The Boom

How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World

By: Russell Gold

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Russell Gold, a brilliant and dogged investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal, has spent more than a decade reporting on one of the biggest stories of our time: the spectacular, world-changing rise of "fracking". Recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award for his work, Gold has traveled along the pipelines and into the hubs of this country’s energy infrastructure; he has visited frack sites from Texas to North Dakota; and he has conducted thousands of interviews with engineers and wildcatters, CEOs and roughnecks, environmentalists and politicians. He has also sifted through reams of engineering reports, lawsuit transcripts, and financial filings. The result is an essential audiobook - a commanding piece of journalism, an astounding study of human ingenuity, and an epic work of storytelling.

Fracking has vociferous critics and fervent defenders, but the debate between these camps has obscured the actual story: Fracking has become a fixture of the American landscape and the global economy. It has upended the business models of energy companies around the globe, and it has started to change geopolitics and global energy markets in profound ways. Gold tells the story of this once-obscure oilfield technology - a story with an incredible cast of tycoons and geologists, dreamers and drillers, speculators and skeptics, a story that answers a critical question of our time: Where will the energy come from to power our world - and what price will we have to pay for it?

©2014 Russell Gold (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Bad accents.

Informative, even for those in oil and gas. The performer mispronounced many words and did awful with accents.

Decent book with some history but clear narrator isn't familiar with oil & gas industry

Pretty good book. Attempts to show both sides but not entirely neutral presentation. A lot of shale history and some connections I hadn't realized previously.

Narrator clearly didn't attempt to learn oil and gas terms. Several mispronounced terms... even company names.

Some wheat, but lots of chaff

What did you love best about The Boom?

I learned a LOT about fracking from it.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Back for a second listen on the fracking facts

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Ditto the Shlumberger comments elsewhere. How hard can it be? Type "Schlumberger pronunciation" in a Google search and turn up the volume.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

More than you want to know about Aubrey McClendon

Any additional comments?

Why all the Chesapeake Oil stuff? Charge less for a smaller book that sticks to the topic advertised please.

Exceeded all expectations

I was expecting a jaded anti hydraulic fracturing story but what I found was a balanced, fascinating book. As an energy industry member I'm familiar with the technology but I really enjoyed how the business of oil was woven into the story.

Excellent overview of fracking

I highly recommend this for anyone with an interest on the history and impacts of hydraulic fracturing. Well written and well read. This gives an excellent overview of the history of fracing/fracking by personalities and through science. It also provides a balanced perspective on the impacts - both environmental and economic.