\u201cLondon Falling\u201d opens with 19-year-old London resident Zac Brettler plunging into the River Thames from a fifth-floor balcony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the rest of the book, journalist Patrick Radden Keefe attempts to demystify the details of Brettler\u2019s death. As it turns out, he had an alter ego \u2014 Zac Ismailov \u2014 masquerading as the son of a Russian oligarch. Through this, Brettler developed connections within London\u2019s criminal underworld that might have contributed to his death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLondon Falling\u201d was released April 7 and is in its second week on The New York Times\u2019 bestseller list. The book is an extended version of an article that Keefe, a staff writer at The New Yorker, published in the magazine in 2024.<\/p>\n
The book is a masterclass of journalism \u2014 a testament to both Keefe\u2019s dogged reporting skills and narrative craft. The pages almost turn themselves as Keefe extensively explores two of Brettler\u2019s closest connections, who knew him as Ismailov: business moguls Akbar Shamji and Verinder Sharma.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Much of the book is spent exploring the web of lies constructed by the two regarding the circumstances of Brettler\u2019s death \u2014 both were treated as suspects in the case \u2014 and their wider business empires.<\/p>\n
The book reads like fiction, in large part due to Keefe\u2019s extensive research that allows for a plethora of details. Oftentimes, chapters begin by addressing topics that don\u2019t initially seem to relate to Brettler\u2019s story, such as Muhammad Ali or Uganda\u2019s South Asian population. However, they often serve as mini-anecdotes for the rest of the chapter, highlighting Keefe\u2019s narrative foresight.<\/p>\n
Keefe\u2019s writing style can be dense at times, but the little details often prove crucial to the narrative. As I was reading, I found myself wondering how Keefe ever managed to write a shorter version of this story, much less one that fit in a magazine.<\/p>\n
The true story of Brettler\u2019s life, as we come to learn, is so complex that I don\u2019t even think it could have been dreamed up in fiction. There are so many interweaving narratives and underlying motifs that I often had to remind myself to slow down or reread certain sections, just to make sure I was correctly following the complex web of details.<\/p>\n
The quotes, pulled from interviews, articles and other reporting, are essential buoys to the story, providing a more colloquial and anecdotal \u2014 although still thematically deep \u2014 analysis of Keefe\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
At times, the book even has a touch of humor. While Keefe remains mostly objective, as is standard for journalists, he sometimes wryly points out the hypocrisies or interesting threads that popped up throughout the case, which he often uses to end chapters.<\/p>\n
The book doesn\u2019t have a clear-cut, satisfying ending that a mystery or thriller might have. Yet, Keefe\u2019s final metaphor and conjecture about Brettler\u2019s fate do serve as a satiating end. I can\u2019t help but hope that the publication of \u201cLondon Falling\u201d leads to renewed interest in Brettler\u2019s case and its unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
Email:<\/b> [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n X:<\/b> @jordanbalousek<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories:<\/b><\/p>\n \u2014 Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe discusses \u2018London Falling,\u2019 writing processes in book talk<\/a><\/p>\n