“Narrative remains a pretty unbeatable delivery device for information.” — Patrick Radden Keefe

Has London really fallen? That’s the question Patrick Radden Keefe — staff writer at The New Yorker and bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing — addressed in his new book, London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth.

One thing for sure is that Keefe himself hasn’t fallen. He’s been surprised by the book’s success. “I thought the antibodies would get up because I’m an interloper,” the American confesses about writing about Britain. Antibodies or not, the book has been a #1 bestseller in both the UK and US. And we can look forward to an A24 and Brightstar TV adaptation soon.

On London, the story is murkier. London Falling begins on November 29, 2019, when nineteen-year-old Zac Brettler falls to his death from a luxury apartment above the Thames. Every parent’s ultimate nightmare. As it happens, I’ve known Zac’s dad, Matthew, for many years. But what appeared to be a tragic accident or a suicide turned out to be something far more sinister — a story of double lives, dirty money, a dishonest businessman named Akbar Shamji, and a terrifyingly violent gangster known as Indian Dave.

Lurking behind the Brettler death is what Keefe presents as the greatest deceit of all — London’s cruel descent into what he sees as the moneyed miasma of post-Thatcherite neo-liberalism. London is, in Keefe’s compelling narrative, the most invisible of cities — where power lies with criminals like Indian Dave, where the police are at best bystanders, and where a teenage fantasist from a comfortable middle-class family can become fatally entangled in a fallen world he barely understood.

Five Takeaways

• Zac Brettler’s Double Life. Nineteen years old. Falls from a luxury apartment above the Thames. Living a double life as Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch. Entangled with Akbar Shamji and Indian Dave. Scotland Yard’s passivity bizarre. Keefe’s reporting suggests he jumped to escape.

• London as a Twenty-Four-Hour Laundromat for Dirty Money. Decades of financial deregulation. Professional facilitators protecting dubious fortunes. Posh mansions and private nightclubs as the visible surface of hidden criminal money. Zac was not rich. London made him fixated on the billionaires who had bought it.

• The Brettlers’ Consent. 15,000-word New Yorker article. Knew before finishing it there was a book. Went to the family: I will only do this with your blessing. They read the piece, talked amongst themselves, said yes. They made the right decision.

• Narrative as Delivery Device. Everyone has a phone in their pocket making claims on attention. Narrative — true stories about real people, told seductively — remains the most powerful way to convey information. London Falling is a whodunit, a parental love story, a city portrait, and a thriller. All in one.

• The Television Adaptation. A24 and Brightstar. Five production companies auditioned for the Brettlers over Zoom. Say Nothing took five years from book to screen. Cannot go on autopilot. The first word on the Mill Hill School website is integrity.

About the Guest

Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of London Falling (Doubleday, April 7, 2026; #1 NYT bestseller), Empire of Pain, Say Nothing, and Rogues.

References

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday, April 7, 2026): penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788428/london-falling-by-patrick-radden-keefe
Say Nothing (FX series, executive produced by Keefe)
Andrew O’Hagan, Caledonian Road

About Keen On America

Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.

Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:

00:00:31 Andy Burnham, the UK crisis, London Falling
00:01:59 Is this a book about the crisis of the UK?
00:03:19 Narrative as delivery device
00:04:30 The Brettler family: Andrew knew them personally
00:05:26 Did you tussle with turning it into a book?
00:07:26 Did the Brettlers make the right decision?
00:20:00 Zac Brettler’s double life
00:35:00 London as a laundromat for dirty money
00:36:11 Mill Hill: first word is integrity
00:40:05 The A24 television adaptation