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London Falling

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller

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London Falling

By: Patrick Radden Keefe
Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
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A riveting blend of true crime, social history, and investigative journalism written and read by one of the most decorated non-fiction authors working today, Patrick Radden Keefe.

From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing comes a riveting story of wealth, violence and deceit at the heart of a glittering city.

In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. On a desperate quest to understand how their son had died, his grieving parents made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought him to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s life of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.

'Gripping, rigorous, smart . . . breathtaking' - Jon Ronson

'A phenomenal book that will stay in your soul long after the last page . . . it captures how easily a life can go wrong in the shadows of a city bankrolled by billionaires' - Emily Maitlis

'More addictive than any box set, London Falling will break your heart, instil you with cold rage, and make you see London in a completely new light' - Sathnam Sanghera

 Abductions, Kidnapping & Missing Persons Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions Editors Select Organized Crime Politics & Government True Crime Exciting Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking England Inspiring
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Critic reviews

Gripping, rigorous and smart, London Falling takes a terrible mystery with an extraordinary cast of characters and somehow manages to make it perfectly encapsulate the weirdness of how London has mutated these past decades . . . breathtaking (Jon Ronson)
[Keefe] has a real gift for storytelling, an ability to unfurl the narrative in a way that is completely engrossing (Louis Theroux)
I've barely left the house since starting Patrick Radden Keefe’s superbly gripping London Falling . . . it will become a defining book of our time (Johanna Thomas-Corr, chief literary critic, The Times and Sunday Times)
He is a master — perhaps even the master — of the non-fiction narrative, and has an enviable knack for telling complicated stories with perfect clarity (Craig Brown)
A compulsive tale of money, lies and avoidable tragedy . . . a scrupulously researched work of narrative nonfiction . . . London Falling, grimly absorbing from start to finish, opens a window on to a world of financial dirty work and Walter Mitty-like fantasies of aspirational wealth (Ian Thomson)
Magnificent . . . London Falling is partly – and brilliantly – about the way London affects its young, forcing them to grow up so fast within sight of corruption . . . riveting and powerful . . . [Keefe] has a dramatist’s gift for structure and a novelist’s fascination with human character and motive . . . [An] enthralling masterpiece, by one of the world’s great non-fiction writers (Laura Cumming)
Engrossing . . . In deftly unpicking [the story], Keefe makes it terrifyingly clear what dangerous company Zac had got himself into . . . rigorous and thoughtful (James Walton)
Fortunately for him and his family, Zac Brettler came the way of one of the finest, and most famous, magazine writers in the English-speaking world, Patrick Radden Keefe . . . When Keefe flies into Heathrow, he comes to knock on the conscience of a nation . . . such a richly plotted maze, as twisting and interconnected as a nervous system . . . full of such extraordinarily rich scenes (Nicholas Harris)
London Falling is a parable of a 21st-century global city’s moral decay . . . I was intrigued by whether an American writer could capture the nuances of the city’s metamorphosis. Keefe does so admirably . . . Through masterful narration and exhaustive research, Keefe leaves the reader with little doubt as to why Brettler jumped (Edward Luce)
All stars
Most relevant
Brilliant narration by the author. An extremely interesting listen for anyone familiar with London and an extremely well researched book.

Fascinating

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Excellent book and the detail, the way it's written is fabulous. Unbelievable that the dedication and determination from the parents trying to find the truth never resulted in prosecution and that corruption wins again.
Really wish he had made it to the Thames.

Shocking, such a sad story.

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This is a fascinating book which touches on all kinds of issues of life in 21st century London. However, I really wish that someone would have properly ‘produced’ the author/narrator. The way he pronounces a range of English names and places really put my teeth on edge!

Gripping story but so many mispronunciations

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Protracted unnecessarily in parts, some characters’ backstories seemed irrelevant to overall narrative and were left unresolved

Compelling story

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I can’t get enough of Patrick Radden Keefe. He never fails to capture my interest and hold it throughout each of his works. This is no different.

I admit I ordered this on trust and didn’t know much about the subject he would cover. I wasn’t disappointed!

Well researched and written, a fascinating story and proof that fact is often stranger than fiction. The author narrates, whose voice I love ( but might not be to others liking). It’s not overly long but is detailed in the right places and does a great job at contextualising and enriching the story.

It’s ultimately a sad story both for those it affected but also touches on broader, saddening realities of the impact of geopolitics, class, society and crime on us all.

I would recommend this book and hope those who read it have the pleasure of reading his other works!

Intriguing and ultimately sad story

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