Blood Highways

The True Story behind the Ford-Firestone Killing Machine

By: Adam L. Penenberg

Narrated by: Meral Mathews

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Blood Highways is the heart-wrenching account of the biggest product liability case in history: the Ford-Firestone fiasco. At the center of the story are two people: Tab Turner, a charismatic trial attorney from Arkansas, who has made a career out of forcing Ford and other automakers to own up to knowingly trade human lives for profits; and Donna Bailey, a single mother and outdoor enthusiast who fought back from the brink of death to confront those ultimately responsible for her accident.

Weaving together harrowing depictions of the accidents and their consequences with the stories of the men and women who labor to police the auto industry and its reckless cost-cutting, Blood Highways will transform the way you view corporations, the government, the courts, and the media. Above all, this audiobook shows the price the public pays in wrecked and mangled lives when companies focus more on shaving costs than making quality products.

©2012 Adam L. Penenberg (P)2014 Wayzgoose Press

American greed

Wow...who knew the love of money ran so deep that a river of blood could almost not stem it. I have never been a fan of Ford and after reading this I will certainly never be buying a Ford Territory. I don't care if they have made fixes...their name is mud after this book.
Of course don't get me started on Firestone. Seriously...bones in the tyres...puncturing them as part of protocol...no end of horror! Donna who had suffered the consequences of both of these corporate felons, is a woman to be admired. I don't know if I would have had her same strength and resilience.
As for the writing, well done. It would have taken a huge amount of research to get all of that information and I thank you for it. Very informative and eye opening. Very glad that I had a chance to read it.
The narration was easy listening from beginning to end...except the very English sounding Australian. Oh well, no one seems to get that one right.
Brilliant listen if you are after something more than fluff and fantasy.

Greed and the person who fault back

Any additional comments?

This is a gripping story that will pull you in as it scares the crap out of you. Two big business work together to bring you death, injury, mental injury so they can make more money never caring how the people will deal with their loss and the pain they will cause. It wasn’t their fault if not theirs whose? They say it is consumer error I say give these whistle blowers a pat on the back. Well done. I have no doubt your eyes will be open in so many ways. I feel sure you will look at the car you drive and pay more attention. I am guessing after reading this you will do a little more background on what you buy because it could be your death or the death of the ones you love.

I just loved the narration of Meral Mathews he gives each victim a voice that really pulls you in. His voice is strong but gentle as he puts the pain in the voice for each victim. You have no trouble knowing who is talking and just what they are feeling. His male voices are just as nice as his female ones. There are no background noises or uneven noise levels just a smooth rich clear voice that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go. I hear the passion in his voice he his self feels for each person and what each victim feels. I feel he was as touched by each person as I was. I felt the audio was better by the narrator than if I had read it. I had to trouble picturing the pictures in my mind as the car flipped or the victims being trapped. It is a picture I won’t forget for some time to come. This is the first time I have listen to anything by this narrator. I am very much looking forward to listening to more from Mr. Mathews.

The author gives you the facts in so many people’s lives as he paints the pictures for you to see what each person had to deal with. He shows you how two main companies did what they wanted without any thought or heart for the consumer. It took years to bring these two down a peg or two. They haven’t fully recovered which is what they deserve as their victims will never be the same. My heart really goes out to Donna and her friends along with all the other who have lost their body parts and family to a giant who could care less. I found this full of information at times I thought it gave a little too much background on a few. I am more into the facts of the victims and how they had to deal with the issues. I was surprised over the McDonalds fight I didn’t have all the facts. Now I hang my head for I am as guilt as most of us were on the winning of that suit. There is no way this read will not touch you as you read how people die, lose legs, arms or their love ones. This is very graphic as the author talks about cars, trucks that cut off limbs. I enjoyed this audio the narrator really added a lot to it and gave me one outstanding listen.

great story

fascinating and scary it opens your eyes to see what surely is the tip of the iceberg

Horrifying example of corporate greed!

What did you like about this audiobook?

I found the book hard to put down. The greed and arrogance of these companies is appalling. An interesting look at the challenges faced in trying to gain government involvement in big business and their reluctance to do so until faced with significant blowback. The human cost of due to the perfect storm of defective products is staggering.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

I have always been interested in these type of books. Another great one is The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Another look at corporate greed and arrogance.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Nothing. The narration was great and appropriate for this book.

more drama than facts.

This book is largely about a single lawsuit. SUV history is grossly inaccurate, not researched.

Corporate greed costs lives

After listening to blood highways, I was shocked and appalled by the greed shown by the auto industry and Firestone. A must listen for those who want the real story of this terrible tragedy.

one sided, insulting & just plain wrong

Scripted alternate reality. Terrible performance, the falsetto when quoting women is laughable. At least Fight Club doesn't pretend to be true.