London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth
Apr 2026 · Sold by Doubleday
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15 reviews
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#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
“Another blockbuster feat of reportage. . . . I sprinted through this addictive book in three days and gasped more than once at the true story’s twists and turns.”
—Esquire
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 blockbuster feat of reportage. . . . I sprinted through this addictive book in three days and gasped more than once at the true story’s twists and turns.”
—Esquire
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.
#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 crimin...
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Ratings and reviews
15 reviews
Molly Moreland
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April 25, 2026
A fascinating read. I heard an interview with the author on the "Think Out Loud" radio program, held at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. (My hometown.) I was immediately struck by the author's diligence, journalistic integrity, and the compassion he brought to his work with the Brettler family. In particular, I was moved by the thoughtful manner in which he responded to the questions of the high school students in the audience who had read the book. I knew I had to read this compelling story for myself. I read it in one day; it's the kind of story you can't walk away from without being deeply moved. My heart goes out to the Brettler family. I am in awe of their courage and willingness in telling their story.
Jorge Guillermo
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May 23, 2026
Honestly, a book that I found hard to put down; and an easy read that I was able to read pretty quickly, despite not being the avid reader I once was. Impressed by the mother in the story, Rochelle, who seemed to be the person who most succinctly grasped the ironies, and the her experience's ties to all human experiences, as she navigated her journey.
Steve Meng Yee
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June 19, 2026
Beautifully written, paced, and draws you in until you can't put it down. a superb follow up to House of Pain and I will recommend this to many.
About the author
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize), and Say Nothing, which received a National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the Twenty Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times Book Review. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award, and the Orwell Prize. He served as an executive producer on the award-winning FX series Say Nothing. He is also the creator and host of the podcast Wind of Change, which The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly named the #1 podcast of 2020.
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize), and Say Nothing, which received a National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the Twenty Best Books of the 21st Centu...
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