The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth

"American pain. This is the territory of Sam Quinones, a masterly reporter and vivid, lyrical writer, whose last book, Dreamland won a National Book Critics Circle Award and awakened readers to the problem of opiate addiction in the United States. . . . In The Least of Us, Quinones applies a similarly kaleidoscopic approach to 'designer drugs' like fentanyl and methamphetamine." - New York Times Book Review

"Jam-packed with amazing facts and, like all of Quinones' work, reads like a thriller. You may think you know this story. Trust me, you don't. I normally don't write book reviews, but Quinones' book is well worth your time." - Ann Coulter, Townhall

"Together with his earlier Dreamland, The Least of Us confirms his place as a leading chronicler of an American nightmare." - New York Journal of Books

"Chronicles how meth-ravaged communities have broken the cycle of drug abuse, violence and despair." - Los Angeles Times, 11 Books to Add to Your Reading List

"Sam Quinones is the indispensable ground-level guide to the epidemics of addiction that plague so many Americans. In The Least of Us, the tales of despair are brightened by seeing communities beginning to adapt and regrow to fight the horror that besets them. Everyone should read this." - Angus Deaton, Nobel Laureate in Economics and co-author of DEATHS OF DESPAIR

"This well-researched follow-up traces the next stage of the epidemic, with synthetic drugs and the next generation of kingpins. There is plenty of heartache, yes, but there is also hope in its exploration of communities trying to repair themselves." - New York Post

"When I was chairman of the Senate health committee in 2018 and we were focused on developing legislation to address the nation's opioid crisis, I held a hearing where Sam Quinones was the only witness. Such is Quinones' command of the issue and the usefulness of his insights for our nation. In The Least of Us, Quinones has continued his meticulous reporting to capture a full picture of how America's communities are working to resist the damage caused by illegal synthetic drugs - and also to fight the epidemic of isolation by repairing the threads of connection that have so badly frayed." - Sen. Lamar Alexander

"With deep compassion and piercing insight, Sam Quinones beautifully captures the pain of America's opioid addiction and the gaping holes in society that allowed the tragedy to fester. He then not only offers condemnation of how we got here but true hope of how we can get out." - Ioan Grillo, author of BLOOD GUN MONEY

"With The Least of Us, Sam Quinones continues to be the preeminent chronicler of the national opioid epidemic. By combining rigorous research, keen insight and listening to people's stories across the country, Sam has once again captured not only the pain and sadness but the resiliency and optimism that have come to be the hallmark of this epidemic." - Michael Botticelli, Former Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

"Journalist Quinones follows Dreamland with a sweeping portrait of the destruction wrought by pharmaceutical companies, Mexican cartels, and other drug profiteers, and an inspirational call for a renewed sense of community to combat the isolation of addiction . . . This is a richly rewarding report from the front lines of an ongoing emergency." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Readers looking for the latest take on the drug trade and recovery as well as those who flock to well written journalism will dig into this." - Booklist

"In a follow-up to his widely acclaimed Dreamland, Quinones explores the fentanyl and meth crisis sweeping the U.S. while at the same time spotlighting the moments of hope and community that keep us going. From the wreckage of ruined lives come stories of faith, trust and belief in our fellow humans." - Newsweek

"Outstanding ... elegantly written ... Quinones has perfected his method of merging big-picture cause-and-effect analyses of the economics and neuroscience of drugs with illustrative human-interest stories of Americans swept up in this national catastrophe." - Taki's Magazine

"A painful sequel [to Dreamland] because it's an admission that we haven't beaten the national opioid addiction. Far from it. Quinones makes the convincing case that the problem has simply moved underground, changing locations from the doctor's office to back alleys, or to the internet, where users purchase drugs from shady Mexican or Chinese chemical providers." - Jacobin

"A heartrending depiction of the current phase of the quixotic drug war. Sam Quinones covers the human drama with an admirable empathy ... The stories offered will remain ingrained in the reader's mind because they're so powerful." - Seattle Book Review

"Over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none." - Los Angeles Times Book Review, on DREAMLAND

"[A] compelling examination . . . a driven and important narrative." - Wall Street Journal, on DREAMLAND

"Quinones' research ensures that there is something legitimately interesting (and frequently horrifying) on every page." - Entertainment Weekly, on DREAMLAND

"Dreamland is at once a heartbreaking narrative about the individuals in the grips of addiction, and a thorough history of how that addiction was made possible by a variety of key players . . . a must-read for anyone grappling with the story of heroin addiction in the United States." - Bustle, on DREAMLAND

"Quinones recounts individual tales -- from junkies in Portland, Ore., to pill mills in Appalachia to entrepreneurial heroin traffickers from small-town Mexico -- to describe a "catastrophic synergy" in which over-prescription of opioid painkillers begets addicts, many of whom then turn to heroin, which is cheaper and just as ubiquitous." - Boston Globe, DREAMLAND included in Best Books of 2015

"You won't find this story told better anywhere else, from the economic hollowing-out of the middle class to the greedy and reckless marketing of pharmaceutical opiates to the remarkable entrepreneurial industry of the residents of the obscure Mexican state of Nayarit . . . Dreamland--true crime, sociology, and exposé--illuminates a catastrophe unfolding all around us, right now." - Slate, on DREAMLAND

"The most original writer on Mexico and the border out there." - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review, on DREAMLAND