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London Falling

A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth

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About this listen

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 Politics & Government True Crime Exciting England Inspiring

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)
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)
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)
Keefe's mastery of timing makes this investigation a page-turner . . . we are fortunate to have him pounding the pavement to expose real-life darkness . . . in London Falling, the Brettlers' private story points to a larger one of a city changed by money . . . like all of Keefe’s work, the book makes for propulsive reading (Mia Levitin)
A masterclass of evidence-chasing, narrative clarity and authorial empathy . . . unputdownable (Martin Vander Weyer)
As this dark book makes clear, the city’s “glitzy, mercenary, aspirational culture” allows grifters and gangsters to thrive
Patrick Radden Keefe has published some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade . . . [he writes] about emotionally complex, morally fraught subjects with sensitivity and skill (Jennifer Szalai)
All stars
Most relevant
An amazing book. Such a sad story but fascinating. Complex and far reaching, this story highlights the corruption surrounding the super rich and those pretending to be something they are not.

Excellent and enlightening

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I love PRK, even more so when he narrates. I’m halfway through and so far I think this is his best. Completely compelling from the start

Gripping from the start

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Well written and well read account of the parent’s investigation into the suspicious death of their 19 year old son, who seemed to have become intoxicated by the lifestyle of Russian oligarchs. It raises so many questions and issues, not least the impact of such a death on a family as well as the competence and role of the Police. My thoughts are with Zac’s parents and brother.

Thorough, but sensitive account of the suspicious death of a young man

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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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Extraordinarily gripping and well-researched - I binged this book in two days. Patrick Radden Keefe has a spectacular knack for weaving together seemingly unconnected threads that illuminate the history of London and British society as well as bringing to life the tragic mystery at the book’s heart. You have the sense of important minutiae as well as the wider tapestry - no stone is left unturned. Refreshing in an age of polemics and hot takes is the author’s scrupulous use of primary sources and sense of balance, fairness and sensitivity. Fantastic.

Brilliant

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