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

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

After nineteen-year-old Zac Brettler dies under mysterious circumstances, his grieving parents discover that their son had created an elaborate secret identity and become entangled in a dangerous side of London they never knew existed.

London Falling is a meticulously reported true crime investigation that combines mystery, corruption and suspense with an intimate story about grief, family and the search for truth.

💬 Why Readers Love It

  • Readers describe the book as compelling and difficult to put down, with the investigation unfolding with the suspense and momentum of a mystery.
  • Reviewers praise Patrick Radden Keefe’s detailed reporting and ability to make a complex web of people, money and criminal activity understandable and engaging.
  • Many appreciate the combination of true crime, London history and human-interest storytelling, particularly the emotional focus on a family trying to understand both their son’s death and the life he kept hidden.

$295.00

Description

A #1 New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Best Book of the Year So Far, London Falling is a gripping work of true crime and investigative reporting from Patrick Radden Keefe, bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain.

In the early hours of November 29, 2019, surveillance cameras outside the headquarters of MI6 captured nineteen-year-old Zac Brettler pacing on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower beside the River Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river.

Several miles away, Zac’s mother, Rachelle, was becoming increasingly worried. Her son had said he was staying with a friend for the weekend, but he never returned home. Days later, police arrived with the devastating news that Zac was dead.

As Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened, they began uncovering a life their son had kept hidden. Zac had created an elaborate alter ego, presenting himself as Zac Ismailov, the son of a Russian oligarch and heir to an enormous fortune. Through this identity, he became entangled with a London businessman and a dangerous criminal underworld his family knew nothing about.

Convinced there was more to Zac’s death than the official explanation, the Brettlers began their own search for answers. Their investigation drew them into a darker side of London, far removed from its glittering mansions and exclusive nightclubs, where wealth, corruption and criminality intersect.

Through meticulous reporting, Keefe follows the family’s search for the truth while examining the mystery of who Zac really was. London Falling is both a suspenseful investigation into an unexplained death and an intimate exploration of grief, parental love and the secrets that can exist even within the closest families.

Additional information

Format

Hardcover

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