I was familiar with the story behind Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling thanks to a New Yorker article he wrote a few years ago.
The book, subtitled A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for the Truth, reflects the author’s detailed research regarding the questionable suicide of 19-year-old Zac Brettler. It’s not just the young man’s death that warranted attention, but the steps leading up to it that are most intriguing.
Thanks to Zac’s parents, Rachelle and Matthew Brettler, readers learn about the family’s background, Zac’s childhood and his later involvement with known Russian oligarchs. Especially puzzling to the Brettler’s was the latter, particularly since the teenaged Zac was able to convince powerful, dangerous men that he was the son of a wealthy Russian set to inherit a fortune.
The author relied on interviews with those who knew Zac, police reports, court transcripts and people familiar with London’s darker side.
According to those who knew him, Zac never showed signs of suicidal tendencies. He left no note and one of the last two persons to see him alive was considered by many to be an intimidating gangster; the other was a dubious businessman.
At times the narrative gets deep in the weeds with family background material; at others, the pace is fast, filled with tension in anticipation of what the Brettlers might learn about Zac in his final days. Descriptions of London’s underbelly are frightening given the wealth and influence wielded by those in its midst.
London Falling
Four bookmarks
361 pages, includes acknowledgements and notes
Doubleday, 2026
