August 6, 2026, Seward Folly

Dreamland Books and Yarn Staff Book Review by Jessica Bamford

All right, true crime fans, this week’s recommendation is for you. “London Falling” tells the story of the Brettler family and their attempt to understand the alleged suicide of their 19-year-old son Zac. While the indisputable evidence, security footage from MI6 headquarters, shows that Zac’s death resulted from his own jump from a high-rise balcony into the Thames, further investigation into Zac’s final months reveals a story that is anything but straightforward.

The Brettler family was firmly entrenched in respectable middle-class London society. But enrollment in exclusive private high schools brought their sons into contact with a level of upper-crust wealth that Zac quickly became enamored with. A talented mimic and charismatic charmer, Zac began passing himself off as the son of a Russian oligarch, claiming to be the heir to an impressive fortune. This act gained him access to a world of privilege that he enjoyed, while simultaneously making him the target of dangerous elements whose claims to wealth turned out to be every bit as flimsy as Zac’s. As his parents untangled his web of lies and learned more about his recent associates, they became convinced that his jump from the balcony may have been a desperate leap for freedom to escape the threat of a terrifying fate at the hands of the angry criminals he had duped, a leap that was only inches shy of a survivable landing in the river. 

Keefe’s reporting delves into the frustrating police investigation into Zac’s death, as well as the financial system that has made London a haven for Russian oligarchs and scammers alike. This is my first time reading Patrick Radden Keefe, but he has made a name for himself among nonfiction readers with “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty” and “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland,” both of which are going on my To-Be-Read list.