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Catch and Kill

Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

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About this listen

 In a dramatic 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 that could not be explained - 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 the culture. Art & Literature Elections & Political Process Espionage Journalists, Editors & Publishers Politics & Government Social Sciences True Crime Violence in Society Scary Thought-Provoking Inspiring

Critic reviews

[A] scoop-filled book, part reporting memoir, part spy thriller . . . Riveting and often shocking . . . Catch and Kill has gone off like a hand grenade in the world of New York media . . . compelling
A thriller. My word, you thirst for more . . . Catch and Kill is a rip-roaring account of the years spent chasing the Weinstein story and its spin-offs. It's a deep dive into the world of US media, Hollywood pay-outs, Donald Trump's eccentric ways, spies and spineless editors. And is it gripping . . . The page-turner, as illustrated by Farrow's Weinstein confrontation, is dripping with jaw-dropping revelations and moments of astonishing pathos . . . Farrow's reporting is incredibly rigorous. He has spoken, he said, to over 200 sources. It's evident in the book; the breadth of the story is staggering. He has the private eyes and the NYPD, the accusers and the whistleblowers. It's a rollicking read; I found myself laughing out loud, aghast, at the details, or else reading out segments to colleagues. Not since Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury - an eye-watering account of life inside the White House, in the first months of the Trump presidency - has a book so comprehensively lifted the lid on something so troubling
Farrow knows he has a humdinger of a story, but he also has a nuanced appreciation of how women are smeared and discredited, of how the lines dividing news and show business have blurred . . . lively and wide-ranging
Extraordinary . . . As some American critics have already observed, Farrow's narrative has the pace of a thriller . . . Farrow's book captures the terror and paranoia that eat away at Weinstein's victims for the simple reason that he comes to experience them himself, a human mirror. The producer's sphere of influence extends ever outwards, like the powerful arms of some giant squid (Rachel Cooke)
Meticulous and devastating . . . Catch and Kill is part All the President's Men, part spy thriller
Moves at a brisk pace, feeding readers each revelation in real time, interspersed with personal notes that make the stories stick (Claire Landsbaum)
Read this book . . . Farrow's greatest success was to listen, believe and act, even at his own peril (Maria L. La Ganga)
Absorbing . . . The behavior documented in Catch and Kill is obviously and profoundly distressing . . . But there are some hopeful threads, too (Jennifer Szalai)
Darkly funny and poignant . . . a winning account of how it feels to be at the centre of the biggest story in the world. It is also, of course, a breathtakingly dogged piece of reporting, in the face of extraordinary opposition (Emma Brockes)
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 (Emma Bruenig)
All stars
Most relevant
I listened to this over 2 days & loved every minute that I spent in the company of Ronan as he told his story in his own charming & personable way. I even loved the various accents, which have caused some comment in other reviews. It honestly helped the flow of the narrative and was entirely in keeping with his easy style of delivery. There is nothing within this book that you cannot admire, from the courage of the victims in coming forward, to Ronan’s tenacity, to the glimpses of his personal life & his wonderful partner, Jonathan. Not all heroes wear capes & Ronan is the first person to recognise the sacrifice & bravery of the women who stepped forward to hold their abusers to account but it is also impossible to ignore all who contributed to bringing them light from the darkness. Thank you Ronan, in a world where conscience & compassion are sadly lacking, you are a North Star of common decency and sincere ethics.

Heroes don’t always wear capes

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This is fantastic - but the accents BEYOND bizarre. So distracting when such a serious subject is populated with Mary Poppins voices. The book is wonderful though.

Accents

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Very high quality reporting and writing. This tour de force from Ronan Farrow is a must read. Thank you for uncovering these terrible abuses of power.

Gripping and shocking

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Gripping stuff as Farrow takes on the media and Hollywood machine that exists to protect powerful predators like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer, men who used their position to rape, abuse, humiliate, terrify and dominate women in their power. Their crimes are horrifying, but it's their ability to cover-up such evil that provides a chilling undertow in this fantastic book, which sees Farrow looking over his shoulder as the full force of the machine is brought to bear on him for daring to expose these men and the culture that protected them.
There's no doubt that having seen the impact of abuse within his own family made Farrow braver than most would be, more than the (frankly) gutless people who were prepared to dissemble.
Chapeau, Ronan Farrow!

A brave, resonant exposure of corruption

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Whatever you thought you knew about Weinstein, it's just the tip of a horrific iceberg.

Shocking tales of monsters and their enablers.

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