J. David McSwane

"A justifiably indignant investigation into the financial malfeasance and outright swindling that accompanied the Trump administration’s botched handing of the Covid-19 pandemic... Revealing one outrage after another, McSwane's book should prompt congressional review and systemic reform."

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"McSwane's unravelling of corporate, government, and private shenanigans during the COVID-19 crisis packs a tremendous wallop because the pandemic has impacted everyone to various degrees."

—Booklist (starred review)

"With blunt prose and a novelist's eye, McSwane takes readers inside private jets and dirty warehouses to expose all manner of crazy and criminal enterprise— and the result is stranger than fiction."

—Ken Armstrong, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and coauthor of Unbelievable

"[An] eye-opening investigation...Lucid analysis and dogged reporting make this a startling exposé of how unfettered capitalism, startup culture, and government corruption exacerbated the worst effects of the pandemic."

—Publishers Weekly

"Pandemic, Inc. is a witty, angry propulsive narrative, and a profound exercise in accountability ... I couldn't put it down."

—Diana B. Henriques, New York Times bestselling author of The Wizard of Lies

“McSwane’s book is two vital stories of the global pandemic, masterfully woven together: An infuriating account of how ill-prepared the Trump Administration was and the often-hilarious romp into the strange world of grifters and opportunists who tried to seize advantage.”

—Jesse Eisinger, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of The Chickenshit Club

PANDEMIC, INC: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick

For readers of War Dogs and Bad Blood, an explosive look inside the rush to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic, from the award-winning ProPublica reporter who saw it firsthand.

The United States federal government has spent over $10 billion on medical protective wear and emergency supplies, yet as COVID-19 swept the nation, life-saving equipment such as masks, gloves, and ventilators was nearly impossible to find.

In this brilliant nonfiction thriller, award-winning investigative reporter J. David McSwane takes us behind the scenes to reveal how traders, contractors, and healthcare companies used one of the darkest moments in American history to fill their pockets. Determined to uncover how this was possible, he spent over a year on private jets and in secret warehouses, traveling from California to Chicago to Washington DC, to interview both the most treacherous of profiteers and the victims of their crimes.

Pandemic, Inc. is the story of the fraudster who signed a multi-million-dollar contract with the government to provide lifesaving PPE, and yet never came up with a single mask. The Navy admiral at the helm of the national hunt for additional medical resources. The Department of Health whistleblower who championed masks early on and was silenced by the government and conservative media. And the politician who callously slashed federal emergency funding and gutted the federal PPE stockpile.

Winner of the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, McSwane connects the dots between backdoor deals and the spoils systems to provide the definitive account of how this pandemic was so catastrophically mishandled. Shocking and revelatory, Pandemic, Inc. exposes a system that is both deeply rigged, and singularly American.