u/Kaysiee_West

For Red Rising to be adapted successfully, one of the many factors to consider is how the characters' looks are translated to the screen.

It needs to be, I don’t know, not wonky.

Like, while I was reading, everyone had their specific caste color on their skin. But I’m unsure if there’s a way to do that in a TV or movie adaptation without it coming across as cringe.

The biggest challenge is finding the right balance between making the characters otherworldly and keeping them grounded enough for casual viewers to relate.

Because adapting Red Rising right means a ton of money — probably over 100 million. And a lot more if we add in marketing, publicity, advertising, events, etc. So, getting that balance right is key if they want to make a significant profit and ROI. Basically, they’d want to see a bang for their buck.

And yes, ideally, we’d focus only on what true fans want. But that's not realistic.

Take Dune, for example—they toned down the Fremen's blue eyes considerably in the new movies, and for good reason.

In the 1984 Dune, the Fremen's blue eyes were almost neon. It was unnatural. It looked corny, for lack of a better word.

In the new Dune 1 & 2, the Freman blue is still there, but it was more subtle and grounded in realism to allow the actors to emote more (ironically, the same thing was done for GOT, when they removed the violet eye color for the Targaryens in the show), and made it look more like a biological pigmentation instead of some freak radioactive thing.

Most importantly, the change meant it didn't look like an obvious visual effect that could pull viewers out of the immersion.

And that is what I think Red Rising would need to do. Well, something like that. I just don't know how 😅🤦🏾‍♀️

They would need to strike a balance between superfans like us, the general audience, and visual harmony.

And let’s be honest, things won't stay exactly the same. That’s just the nature of adaptations 😅.

What do you guys think? Any guesses? Ideas? Theories?

Ok, so I'm rewatching Dune, and I'm glad I can do it at home because now my ADHD won't be doing overtime at the theater. I can actually read the translated texts without being distracted by the theater's noise and lights. So now I can actually about the movies instead of just merely watching.

I was a little confused about why Paul kept seeing Jamis as a mentor figure in his visions, only to have him killed a few scenes later.

But then, after watching Dune 2, I think I came up with a theory about this.

Jamis in Paul’s visions in Dune 1 represented a possible future where Paul never killed him. So Jamis became like a Stigler to him.

And if that's true, then what in the main timeline made Jamis want to fight Paul?

Yes, I know it's because Lady Jessica bested Stilgar. But wouldn't that have happened in the alternative timeline too?

And if not, what do you think would have happened that would have allowed Paul not to fight Jamis, and instead have him become a mentor?

Where was Stigler in that alt timeline?

Ooooh, do you think in the alternate timeline, Stigler fought Jamis and lost? That’s why he wasn't there. Ok, that makes sense!

Interesting.

Sorry, I'm thinking as I write.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe is unequivocally 5 out of 5 stars.

I didn't know about Zac’s case before reading this book. So I went into this blind.

Wow. This was my first Patrick Radden Keefe book, and… wow. 🤯

I could not stop reading, which no doubt explains why I finished it in less than twenty-four hours.

I know from people who are fans of Patrick Radden Keefe that this book is excellent, but that many of his others (Say Nothing or Empire of Pain) are even better. 

If that’s true, then I’m incredibly excited to read the rest of his work.

But this book? It may be the best investigative journalism book I’ve ever read.

Zac Brettler was a chameleon. He was a liar, a con artist, but also a brilliant teenager who wanted to emulate the lives portrayed in his favorite films, like The Wolf of Wall Street and War Dogs.

His vivid imagination, precocious nature, and pathological lying allowed him to create an elaborate façade as the son of a Russian oligarch worth billions.

Despite that fantasy, Zac actually came from a comfortable upper-middle-class Jewish family in London. He did not grow up poor. He attended private schools with annual tuition over $30k, and, by most accounts, had almost everything he could have wanted.

But Zac wanted a life beyond the comfort of his home. 

He craved opulence, high status, and the allure of glitz and glamour that his current circumstances couldn’t offer. To fulfill his desires, he meticulously crafted a paper-thin identity that perfectly aligned with his aspirations.  

