A review by jhbandcats
A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Neil Bradbury
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Enjoyable book geared toward the layman, this describes poisons in terms of biochemistry. Alas, I have always been poor at understanding chemistry so I didn’t really get some of the more complicated sections. However, the author used similes that made it easier to picture what he meant, such as referring to the destruction within a cell as a mess of Christmas lights, attached in a string and hopelessly tangled.
He also shows how the chemical can be used for good - atropine is toxic but can be an antidote in controlled doses - and for evil, citing poisoning cases from the past up to our time period. (While he explains the destruction that would result from injecting bleach, I was disappointed that he didn’t mention Trump’s crazy suggestion that this might stop COVID.)
I liked the book a lot but the similes were used far too often. In one single page in the polonium chapter, he refers to its effect on the body a wrecking ball, a right hook from a bare-knuckle prizefighter, and the Vandals sacking Rome.
He also shows how the chemical can be used for good - atropine is toxic but can be an antidote in controlled doses - and for evil, citing poisoning cases from the past up to our time period. (While he explains the destruction that would result from injecting bleach, I was disappointed that he didn’t mention Trump’s crazy suggestion that this might stop COVID.)
I liked the book a lot but the similes were used far too often. In one single page in the polonium chapter, he refers to its effect on the body a wrecking ball, a right hook from a bare-knuckle prizefighter, and the Vandals sacking Rome.
Graphic: Addiction, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Abortion, Child death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Murder