What do you think?
Rate this book
Blood Will Flow: The Murderous Business of Oil and Gas
WINNER OF A POLK AWARD AND A TRUE STORY AWARD
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOK OF 2026
NOMINATED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM, THE MOORE PRIZE, THE ONE WORLD MEDIA AWARDS, THE AMNESTY AWARDS, AND THE BAYEUX-CALVADOS-NORMANDY AWARD FOR WAR CORRESPONDENTS
'A page-turner' Financial Times
'Breathtaking' Jon Lee Anderson
'A magnificent, earth-shaking achievement' Andrew Harding
'Vital' Sally Hayden
'The most astonishing piece of investigative journalism I have ever read' Reader review
On March 24, 2021, in the remote north of Mozambique, 500 ISIS militants attacked the small, paradise beach town of Palma - strategically unimportant but for vast offshore gas fields that had attracted $50 billion in foreign investment, including over £1 billion from the British government.
As the Islamists surged through town beheading civilians, a group of men, women and children - including 80 gas plant construction workers - barricaded themselves inside a hotel to await rescue. An oil and gas compound defended by attack helicopters and 1,000 soldiers was just minutes away. But help never came.
Five years on, Alex Perry's spell-binding, meticulous reconstruction unearths a hidden and unprecedented fiasco. Woven into his account is a search for the truth about how energy companies really make their vast profits.
His investigation takes him around the world, from Europe to the US, and back to Africa again, as he tracks down roughnecks, mercenaries, billionaires, and corporate spooks. As the revelations build and the lies multiply, Perry finds himself drawn into an exploding political scandal.
Propulsive, prophetic, and arriving at a time when energy companies imperil the planet, Blood Will Flow delivers a morality tale for the global economy.
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOK OF 2026
NOMINATED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM, THE MOORE PRIZE, THE ONE WORLD MEDIA AWARDS, THE AMNESTY AWARDS, AND THE BAYEUX-CALVADOS-NORMANDY AWARD FOR WAR CORRESPONDENTS
'A page-turner' Financial Times
'Breathtaking' Jon Lee Anderson
'A magnificent, earth-shaking achievement' Andrew Harding
'Vital' Sally Hayden
'The most astonishing piece of investigative journalism I have ever read' Reader review
On March 24, 2021, in the remote north of Mozambique, 500 ISIS militants attacked the small, paradise beach town of Palma - strategically unimportant but for vast offshore gas fields that had attracted $50 billion in foreign investment, including over £1 billion from the British government.
As the Islamists surged through town beheading civilians, a group of men, women and children - including 80 gas plant construction workers - barricaded themselves inside a hotel to await rescue. An oil and gas compound defended by attack helicopters and 1,000 soldiers was just minutes away. But help never came.
Five years on, Alex Perry's spell-binding, meticulous reconstruction unearths a hidden and unprecedented fiasco. Woven into his account is a search for the truth about how energy companies really make their vast profits.
His investigation takes him around the world, from Europe to the US, and back to Africa again, as he tracks down roughnecks, mercenaries, billionaires, and corporate spooks. As the revelations build and the lies multiply, Perry finds himself drawn into an exploding political scandal.
Propulsive, prophetic, and arriving at a time when energy companies imperil the planet, Blood Will Flow delivers a morality tale for the global economy.
- GenresNonfictionEnvironment
Audible Audio
Published March 19, 2026
About the author
Alex Perry
42 books72 followersAlex Perry is a reporter and nonfiction author. He is the author of Blood Will Flow, The Good Mothers, The Rift, Falling Off The Edge, and Lifeblood, as well as several ebooks. His journalism has won numerous awards and has appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Politico, The Economist, Outside, The Guardian, Harper's, TIME, Newsweek, and others. Among screen adaptations of his work, Disney made a 6-part series of The Good Mothers, which won the Berlinale film festival. Born in Philadelphia and raised in England, Perry lived and worked for 15 years in Asia and Africa. He now lives in Hampshire, England.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 25, 2026
In 2021, Palma in Mozambique was attacked. The people living nearby TotalEnergies gas plant had hoped that the armed forces at the facility would help. Not only did they not receive aid or safety, they themselves were accused of being part of the attackers or at least abetting them. It's like a horror story- imagine being held in shipping containers at your work facility being tortured and executed. And you are innocent. Men were separated, women faced violent repercussions and unspeakable horror ensues. And Palma is all about oil were billions of dollars are invested by our rich and powerful.
It was so frustrating to know how companies, governments, media all let this sink to the bottom of the news and it sickens me that we all have a part to play in this. We are consumers and we should be on the streets protesting, we should be guiding fairness and humanity with our wallets. but we don't.
The French energy company Total and it's war crimes. A massacre that wasn't even a blip on our radars. The "collective blindness" us Westerners have because we need that oil cheap, we need our opulent lifestyles and if we see/hear no evil, then there is no evil happening - right?