Zac had a knack for spinning tales. His schoolmates jokingly dubbed him a compulsive liar, but they stuck with him because he was clever, witty, and just a blast to hang out with. Still, some of his friends had cautioned him that his lies might catch up with him someday. And as it turned out, they were spot on. 

He was such a compelling storyteller that he fooled nearly everyone around him—and, eventually, himself. His parents recalled that even as a child, he spun grandiose tales. They said he could easily have become a writer or an actor.

Instead, Zac took those same ingredients and became involved with gangsters.

Not the kind of gangsters Hollywood usually depicts, but wealthy international operators, oligarchs, fixers, and businessmen moving through London’s shadow economy. Through them, Zac saw a gateway into the glamorous, high-stakes life he had always imagined for himself.

Unfortunately for him, that life ended with him allegedly “jumping” from a riverwalk balcony at the exclusive One Hyde Park apartments into the River Thames.

He was nineteen years old.

Patrick Radden Keefe weaves this story like a thriller. The suspense is relentless, and every chapter peels back another layer of who Zac really was. His prose is gripping throughout.

What surprised me most, however, was the way he depicted Zac’s parents, Matthew and Rachelle.

This book could have been a cold, clinical investigation—and to be clear, the investigative reporting is exceptional. But Matthew and Rachelle were the emotional centerpiece of the narrative. 

His parents became investigators in their own right, armed with grief, emotion, and an almost obsessive drive to uncover the truth. You begin to see where Zac inherited his relentless determination, even if his own ambitions ultimately led him somewhere much darker.

Patrick Radden Keefe worked closely with Zac’s parents while writing this book, and they had amassed an astonishing amount of evidence through their own investigation.

Reading it, you can clearly see how poorly the police handled this case. The official explanations ranged from a lack of resources to delays in reporting. 

Personally, I found those explanations difficult to accept. Honestly, it was basically incompetence, tunnel vision, and something a bit shady.

The investigation felt remarkably narrow, particularly considering the powerful, wealthy men who were among the last people to see Zac alive.

This book exposes the pervasive world of shady real estate ventures that sometimes seem to serve as cover for far darker dealings. It highlights circles of immense international wealth operating within London, where influence and money appear capable of bending the rules in ways ordinary people never could.

It also exposes serious shortcomings in the police investigation, especially the narrow approach to the case during the inquest, leaving Zac’s family’s legal team with little opportunity to properly challenge the official narrative.

One thing is certain to me.

Zac was not innocent.

But he was also a teenager who lied. Plenty of teenagers lie. Zac simply chose to lie to extraordinarily powerful and dangerous people.

What fascinates me is that they believed him.

Maybe it started as a joke. Maybe it started as a game. But these wealthy, influential men accepted his stories, and Zac kept going.

Eventually, they realized they had been duped by a nineteen-year-old, and that’s when shit hit the fan. 😭

Three people know what really happened to Zac. But only one is still alive. 

Zac knew—but if the official account is true, he died with that knowledge.

Verinder Sharma, for sure, knew what happened to Zac. Sharma, also known as “Indian Dave” and a known killer and gangster, was the man Zac had been staying with and from whose balcony he jumped. A year later, Verinder himself died from what was ruled an overdose. 

That leaves Akbar Shamji, a charming, approachable businessman with a notorious father and a long history of questionable ventures.

Somehow, Akbar managed to emerge from the entire affair largely unscathed. 😒

Throughout the book, he simultaneously appears helpful while revealing remarkably nothing at all. He is everywhere in the story, yet somehow remains just out of reach. Akbar knows what happened but suffered no consequences for that knowledge. 

If only Akbar had faced more scrutiny because of his shifting statements, things might have been different. But Patrick Radden Keefe has ensured that all those unchecked sources and uninvestigated aspects of Akbar’s story are well-documented in this book.

Hopefully, with public pressure and careful examination, it will finally force the police to do their job properly. 

I cannot imagine what Matthew and Rachelle endured as they slowly uncovered who their son really was. It’s easy to judge them and say they should have been better parents.

