Why Is Bad Blood Trending Again? The Book Behind the Theranos Scandal

John Carreyrou’s investigation is finding fresh readers as a new Elizabeth Holmes documentary renews interest in the failed blood-testing company.

A new Elizabeth Holmes documentary has sent readers back to the book that helped define the Theranos scandal. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou is seeing a measurable increase in paperback sales, eight years after its original publication.

The immediate catalyst is You Can See Everything, the documentary directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim that opened in theaters on October 16, 2026. For viewers curious about how Theranos gained credibility, and how its claims unraveled, Carreyrou’s book offers an investigative starting point.

Why is Bad Blood trending again?

The clearest evidence is in book sales. In an October 27 report, Publishers Weekly, citing Circana BookScan, said Bad Blood sold 985 paperback copies in the week ending October 17, compared with 439 the previous week. That is an increase of approximately 124%. The report also put year-to-date sales 55% ahead of the comparable period in 2025.

Those figures document renewed buying interest. They do not, by themselves, establish that the book is trending across Google, TikTok, or every bestseller chart.

The timing gives readers a straightforward explanation for the comeback: a new film has reopened a familiar question. How did a company promising to transform blood testing persuade so many people to believe in it?

What is the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary?

A24’s You Can See Everything begins 34 days before Holmes is due to report to prison. Its premise centers on the filmmakers receiving access to her life, with the story expanding into a three-year project.

That makes the documentary a different entry point from Bad Blood. The film starts close to imprisonment; the book investigates the company and the claims that preceded its collapse. Readers coming from the documentary can use the book to work backward from the consequences to the business behind them.

What is Bad Blood about?

First published in 2018, Bad Blood examines Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, and the gap between the company’s blood-testing promises and its technology’s capabilities. Its author, John Carreyrou, reported on Theranos for The Wall Street Journal.

The book’s central subject extends beyond one founder. It examines how a compelling corporate story can gain authority, and what happens when employees and journalists challenge it.

That is the most useful lens for approaching the book today. The question is not simply why Holmes attracted attention. It is how claims about a medical technology acquired credibility, and how difficult it became to question them.

Why the Theranos story still matters

Theranos brought the language of technological disruption into a field where accuracy has direct consequences for people’s health.

The scandal also raises questions that outlast any particular startup: What evidence should support an extraordinary claim? Who has the expertise to evaluate it? And what happens when confidence in a leader begins to substitute for verification?

For a book audience, that gives Bad Blood an appeal beyond business history. Readers interested in investigative reporting can approach it as a study of how scrutiny works. Those interested in corporate scandals can examine the distance between a company’s public image and the evidence behind it.

Our editorial view is that this is the strongest reason to revisit the book: it encourages readers to ask what has been demonstrated, who has checked it, and whose objections have been heard.

What happened to Elizabeth Holmes?

Holmes was convicted in January 2022 of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud involving Theranos investors. In November 2022, she was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison, or 11 years and three months. These are the original sentencing figures.

The distinction matters: an account of the broader Theranos scandal should describe the specific convictions accurately.

Should you read Bad Blood before watching the documentary?

For readers who want the business background first, reading Bad Blood before watching You Can See Everything is a sensible approach. It establishes the subject of the investigation before the film turns toward Holmes’s life around imprisonment.

If the documentary is what first caught your attention, the book offers a way to follow that curiosity further. Penguin Random House lists an edition with a new afterword covering Holmes’s trial and sentencing; check the edition description if you want that additional material. [3]

The renewed sales give Bad Blood a timely news hook. Its enduring question is broader: how does an extraordinary promise survive scrutiny for so long?

Have you read Bad Blood, or has the new documentary moved it onto your reading list?

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