Synopsis
**Patrick Radden Keefe's new book, London Falling, is on sale now**
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
‘Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it’s all true.’ – Time
In this thrilling story of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown, managed a multimillion-dollar business smuggling people.
In The Snakehead, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the inner workings of Cheng Chui Ping aka Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of undocumented immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them.
‘A powerful piece of reportage about the violent underworld of New York’s Chinatown’ - The Times
Merging gripping true crime storytelling with fearless investigative journalism, Patrick Radden Keefe is undeniably one of the great nonfiction writers of our time.
'The finest non-fiction writer we have' – Elizabeth Day
'A gifted storyteller who excels at capturing personalities – The Washington Post
'We are fortunate to have him pounding the pavement to expose real-life darkness' - The Irish Times
Details
16 February 2023
9781529099911Reviews
Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it's all true.
Essential reading. . . . A rich, beautifully told story, so suspenseful and with so many unexpected twists that in places it reads like a John le Carré novel.
A powerful piece of reportage about the violent underworld of New York’s Chinatown
A masterwork . . . In this single tale about a global criminal, Keefe finds a story of quintessentially American hope.
