- Bad Blood
- 2023
- Joins The New York Times
- Born
- New York
- Citizenship
- French-American
- Education
- Duke University
- Career
- The Wall Street Journal, 1999–2019; The New York Times since 2023
- Prizes
- Two Pulitzer Prizes shared with Wall Street Journal colleagues
- Podcast
- Bad Blood: The Final Chapter (2021)
- Book
- Bad Blood (2018)
The red mark is 2018: Bad Blood, his only book and the full story of Theranos, named FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
How John Carreyrou Works: Following the Sources
Carreyrou's reporting rests on sources inside the company: former employees who risked legal action to explain what they had seen. Bad Blood tells their stories as much as Holmes's.
He writes the book as a narrative, with scenes and dialogue reconstructed from interviews and documents, and he appears in the final chapters as a participant, under pressure from the company's lawyers.
John Carreyrou on breaking the Theranos scandal
Listen to the interview on Masters in Business →
Barry Ritholtz interviews John Carreyrou about Bad Blood on Bloomberg's Masters in Business.Frequently asked questions about John Carreyrou's books
How many books has John Carreyrou written?
John Carreyrou has written one book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018).
What is Bad Blood about?
Bad Blood (2018) tells the story of Theranos, the blood-testing startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, and of how its technology was misrepresented to investors, partners and patients.
Who broke the Theranos story?
John Carreyrou broke the story in The Wall Street Journal in October 2015.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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