Patrick Radden Keefe joins “The Book Review” to discuss his new book, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/books/review/london-falling-patrick-radden-keefe.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">London Falling</a>,” which begins when a family loses a 19-year-old son, Zac Brettler, under mysterious circumstances. His parents eventually discover he had been living a secret life, posing as the son of a Russian oligarch.
Speaking with the host Gilbert Cruz, Keefe describes the moment he first heard the story and how he immediately knew it would become his next major project. He talks about gaining the trust of the young man’s parents, Matthew and Rachelle Brettler, and following the threads of their son’s life into a world of wealth, influence and deception in London.
The conversation also explores how the book moves beyond the night of Zac’s death and into a broader story about ambition, reinvention and the uneasy question at its center: How well can we ever know the people closest to us?
Books discussed on this episode:
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/books/review/say-nothing-patrick-radden-keefe.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Say Nothing</a>,” by Patrick Radden Keefe
“Seasons of Fury,” by Rozina Ali
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/books/review/ORourke.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Emperor’s Children</a>,” by Claire Messud
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/20/books/books-of-the-times-perceiving-lawrence-by-not-writing-about-him.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Out of Sheer Rage</a>,” by Geoff Dyer
“Middlemarch,” by George Eliot
“In Cold Blood,” by Truman Capote
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/books/review/the-power-broker-robert-caro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Power Broker,</a>” by Robert A. Caro
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/books/review/far-from-the-tree-by-andrew-solomon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Far From the Tree</a>,” by Andrew Solomon
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/books/the-new-hows-and-whys-of-global-eavesdropping.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chatter,</a>” by Patrick Radden Keefe
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/11/books/books-of-the-times-mother-and-son-on-an-intellectual-quest.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Last Samurai,</a>” by Helen DeWitt
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Credits
“The Book Review” podcast is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Amy Pearl and Sarah Diamond. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado.
Special thanks to MJ Franklin, Dahlia Haddad and Brooke Minters.
Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Erik Tanner for The New York Times
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