Perry delves deep and in his acknowledgements and appendix, states that he used prize money from another project to fund his interviews and research for this investigation. He couldn't name all those that helped him to protect them from retaliation. This just proves the lengths investigative journalists need to go to. And other reason why this should be read and listened to.
What is it with the French and beheadings in history? Guillotines, and now machetes and the truth hidden. I know Mozambique wasn't a French colony, but it led me to look up how many countries are still colonised by the French. At the moment - there are 13! Like what? Liberte, equality,fraternite is just empty slop.
This audiobook left me feeling so disgusted at ourselves. How we as a human race can hurt each other and the environment. In this world of AI and truth being so hard to suss out and identify, we need more books like this!
It was so frustrating to know how companies, governments, media all let this sink to the bottom of the news and it sickens me that we all have a part to play in this. We are consumers and we should be on the streets protesting, we should be guiding fairness and humanity with our wallets. but we don't.
The French energy company Total and it's war crimes. A massacre that wasn't even a blip on our radars. The "collective blindness" us Westerners have because we need that oil cheap, we need our opulent lifestyles and if we see/hear no evil, then there is no evil happening - right?
Perry delves deep and in his acknowledgements and appendix, states that he used prize money from another project to fund his interviews and research for this investigation. He couldn't name all those that helped him to protect them from retaliation. This just proves the lengths investigative journalists need to go to. And other reason why this should be read and listened to.
What is it with the French and beheadings in history? Guillotines, and now machetes and the truth hidden. I know Mozambique wasn't a French colony, but it led me to look up how many countries are still colonised by the French. At the moment - there are 13! Like what? Liberte, equality,fraternite is just empty slop.
This audiobook left me feeling so disgusted at ourselves. How we as a human race can hurt each other and the environment. In this world of AI and truth being so hard to suss out and identify, we need more books like this!
April 3, 2026
Would highly recommend
March 19, 2026
If you want to read something that's true, yet absolutely astonishing, look no further.
The story of the second biggest terror attack of all time (which most of us have never heard of) and how Big Oil brought it about.
Extraordinary Investigative reporting, which I've come to expect from this author.
It deserves a permanent place on university reading lists everywhere.
The story of the second biggest terror attack of all time (which most of us have never heard of) and how Big Oil brought it about.
Extraordinary Investigative reporting, which I've come to expect from this author.
It deserves a permanent place on university reading lists everywhere.
May 23, 2026
If I had bought this book out of interest in big oil, I would have given it 7 stars out of a possible 5 for its dedicated research and pertinent conclusions. But as I bought it out of interest in Mocambique in general and Cabo Delgado in particular. Alex Perry must be congratulated on drawing attention to the magnitude of the catastrophe and to Total's appalling greed and hypocrisy. But we learn almost nothing about the motives or context of the attack itself, apart from the fact that its main protagonist was Omar, a religious fanatic from a minority ethnic group. So many more questions than answers left this reader profoundly dissatisfied and wanting to know more: For example:
Where did Omar's followers get advanced weaponry such as RPGs? Did his gruesome tendency to decapitate his victims owe more to his jihadi ideology than to his RENAMO background? What financial rewards induced the Mozambican government to hand over its prime asset to a French company?Why was the Mozambican army (by comparison with the Rwandans or the South African mercenaries) so hopeless as to become part of the problem rather than the solution?
In summary, therefore: The book does well to enhance Mozambique's profile on the world stage. It is such a pity that, having done so, it tells us very little about the country or its people.
Where did Omar's followers get advanced weaponry such as RPGs? Did his gruesome tendency to decapitate his victims owe more to his jihadi ideology than to his RENAMO background? What financial rewards induced the Mozambican government to hand over its prime asset to a French company?Why was the Mozambican army (by comparison with the Rwandans or the South African mercenaries) so hopeless as to become part of the problem rather than the solution?
In summary, therefore: The book does well to enhance Mozambique's profile on the world stage. It is such a pity that, having done so, it tells us very little about the country or its people.
April 19, 2026
Superbly written and meticulously researched, this is a page turner and an expose for the ages. Holding to account big oil, speaking for those who are no longer here to speak for themselves and for those for whom geography, economics and politics mean being heard is impossible. By far the best non-fiction book read in the past year.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Simple superb. I got an advance copy and this book comes out next week - stay tuned for my Daily maverick review ...
May 11, 2026
capitalism sucks and no one should let a man run anything probably
March 26, 2026
Outstanding
I am involved in business in Mozambique and the political corruption there is awful. Unfortunately this corruption is promoted, albeit unintentionally, by Total. The Mozambican people are being completely fleeced by Total and Frelimo and this book does an excellent job in exposing some of the problems. Really good stuff.
I am involved in business in Mozambique and the political corruption there is awful. Unfortunately this corruption is promoted, albeit unintentionally, by Total. The Mozambican people are being completely fleeced by Total and Frelimo and this book does an excellent job in exposing some of the problems. Really good stuff.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews