Patrick Radden Keefe digs into the mysterious death of a man posing as a Russian oligarch’s son

Staff writer at The New Yorker, Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of Zac Brettler, who inexplicably changed from a charming and hilarious boy into a money- and status-obsessed young man, who mixed with gangsters and shady businessmen.

Patrick's new book begins with the description of a scene that was picked up by a surveillance camera in London in the early hours of a November morning in 2019.

The footage showed a grainy image of a shadowy figure, anxiously moving about the balcony of a luxury apartment. 

That young man's name was Zac Brettler. 

He was 19 years old, and hours later his body was discovered on the banks of the River Thames. 

Patrick Radden Keefe’s investigation explores Zac’s secret life posing as the son of a Russian Oligarch, and delves into the true identities of the wealthy gangsters who were there in his final hours.

Further information

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City, and a Family's Search for Truth is published by Pan Macmillan Australia.

This episode covers grief, fantasy life, con artists, London underworld, Boris Johnson, family tragedy, luxury, Holocaust survivors, rabbi, Mill Hill school, young men, making money, raising boys, Roman Abramovich, oligarch, plutocrat, MI6 and true crime.