Patrick Radden-Keefe is the author behind multiple nonfiction bestsellers.

The New Yorker staff writer's latest book, London Falling, is about the mysterious

2019 death of teenager Zach Brettler and his secret life.

Keith spoke to Amman of Oz for the latest episode of our PBS News podcast, Settle In.

There are so many complicated people in this book, right?

But by tracing back their family stories and unpacking them the way that you do, you're

sort of forced to reckon with people as they are, right?

Full, complicated human beings with all the weight of their ancestors'

decisions on their shoulders and everything ahead of them as well. For Zach in particular,

though, what is it you hope people take away or understand about him because there's a lot

in there, right? Questions about why he did what he did that we will never know the answers

to. But what do you, as someone who's looked into this for so long, what do you take away from that? I mean, I, you know, the way that I write is not a, I, you know, I trained as a lawyer, but I, I'm not writing legal briefs. It's, you know, the book's not an op-ed. I don't have a-

You're not arguing.

I don't have an argument to make per se.

However, part of what's interesting about Zach

is he's this incredibly distinctive personality.

You know, he was a real sort of sui generis, unusual person

who turns out to have been this amazingly talented fabulous who could kind of

code switch and you know mix it up with people who who work all the time with real

Russian oligarchs and somehow trick them into thinking I mean there are Russians who he

convinced that he was Russian I don't know how he did it.

So on the one hand, he's this very distinctive kid.

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