Any book seriously recommended by Patrick Radden Keefe needs to be investigated. The author of Say Nothing, his peerless study of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Empire of Pain, his never-less-than shocking investigation into the Sackler family, is one of the most formidable investigative journalists working today, so if he is prepared to have his name used to help sell someone else’s work, I would be minded to take notice. I remember the first time I saw Radden Keefe speak, at the Borris Festival in Ireland two years ago, and I urgently made a note every time he referenced an influence or a book I hadn’t heard of.
This is what he’s done with American Mother, by the equally celebrated writer, Colum McCann. It is an appalling, fascinating tale, exploring the life, kidnapping, beheading and afterlife of James Foley, who was murdered by IS in Syria a decade ago. Written with the help of Foley’s mother, Diane, and focusing on her determination to meet her son’s killer, it is a searing, mournful and tragic story, one that is as compelling as it is sad.
