{"product_id":"london-falling-a-mysterious-death-in-a-gilded-city-and-a-family-aos-search-for-truth-9781035056279","title":"London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Sunday Times no. 1 bestseller and 'defining book of our time' -- a riveting story of wealth, violence and deceit at the heart of a glittering city.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 2019, teenager Zac Brettler mysteriously fell to his death from a luxury apartment balcony into the Thames. As his grieving parents began to investigate his final days, they were shocked to learn that he'd been leading a double life, in which he was posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.  This unsolved case is at the heart of London Falling - at once a family tragedy, a psychological portrait of a young fabulist, and an indictment of the greed for extreme wealth that has transformed one of the world's great cities: London. Hiding in the shadows of its great architecture and imperial history are the malignant, mercenary forces that have come to influence us all - whether we realise it or not.  In his inimitably gripping and forensic style, Baillie Gifford winner and New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe explores what brought Zac Brettler (the grandson of famous rabbi Hugo Gryn) to the balcony that night - and how he became involved with some of London's most notorious gangsters. Following Zac's parents on a dark journey of investigation, London Falling unearths the unsettling truths they discovered - both about the sinister underworld on their doorstep, and about their son's secret world.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781035056279\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Pan Macmillan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 24.5(H)x16.4(L)x3.5(W)598\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 598\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the bestsellers Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction), Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks (a collection of his New Yorker stories) and Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (named one of the 20 Best Books of the 21st Century by the New York Times and now streaming as a limited series on Disney+), as well as two previous critically acclaimed books, The Snakehead and Chatter. He is the writer and host of the eight-part podcast Wind of Change, which The Guardian named the #1 podcast of 2020, and the recipient of the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. He lives in New York.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eGripping, rigorous and smart, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003etakes 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 . . . \u003cb\u003ebreathtaking\u003c\/b\u003e -- Jon Ronson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[Keefe] has a real gift for storytelling, an ability to unfurl the narrative in a way that is completely engrossing\u003c\/b\u003e -- Louis Theroux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI've barely left the house since starting Patrick Radden Keefe’s superbly gripping \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling . . . \u003c\/i\u003eit will become a defining book of our time\u003c\/b\u003e -- Johanna Thomas-Corr, chief literary critic, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHe is a master — perhaps even\u003ci\u003e the\u003c\/i\u003e master — of the non-fiction narrative, and has an enviable knack for telling complicated stories with perfect clarity\u003c\/b\u003e -- Craig Brown * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA compulsive tale of money, lies and avoidable tragedy . . . a scrupulously researched work of narrative nonfiction . . . \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e, 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\u003c\/b\u003e -- Ian Thomson * The Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMagnificent \u003c\/b\u003e. . . \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e is partly – and brilliantly – about the way London affects its young, forcing them to grow up so fast within sight of corruption . . . \u003cb\u003eriveting and powerful\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [Keefe] has a \u003cb\u003edramatist’s gift for structure and a novelist’s fascination with human character and motive \u003c\/b\u003e. . . [An] \u003cb\u003eenthralling masterpiece, by one of the world’s great non-fiction writers\u003c\/b\u003e -- Laura Cumming * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEngrossing . . . In deftly unpicking [the story], Keefe makes it terrifyingly clear what dangerous company Zac had got himself into . . . rigorous and thoughtful\u003c\/b\u003e -- James Walton * The Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eFortunately for him and his family, Zac Brettler came the way of \u003cb\u003eone of the finest, and most famous, magazine writers in the English-speaking world, Patrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/b\u003e . . . When Keefe flies into Heathrow, he comes to knock on the conscience of a nation . . . such \u003cb\u003ea richly plotted maze\u003c\/b\u003e, as twisting and interconnected as a nervous system . . . full of such \u003cb\u003eextraordinarily rich scenes\u003c\/b\u003e -- Nicholas Harris * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003eis a parable of a 21st-century global city’s moral decay \u003c\/b\u003e. . . I was intrigued by whether an American writer could capture the nuances of the city’s metamorphosis. Keefe does so admirably . . . \u003cb\u003eThrough masterful narration and exhaustive research, Keefe leaves the reader with little doubt as to why Brettler jumped\u003c\/b\u003e -- Edward Luce * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eBy asking the right questions, Patrick Radden Keefe establishes a series of links that not only open up this heartbreaking case but sound a klaxon on the cosplay of a whole generation . . . \u003cb\u003eKeefe’s work is so alive that one may say that his reporting has the texture of fiction. \u003c\/b\u003eBut actually it’s the worlds he writes about that have the texture of fiction – built of lies, secrets, silences, denials, dissolving identities – and \u003cb\u003ehis factual precision makes him a social realist in the era of fabulation\u003c\/b\u003e -- Andrew O'Hagan * London Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKeefe's mastery of timing makes this investigation a page-turner\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003ewe are fortunate to have him pounding the pavement to expose real-life darkness \u003c\/b\u003e. . . in \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e, the Brettlers' private story points to a larger one of a city changed by money . . . \u003cb\u003elike all of Keefe’s work, the book makes for propulsive reading\u003c\/b\u003e -- Mia Levitin * The Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA masterclass of evidence-chasing, narrative clarity and authorial empathy . . . unputdownable\u003c\/b\u003e -- Martin Vander Weyer * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs this dark book makes clear, the city’s “glitzy, mercenary, aspirational culture” allows grifters and gangsters to thrive\u003c\/b\u003e * The Economist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith its pacy writing and stranger-than-fiction story, \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e is appealing to those who don’t usually read non-fiction . . . Keefe’s book is as compelling as a novel\u003c\/b\u003e * The Standard, Best Summer Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMagnificent\u003c\/b\u003e -- Alexandra Shulman * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe has published some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [he writes] about emotionally complex, morally fraught subjects with sensitivity and skill -- Jennifer Szalai * The New York Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA gripping real-life thriller that takes you on a deeply researched tour of the city’s criminal underground. It broke me out of a can’t-seem-to-finish-a-book rut\u003c\/b\u003e -- Melissa Kirsch * The New York Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003einfernally gripping . . . a brilliantly crafted book . . . scrupulously humane \u003c\/b\u003ein its handling of the Brettlers and their grief . . . [Keefe's] approach is \u003cb\u003ea marriage of the prosecutorial and the emotional\u003c\/b\u003e . . . In its \u003cb\u003edeft depictions of multiple layers of London life\u003c\/b\u003e . . . the book reads like \u003cb\u003ea nonfiction social novel\u003c\/b\u003e, capturing something vital about a city that, for all its cultural energy and beauty, can feel as though it has ice in its veins -- Mark O'Connell * New York Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e is, it goes without saying, a masterpiece . . . perhaps the finest work of non-fiction about the London criminal classes\u003c\/b\u003e * The Fence *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAstonishing . . . Thoroughly researched, full of empathy and incredibly illuminating, it’s the sort of book that’ll linger long after the final page\u003c\/b\u003e -- Daisy Jones * Vogue *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGripping . . . he has penned another classic in \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e -- Richard Fitzpatrick * Irish Examiner *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHis most gripping book yet\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e. . . As always with Keefe the pages turn themselves\u003c\/b\u003e, and he sidesteps the exploitative pitfalls of the true crime genre by finding thrills in the margins . . . For all the praise Keefe receives for the depth of his reporting, \u003cb\u003ethe graceful humanity with which he approaches his subjects\u003c\/b\u003e in \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003eis what ultimately leaves an impact -- Chris Stanton * New York Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnother 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\u003c\/b\u003e -- Adam Morgan * Esquire *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe best true-crime stories use a particular event as a key to unlock a world, and Patrick Radden Keefe’s latest work of investigative nonfiction, \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e, does just that\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Keefe finds, in the death of one teenager, both a private loss and a parable of the decay of a once great city -- Laura Miller * Slate *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHumane, deeply