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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.
'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'Exquisite… a masterpiece' Financial Times
'Breathtaking' - Jon Ronson
'Completely engrossing' - Louis Theroux
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.
'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'Exquisite… a masterpiece' Financial Times
'Breathtaking' - Jon Ronson
'Completely engrossing' - Louis Theroux