New Yorker staff writer and Baillie Gifford-winning author of EMPIRE OF PAIN Patrick Radden Keefe returns with a stunning story of corruption and tragedy in one of the world's great cities: London.

From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing comes a riveting story of wealth, violence and deceit at the heart of a glittering city.

'It will become a defining book of our time' - Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Times

'Gripping, rigorous, smart . . . breathtaking' - Jon Ronson

'A phenomenal book that will stay in your soul long after the last page . . . it captures how easily a life can go wrong in the shadows of a city bankrolled by billionaires' - Emily Maitlis

'More addictive than any box set . . . will make you see London in a completely new light' - Sathnam Sanghera

In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. On a desperate quest to understand how their son had died, his grieving parents made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought him to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s life of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.

"A compulsive tale of money, lies and avoidable tragedy . . . a scrupulously researched work of narrative nonfiction . . . London Falling, 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" - The Guardian

"Keefe's mastery of timing makes this investigation a page-turner . . . we are fortunate to have him pounding the pavement to expose real-life darkness . . . in London Falling, the Brettlers' private story points to a larger one of a city changed by money . . . like all of Keefe’s work, the book makes for propulsive reading" - The Irish Times

"A masterclass of evidence-chasing, narrative clarity and authorial empathy . . . unputdownable" - Literary Review

"As this dark book makes clear, the city’s “glitzy, mercenary, aspirational culture” allows grifters and gangsters to thrive" - The Economist

"His most gripping book yet . . . As always with Keefe the pages turn themselves, 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, the graceful humanity with which he approaches his subjects in London Falling is what ultimately leaves an impact" - New York Magazine

"Keefe’s approach is profoundly humane, 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 artful and clarifying explanation. It’s a remarkable new turn for the celebrated author" - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Gripping . . . Keefe is a master at using true crime as a vehicle for exploring social and political pathologies" - NPR

"The 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, London Falling, does just that . . . Keefe finds, in the death of one teenager, both a private loss and a parable of the decay of a once great city" - Slate

"Patrick Radden Keefe has published some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade . . . [he writes] about emotionally complex, morally fraught subjects with sensitivity and skill" - The New York Times