London Falling

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

By: Patrick Radden Keefe

Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling, prizewinning author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, a spellbinding account of a family devastated by the sudden death of their nineteen-year-old son, only to discover that he had created a secret life which drew him into the dangerous criminal underworld that lies beneath London’s glittering surface

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR

In the early morning of November 29th, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured video of a young man pacing back and forth on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower on the bank of the river Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river.

In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend for the weekend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up and two officers relayed the dreadful news: Her son was dead.

In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son. Only after his death did they learn that he had adopted a fictitious alter ego: Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch and heir to a great fortune. Under this guise, Zac had become entangled with a slippery London businessman named Akbar Shamji and a murderous gangster known as Indian Dave. As the Brettlers set about investigating their son’s death, they were pulled into a different and more dangerous London than the one they’d always known, and came to believe that something much more nefarious than a suicide had claimed Zac’s life. But to their immense frustration, Scotland Yard seemed unable—or unwilling—to bring the perpetrators to justice.

In a bravura feat of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ quest, peeling back layers of mystery and exposing the seedy truths behind the glamorous London of posh mansions and private nightclubs, a city in which everything is for sale, and aspirational fantasies are underwritten by dirty money and corruption. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death and a powerful narrative driven by suspense and staggering revelations. But it is also an intimate and deeply poignant inquiry into the nature of parental love and the challenges of being a parent today, a portrait of a family trying to solve the riddle not just of how their son died, but of who he really was in life.

Another great book!

Again Radden Keefe had woven together a gripping story that reads like fiction, which the reader cannot put down. His impeccable research tells this story with such ease and passion. Highly recommend this book.

Another great one

So excited to have another book from him. Perfect balance of mystery and history. I wish I could walk around the world with Patrick Radden Keefe narrating what I saw Google Glass-style.

Fabulous journalism

What a refreshing experience to have a journalist who reports without any discernible bias - and also has a talent for narration. Having read, Tell no one, I was happy to listen this time and will in the future. Very sad story about crime, mental illness, laise faire parenting, the Russian mob, the African/Indian involvement in their own mob and the lack of Scotland Yard to live up to their stellar reputation. a+++

Who’s zoomin’ who?

Well crafted. The author leads you to the conclusion…an excellent example of the truth of Occams Razor…a pathological liar finds himself caught out between a con man and a gangster. Add in the corrupt at worst and incompetent at best law enforcement and set it in the era of the Russian Oligarchs in London and you have a compelling readable true crime story.

Never predictable! New revelations throughout the entire book.

I loved the narration and all the twists and turns of the story itself. My heart goes out to this family. They’ve been in my prayers, and I appreciate them sharing their story with us.