A glimpse into a city’s sordid decline in ‘London Falling’

Published July 19, 2026 5:00am ET



In November 2019, a London teenager named Zac Brettler plunged from the fifth-floor balcony of Riverwalk, an expensive luxury apartment building along the north bank of the Thames River. After weeks of speculation and mystery surrounding his death, closed-circuit television footage from the nearby headquarters of MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, would reveal that he had jumped. But why? This question preoccupies London Falling, a masterly if eccentric and at times frustrating work of investigative journalism by the New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe.

Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.