London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth

As a big fan of Empire of Pain and of Say Nothing, I had to pick up London Falling. The book goes back to 2019 where a ninteen year old Zac Brettler plunges to his death in the river Thames in London after jumping off a balcony of one of the cities luxury condominium high rises on Riverwalk. His death ruled a suicide, but his parents were quite unsatisfied with that answer because of the events leading up to it.

As Zac’s parents investigate, they unravel a web of lies, danger and more from Zac.They encounter his apparent run ins with Russian oligarchs, or notorious London gangsters such as Indian Dave, and of course the metro police who stumble through the investigation satisfied with calling Zac’s death a suicide.

The most astonishing thing Zac’s parents and we as the reader learn in the novel is how Zac was able to fool everyone. He was arguably capable of convincing some around him that he was the son of an oligarch, had connections to the Chelsea football club, access to a family fortune and other outlandish stories for someone of his background and age. The book explores where did he get these ideas, why did people buy into these fabrications, and a focus on two parents searching for answers and meaning in their sons senseless death.

Overall I thought the book was good, but I think compared to Empire of Pain and Say Nothing, I felt as if this was longer than it needed to be, and sometimes certain events were drawn out or repeated. It would have been nice to have had some photos in the book itself, although I could always look them up online, but it just would have helped. Even a map, since so much about this was about London, the Thames, etc.. Again, great read if you liked Patrick’s other books, but I think you’ll get more out of the earlier works of his I mentioned above.