The Least of Us

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dreamland, a searing follow-up that explores fentanyl, the unprecedented addition to the illegal drug trade, and the quiet yet groundbreaking steps communities are taking to end the opioid crisis across the nation.

Sam Quinones has traveled far and wide to investigate how drugs are created, sold, and used. Since Dreamland, he has taken note as the drug world has radically changed with the introduction of fentanyl on the market. Fentanyl—a painkiller created to be more powerful and more potent than morphine—is often found laced in cocaine, methamphetamine, and sometimes even marijuana. Highly profitable and easy to traffic, fentanyl is the new "go-to" addictive behind hundreds of overdoses all over the United States.

Heartbroken by the harrowing rise of an already steep death toll, counties and communities both large and small have been charged with the responsibility of stopping this opioid epidemic from taking any more lives. Quinones reveals how college presidents, Chambers of Commerce, clergy, hospital administrators, parents, PTAs, and others are coming together to fight the scourge in a period of extreme political and cultural division. United by the urgent necessity for change, these task forces, working groups, and alliances are paving the way to recovery—igniting hope along the way that our country can be whole again.

Weaving together his analysis of the drug trade with moving stories about humble communities braving the tragic darkness of an epidemic, Sam Quinones delivers an unexpected and awe-inspiring response to the call that shocked the nation in his award-winning Dreamland.