But that's easier said than done.

You can raise two children in the same loving home. One grows up to become a successful professional. The other becomes a gifted liar and criminal.

Parenting and environment matter, of course. But personality, temperament, and perhaps even genetics matter too.

Regardless of how much darker the truth became, Matthew and Rachelle never stopped fighting for answers. Their love for Zac never wavered.

Ironically, I think Zac would have been shocked by just how relentless his parents turned out to be.

He often told people that his billionaire father was dead and that his model mother had cut him off. He invented these extravagant stories about his family while returning home each night to his middle-class life, sleeping in his childhood bedroom, and carrying on as though nothing had happened.

Zac wanted more exciting parents. Parents who were larger than life. Parents who weren’t ordinary.

It is true that Matthew and Rachelle may never have truly known their son. However, Zac never truly knew them either. 

He counted them out.

And that’s the sad part. 😩

Because in the end, his parents were more than just ordinary.

They became the bedrock of the entire search for the truth. Going up against the police and oligarchs —consistently pushing for answers. They hired private investigators, recorded conversations, and created their own timelines.

His parents basically had more of a well-oiled operation than Scotland Yard. They were a two-person machine. They never stopped, even though everyone told them to let it go — the police, of course, but even friends and family told them to stop. Matthew and Rachelle asked the hard questions, even if it could paint their son in a terrible light. They were relentless. Which ultimately is why they chose to work with Patrick Radden Keefe.

Often, the death of a child, especially a child who turned out to be harboring a double life like this, can tear a marriage apart, but for them, it brought them closer.

Too bad Zec never appreciated them while he was alive.

I hope London Falling stirs renewed interest in Zac’s case. More than anything, I hope Matthew and Rachelle—and all of us—one day finally learn what really happened.

Do you think this case will be looked at seriously again? Do you think Scotland Yard will be forced to do its damn job and find justice for this family?

I heard this book has been optioned for a documentary. Surely, after that, things will finally start moving in the right direction.

Have you guys read this?

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe is unequivocally 5 out of 5 stars.

I didn't know about Zac’s case before reading this book. So I went into this blind.

Wow. This was my first Patrick Radden Keefe book, and… wow. 🤯

I could not stop reading, which no doubt explains why I finished it in less than twenty-four hours.

I know from people who are fans of Patrick Radden Keefe that this book is excellent, but that many of his others (Say Nothing or Empire of Pain) are even better. 

If that’s true, then I’m incredibly excited to read the rest of his work.

But this book? It may be the best investigative journalism book I’ve ever read.

Zac Brettler was a chameleon. He was a liar, a con artist, but also a brilliant teenager who wanted to emulate the lives portrayed in his favorite films, like The Wolf of Wall Street and War Dogs.

His vivid imagination, precocious nature, and pathological lying allowed him to create an elaborate façade as the son of a Russian oligarch worth billions.

Despite that fantasy, Zac actually came from a comfortable upper-middle-class Jewish family in London. He did not grow up poor. He attended private schools with annual tuition over $30k, and, by most accounts, had almost everything he could have wanted.

But Zac wanted a life beyond the comfort of his home. 

He craved opulence, high status, and the allure of glitz and glamour that his current circumstances couldn’t offer. To fulfill his desires, he meticulously crafted a paper-thin identity that perfectly aligned with his aspirations.  

Zac had a knack for spinning tales. His schoolmates jokingly dubbed him a compulsive liar, but they stuck with him because he was clever, witty, and just a blast to hang out with. Still, some of his friends had cautioned him that his lies might catch up with him someday. And as it turned out, they were spot on. 

He was such a compelling storyteller that he fooled nearly everyone around him—and, eventually, himself. His parents recalled that even as a child, he spun grandiose tales. They said he could easily have become a writer or an actor.

Instead, Zac took those same ingredients and became involved with gangsters.

Not the kind of gangsters Hollywood usually depicts, but wealthy international operators, oligarchs, fixers, and businessmen moving through London’s shadow economy. Through them, Zac saw a gateway into the glamorous, high-stakes life he had always imagined for himself.