reported and highly readable\u003c\/b\u003e -- Franklin Nelson * The Tablet *\u003cbr\u003eHow an American writer has managed to capture the nuances of London, its mores and class structure, is \u003cb\u003eextraordinarily impressive\u003c\/b\u003e . . . As ever with Keefe, the \u003cb\u003enarratives are spliced masterfully\u003c\/b\u003e, history is condensed tightly and characters are introduced (and then reintroduced) with an almost \u003cb\u003ecinematic \u003c\/b\u003eflourish . . . \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003ehas a \u003cb\u003enovelistic intimacy\u003c\/b\u003e -- Charlie Baker * Spear's *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWonderful . . . as Keefe deftly threads his tale together, ghastly details emerge\u003c\/b\u003e -- Harry Mount * The Oldie *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRigorous, thought-provoking and moving . . . gripping from start to finish\u003c\/b\u003e -- Darran Anderson * UnHerd *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[Keefe] brings his capacious literary toolbox to a true-life tale . . . [His] stylish, suspenseful prose shines a light onto the seedy underworld beneath an international capital\u003c\/b\u003e * TIME *\u003cbr\u003e[The book is] written with \u003cb\u003eKeefe’s customary and compelling flair\u003c\/b\u003e . . . He is that \u003cb\u003erarest of reporter birds, a deeply thorough investigative journalist who can actually write and tell a gripping human story \u003c\/b\u003e. . . his \u003cb\u003emastery of the cliffhanger and suspenseful storytelling \u003c\/b\u003eis what gives his non-fiction books their \u003cb\u003enovelistic \u003c\/b\u003efeel . . . Keefe’s \u003cb\u003erelentless drive \u003c\/b\u003eto get to the bottom of the story [and] \u003cb\u003edistaste for the excesses of capitalism \u003c\/b\u003e. . . drives the \u003cb\u003ecompulsive energy \u003c\/b\u003eof \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e -- Ian Brown * The Globe and Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMesmerizing. More addictive than any box set, this book will break your heart, instil you with cold rage, and make you see London in a completely new light\u003c\/b\u003e -- Sathnam Sanghera\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe has done it again - a phenomenal book that will stay in your soul long after the last page. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e is a tale of money and fantasy, fear and deception - that leads a deeply loved teenager to his death. \u003cb\u003eHaunting, harrowing, and rich with empathy \u003c\/b\u003e- it captures how easily a life can go wrong in the shadows of a city bankrolled by billionaires. A grieving parent’s questions go unanswered; a vital clue is met with an official shrug. And the crimes of the capital are swallowed up beneath a gleaming corporate veneer. \u003cb\u003eThis is a chilling story - told with humanity, curiosity and quiet outrage. It’s one that simply will not let you go. Put the phone to airplane mode, turn on the out-of-office: I guarantee you won’t want to be disturbed\u003c\/b\u003e -- Emily Maitlis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMonumentally good. Patrick Radden Keefe is the finest non-fiction writer we have: a born storyteller with a fluent mastery of structure who marshals exceptional reporting with unsentimental compassion.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003etells the story of a family tragedy and of a city in flux, while also tracing a lineage of generational trauma and the human capacity for reinvention. \u003cb\u003eI will never look at my city in quite the same way again\u003c\/b\u003e -- Elizabeth Day\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTroubling, humane and gripping,\u003c\/b\u003e a journey across London’s dark heart and the murky death of a young man – \u003cb\u003epart thriller, part psychological journey, part modern morality tale, Keefe is a literary non-fiction great and he’s done it again\u003c\/b\u003e -- Philippe Sands\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA gripping, heartbreaking and unsettling book about my city - a city, it turns out, I don’t know at all.\u003c\/b\u003e Patrick Radden Keefe’s \u003cb\u003eX-ray vision \u003c\/b\u003eexposes the hidden networks, the dirty money, and our depressing surrender to malevolent billionaires. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003eis important and brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e -- Nick Hornby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNobody writes like Patrick Radden Keefe; nobody makes achieving something\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e so powerfully complex and difficult look so easy. It’s a form of intellectual generosity and, I think, a form of genius. \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling \u003c\/i\u003eis a book everyone should read; it grips like a steel trap. \u003c\/b\u003eTo finish it is to be furious at the corruption, criminality and brutality hidden behind the facades of London’s wealth - but the warmth of the authorial voice, and the grace of the Brettler family, keep you from despairing -- Katherine Rundell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbsolutely gripping . . . brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e -- Marina Hyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI will read anything by Patrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/b\u003e -- Richard Osman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFabulous. Humane, rigorous, utterly fascinating and a page-turner\u003c\/b\u003e -- Mark Haddon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI found it both completely riveting and heart-rending . . . it haunted me\u003c\/b\u003e -- Sarah Jessica Parker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbsolutely incredible. He simply can't write a bad book\u003c\/b\u003e -- Josh Widdicombe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the most extraordinary writers working today\u003c\/b\u003e -- Katie Kitamura\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnother tour de force, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eas gripping and compulsive as \u003ci\u003eSay Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEmpire of Pain \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e. . . \u003c\/b\u003eKeefe beautifully interweaves the broader tale of London’s historical descent into stench and corruption with a painfully humane family story. As with all his books, there’s a quiet but\u003cb\u003e deeply moral purpose behind the bravura storytelling. I found the book impossible to put down and many, many times I found myself burning with rage\u003c\/b\u003e -- Dr Rachel Clarke\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fascinating and devastating portrait of London’s underworld and a young boy caught in its grasp. I was hooked from the very first page\u003c\/b\u003e -- Amelia Dimoldenberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEye-opening\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eabout a city you may think you know, enraging, and profoundly moving. Patrick Radden Keefe has done it again, showing he is one of the finest investigative journalists and non-fiction writers of his generation\u003c\/b\u003e -- Kavita Puri\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e is going straight onto my books of the year . . . absolutely propulsive and addictive . . . highly recommended\u003c\/b\u003e -- Claire Fuller\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGripping, beautifully written, incredibly researched and deeply humane, it is a masterpiece of modern London\u003c\/b\u003e -- Tom Parker Bowles\u003cbr\u003eWhat lingers is not only the web of money and criminal glamour, but the parents’ bewilderment as to how a boy they loved, watched and cared for could nonetheless construct an elaborate parallel existence . . . the book becomes \u003cb\u003ea study of how even attentive parents can find themselves locked out of their child’s inner life\u003c\/b\u003e -- Hanif Kureishi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKeefe’s approach is profoundly humane\u003c\/b\u003e, particularly in his intimate interviews with Zac’s parents, Matthew and Rachelle, who convey a deep desire to understand their late son. Despite the murky material, Keefe arrives at an\u003cb\u003e artful and clarifying \u003c\/b\u003eexplanation.\u003cb\u003e It’s a remarkable new turn for the celebrated author\u003c\/b\u003e * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGripping . . . Keefe is a master at using true crime as a vehicle for exploring social and political pathologies\u003c\/b\u003e * NPR *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA propulsive true-crime story and surgical critique of the city’s glamorous façade and dark underbelly . . . His reporting is broad and agile, his prose sharp-edged\u003c\/b\u003e * Boston Globe *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA very fine writer and reporter\u003c\/b\u003e . . . he has made a\u003cb\u003e highly readable\u003c\/b\u003e book . . . \u003cb\u003eThe first part of the book reads like a thriller. But the story that ends up being told is sadder and more intimate\u003c\/b\u003e than the mystery first promised -- James Palmer * Foreign Policy *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKeefe, the author of some of this century’s finest nonfiction, has crafted another masterwork\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Keefe might be our sharpest chronicler of the intersection of criminal opportunism and institutional fecklessness . . . \u003cb\u003eThis is powerful reporting, a potential classic\u003c\/b\u003e about the dangerous allure of a city remade as ‘a twenty-four-hour laundromat for dirty money.’ \u003cb\u003eAn exemplary account of naïveté, wealth, and menace, impeccably told by a top-notch journalist\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA powerful indictment of the British justice system, shocking in the details and extent of neglect and high-handedness it reveals\u003c\/b\u003e . . . The degree to which he has mastered the ins and outs of England and its idiosyncrasies is impressive -- Noah McCormack * The New Republic *","brand":"Patrick Radden Keefe","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49077108048089,"sku":"9781035056279","price":50.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781035056279.jpg?v=1786457114","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/london-falling-a-mysterious-death-in-a-gilded-city-and-a-family-aos-search-for-truth-9781035056279","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}