London Falling is a documentary in narrative form about the 2019 suspicious death of a young man who pretended to be the son of a Russian oligarch living in London. Patrick Radden Keefe has created a dramatic crime novel that is burdened with facts about a real person, Zac, who was either murdered or committed suicide. The fascinating part of the book involves the Thatcher years in the UK when foreign billionaires from Russia were allowed to spread dirty money in Britain’s politics and became involved in banking. A time when law enforcement turned a blind eye to organized Russian crime. Zac is drawn to the life of organized crime, taking on the secret life of an oligarch’s son. It does not end well.
I say the author is burdened with facts because Keefe has done the work Scotland Yard failed to do, investigating the circumstances of Zac’s life and death. Those facts are outlined in the book but tend to interrupt the flow of a normal crime novel. Still, the book is a good read.