Wired Science is hosting an excerpt from The Red Market, a book by investigative journalist Scott Carney that looks at the underground trade in biological matter. I haven't read the book yet, but the excerpt is horrifying:
They sprung the lock and revealed a medical ward fit for a horror movie. IV drips hung from makeshift poles and patients moaned as if they were recovering from a delirium. Five emaciated men lying on small woven cots could barely lift their heads to acknowledge the visitors. The sticky air inside was far from sterile. The sun beating down on the tin roof above their heads magnified the heat like a tandoor oven. One man stared at the ceiling with glassy eyes as his blood snaked through a tube and slowly drained into a plastic blood bag on the floor. He was too weak to protest.
A crumpled nylon bag next to him held five more pints. Inside were another nineteen empty bags ready for filling.
Even though the excerpt is at times emotionally challenging to read, I recommend checking it out. And if The Red Market makes my summer reading list, I'll report back when I've finished it.
Via @longreads