Unfortunately for him, that life ended with him allegedly “jumping” from a riverwalk balcony at the exclusive One Hyde Park apartments into the River Thames.

He was nineteen years old.

Patrick Radden Keefe weaves this story like a thriller. The suspense is relentless, and every chapter peels back another layer of who Zac really was. His prose is gripping throughout.

What surprised me most, however, was the way he depicted Zac’s parents, Matthew and Rachelle.

This book could have been a cold, clinical investigation—and to be clear, the investigative reporting is exceptional. But Matthew and Rachelle were the emotional centerpiece of the narrative. 

His parents became investigators in their own right, armed with grief, emotion, and an almost obsessive drive to uncover the truth. You begin to see where Zac inherited his relentless determination, even if his own ambitions ultimately led him somewhere much darker.

Patrick Radden Keefe worked closely with Zac’s parents while writing this book, and they had amassed an astonishing amount of evidence through their own investigation.

Reading it, you can clearly see how poorly the police handled this case. The official explanations ranged from a lack of resources to delays in reporting. 

Personally, I found those explanations difficult to accept. Honestly, it was basically incompetence, tunnel vision, and something a bit shady.

The investigation felt remarkably narrow, particularly considering the powerful, wealthy men who were among the last people to see Zac alive.

This book exposes the pervasive world of shady real estate ventures that sometimes seem to serve as cover for far darker dealings. It highlights circles of immense international wealth operating within London, where influence and money appear capable of bending the rules in ways ordinary people never could.

It also exposes serious shortcomings in the police investigation, especially the narrow approach to the case during the inquest, leaving Zac’s family’s legal team with little opportunity to properly challenge the official narrative.

One thing is certain to me.

Zac was not innocent.

But he was also a teenager who lied. Plenty of teenagers lie. Zac simply chose to lie to extraordinarily powerful and dangerous people.

What fascinates me is that they believed him.

Maybe it started as a joke. Maybe it started as a game. But these wealthy, influential men accepted his stories, and Zac kept going.

Eventually, they realized they had been duped by a nineteen-year-old, and that’s when shit hit the fan. 😭

Three people know what really happened to Zac. But only one is still alive. 

Zac knew—but if the official account is true, he died with that knowledge.

Verinder Sharma, for sure, knew what happened to Zac. Sharma, also known as “Indian Dave” and a known killer and gangster, was the man Zac had been staying with and from whose balcony he jumped. A year later, Verinder himself died from what was ruled an overdose. 

That leaves Akbar Shamji, a charming, approachable businessman with a notorious father and a long history of questionable ventures.

Somehow, Akbar managed to emerge from the entire affair largely unscathed. 😒

Throughout the book, he simultaneously appears helpful while revealing remarkably nothing at all. He is everywhere in the story, yet somehow remains just out of reach. Akbar knows what happened but suffered no consequences for that knowledge. 

If only Akbar had faced more scrutiny because of his shifting statements, things might have been different. But Patrick Radden Keefe has ensured that all those unchecked sources and uninvestigated aspects of Akbar’s story are well-documented in this book.

Hopefully, with public pressure and careful examination, it will finally force the police to do their job properly. 

I cannot imagine what Matthew and Rachelle endured as they slowly uncovered who their son really was. It’s easy to judge them and say they should have been better parents.

But that's easier said than done.

You can raise two children in the same loving home. One grows up to become a successful professional. The other becomes a gifted liar and criminal.

Parenting and environment matter, of course. But personality, temperament, and perhaps even genetics matter too.

Regardless of how much darker the truth became, Matthew and Rachelle never stopped fighting for answers. Their love for Zac never wavered.

Ironically, I think Zac would have been shocked by just how relentless his parents turned out to be.

He often told people that his billionaire father was dead and that his model mother had cut him off. He invented these extravagant stories about his family while returning home each night to his middle-class life, sleeping in his childhood bedroom, and carrying on as though nothing had happened.

Zac wanted more exciting parents. Parents who were larger than life. Parents who weren’t ordinary.

It is true that Matthew and Rachelle may never have truly known their son. However, Zac never truly knew them either. 

