'A defining book of our time' - The Times 'The master of the non-fiction narrative' - The Sunday Times 'A masterpiece' - The Observer 'Compulsive' - The Guardian 'Breathtaking' - Jon Ronson 'Completely engrossing' - Louis Theroux 'Phenomenal' - Emily Maitlis 'More addictive than any box set' - Sathnam Sanghera
A book of the summer in The Guardian, The Independent, The New York Times, Financial Times and The Atlantic
From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing comes a riveting story of wealth, violence and deceit at the heart of a glittering city.
In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. On a desperate quest to understand how their son had died, his grieving parents made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.
Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought him to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s life of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.
