A Patrick Radden Keefe reading list

Boston University's Power of Narrative conference. Plus: J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards

Patrick Radden Keefe. Photo by Philip Montgomery

March 20, 2026

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Dear Storyboard community:

If you happen to be in Boston next weekend, I'd love for you to join me on Saturday, March 28 at Boston University's Power of Narrative conference, where I’ll be interviewing The New Yorker's Patrick Radden Keefe about his forthcoming book, “London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth,” and his approach to reporting and writing award-winning stories and books including “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland” and “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty.” You can register for the conference here, and attendees will also receive a copy of “Empire of Pain.”

Keefe's latest book, to be released on April 7, expands on his 2024 New Yorker story about the mysterious death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler, who died after jumping from the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the River Thames in London. Brettler's death led to a series of discoveries by his parents: he had created a secret life portraying himself as the son of a Russian oligarch and putting him into contact with the London underworld.

Having read the story, and now the book, I'm struck by Keefe's approach to both mediums — and how one complements the other in his reporting and writing process.

We at Storyboard have been following Keefe's meticulous reporting for over a decade, and his books and stories have earned numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

Here are two stories from the Storyboard archive analyzing some of Keefe's memorable work. And for those who can't attend in-person next week, I'll be sure to report back on our conversation.

‘Why’s This So Good?’ Patrick Radden Keefe and ‘Where The Bodies Are Buried’ (2014)

“In 15,700 words, [Keefe] steeps readers in the daily terrors and psychological destruction wrought by decades of guerilla warfare in Northern Ireland. Readers understand by the story’s end that the grinding violence of the Troubles is not a historical conflict, but one that still fumes, indeed sometimes bursts to life, in the brick alleys and warrens today.”

‘Why’s this so good?’ Patrick Radden Keefe and the loaded gun (2014)

“[Keefe] tells a tale about the very fallibility of storytelling, one which, bleak though its conclusion may be, we can believe.”

Links of note

Congratulations to this year's winners of the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards, honoring the best in American nonfiction book writing, announced this week by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism. The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards went to danah boyd for “Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the U.S. Census,” and to Karim Zidan for “In the Shadow of the Cage”; The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize went to Jeff Hobbs for “Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America”; and the Mark Lynton History Prize went to William Dalrymple for “The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World.” See the full list of winners and finalists here.
Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy announced its finalists for the 2026 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, honoring “the best public service investigative journalism that has made an impact on local, state, or federal public policy or the practice of politics in the United States.” The six finalists include investigative teams from The New York Times, Mississippi Today, the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, ProPublica, and the Washington Post. See the full list here.
Also, from The New York Times, an example of the power of deeply reported investigative journalism in bringing long-overdue justice for victims: “Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years.” Bringing us into their process, California editor Manny Fernandez writes: “Back in 2021, The Times received a tip about Cesar Chavez’s past. My colleague, Sarah Hurtes, and I have investigated aspects of this story for nearly five years now. After gaining the trust of several women who told us their stories, we discovered disturbing allegations that Chavez sexually abused and assaulted teenage girls and adult women.” Dolores Huerta, who co-founded United Farm Workers with Chavez, said she also was sexually abused by Chavez. “I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here.”
“Agents of Chaos: Border Patrol’s year of unchecked force.” An outstanding investigative documentary short that uses visual storytelling — combining citizen-recorded videos, court documents, and body camera footage — to show how five Border Patrol agents participated in raids in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Chicago, and then Minneapolis, and committed acts of violence on bystanders in the process. The documentary was produced by nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, Evident Media, and Bellingcat.