He counted them out.

And that’s the sad part. 😩

Because in the end, his parents were more than just ordinary.

They became the bedrock of the entire search for the truth. Going up against the police and oligarchs —consistently pushing for answers. They hired private investigators, recorded conversations, and created their own timelines.

His parents basically had more of a well-oiled operation than Scotland Yard. They were a two-person machine. They never stopped, even though everyone told them to let it go — the police, of course, but even friends and family told them to stop. Matthew and Rachelle asked the hard questions, even if it could paint their son in a terrible light. They were relentless. Which ultimately is why they chose to work with Patrick Radden Keefe.

Often, the death of a child, especially a child who turned out to be harboring a double life like this, can tear a marriage apart, but for them, it brought them closer.

Too bad Zec never appreciated them while he was alive.

I hope London Falling stirs renewed interest in Zac’s case. More than anything, I hope Matthew and Rachelle—and all of us—one day finally learn what really happened.

Do you think this case will be looked at seriously again? Do you think Scotland Yard will be forced to do its damn job and find justice for this family?

I heard this book has been optioned for a documentary. Surely, after that, things will finally start moving in the right direction.

Have you guys read this?

Yes, I know these are fictional shows. Yes, I know I’m thinking too deep about it. I’m an author and deconstructing characters and dropping them into different worlds is thrilling to me.

I find this type of shit fun! 😭

I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have another show you’ve thought about dropping FROM characters into, let me know.

First, I do think TWD characters would survive FROM — at least they’d find a way to kill those monsters, or die trying. The issue is that there are too many people who want to be the leader in TWD. And the reason why the neighborhood in FROM works so well is that no one has seriously challenged Boyd’s leadership or tried to take over. Yeah, there have been stragglers, but none of them had any community backing to actually be taken seriously. That wouldn’t be the same with Rick and Shane in the mix, or later Negan.

And these monsters are not walkers. They can’t be killed — at least as of right now, we still don’t know how. But some TWD characters would risk other people’s lives to find out. Boyd would never do that. Well, not really.

Now, would the characters in FROM survive TWD? That’s harder to say. It’s easy to point to the most survivalist, go-getter characters — Boyd, Sara, Jim and his family, Donna — and say yes. But the beauty of TWD is that you can become something you never thought you would. A new version of yourself. Look at Carol. The world forces you to be more just to live. And we already see certain characters change because of their circumstances in FROM, like Jade, who started out passive as hell.

That being said, most people from FROM would die. They are already far too complacent in the face of danger. They depend so heavily on Boyd and his crew that most of them don’t know what to do when trapped in the dark. Just stand, scream, and cry lol.

Now the characters from LOST — those motherfuckers have the potential to survive both shows. Specifically TWD. And I mean beyond the core group: Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Locke, etc. I mean, characters like Shannon, or another you’d never suspect, have potential. Because we already saw them changing slowly in the show. The issue with LOST is the unpredictability, which ends your life before you become fully realized. But TWD has a measure of predictability and routine. Yes, you can stumble into a horde or encounter a hostile group, but even that is predictable because you’ve developed clear rules for protection over time. That’s not a thing in LOST. The story keeps changing. The mystery will fuck you over.

Now, LOST characters would largely survive FROM. In fact, despite the monsters, they’d see it as a damn upgrade. You get to live in a house with running water and food? They'd be like “sign me up!” Sure, the town is cursed, you can’t leave, and monsters try to kill you at night — but that’s not that different from LOST. The neighborhood is really just a safer version of the island. The monsters aren’t that different from the Others. And you could even argue they’re way more predictable.

Anyway, this will probably get deleted, but I’m also going to share this post on the TWD and LOST subreddits. Hopefully one of them survives lol.

I love these types of hypothetical scenarios. 😅

What are your thoughts? 🤔

Would you evict a tenant who is always one month late but pays the late fee every single time? This has been happening for over 7 months. They're pretty consistent with fees—so, in a way, it’s almost like they pay more for rent each month. Other than that, they keep to themselves, and there is no issue. This is NYC, btw.