Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chatter | 2005 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
| 2 | The Snakehead | 2009 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
| 3 | Say Nothing | 2018 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
| 4 | Empire of Pain | 2021 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
| 5 | Rogues | 2022 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
| 6 | London Falling | 2026 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Buy |
Keefe’s first book, Chatter (2005), examined the surveillance apparatus of Western intelligence agencies in the post-9/11 period — an earlier subject than his later true crime and corporate malfeasance work, but one that established his interest in institutional power and the people who exercise it quietly. The Snakehead (2009) followed a Chinese human-smuggling operation and its charismatic ringleader, Sister Ping, into federal court.
Say Nothing (2018) changed the scale of his readership. The book opens with the abduction of Jean McConville in Belfast in 1972 and uses that single crime to open into the full history of the Troubles: the IRA’s internal politics, the hunger strikes, the peace process, the long aftermath of violence. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and appeared on many best-of-the-decade lists. Empire of Pain (2021) applied similar depth to the Sackler family, tracing how a pharmaceutical dynasty built its fortune on aggressive opioid marketing and how that legacy is still being contested in courts.
Rogues (2022) collects long-form journalism from The New Yorker and works well as a companion volume to the books — it shows Keefe’s range across shorter pieces. London Falling, due in 2026, continues his examination of crime and the systems that make it possible.