If you liked
Books like Say Nothing
by Patrick Radden Keefe
Say Nothing is Patrick Radden Keefe's investigation of the 1972 disappearance of Belfast mother Jean McConville and the broader IRA history of the Troubles, structured around the eventual Boston College Belfast Project archive scandal. The 2024 FX-on-Hulu adaptation brought it to a much larger audience. If you finished it and needed more reading in the same register, these are our picks.
The shortlist
What to read next
Empire of Painby Patrick Radden Keefe
“Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 review. The Sackler family and the operational mechanics of Purdue Pharma's OxyContin marketing strategy across three generations. The canonical contemporary investigative non-fiction book on the opioid crisis.”
Killers of the Flower Moonby David Grann
“Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 2017 review. The 1920s murders of dozens of Osage people in Oklahoma after the discovery of oil. The Apple TV / Scorsese film source and Grann's narrative non-fiction breakthrough.”
The Wagerby David Grann
“The Wager by David Grann 2023 review. The 1741 shipwreck of HMS Wager off Patagonia and the two contradictory mutiny narratives that returned to England. Grann's third major narrative non-fiction book and the canonical contemporary maritime-disaster story.”
Bad Bloodby John Carreyrou
“Bad Blood by John Carreyrou 2018 review. The Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes blood-testing fraud. Carreyrou's investigative account built from his Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporting.”
Prophet Songby Paul Lynch
“Prophet Song by Paul Lynch 2023 review. A Dublin mother of four watches Ireland slide into an emergency-power dictatorship. Booker Prize 2023 and one of the canonical contemporary dystopian literary novels.”
The Bee Stingby Paul Murray
“The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 2023 review. A four-POV Irish family novel about the slow collapse of one car-dealer family in the post-2008 recession. Booker Prize shortlist 2023.”
FAQ
Common questions about Say Nothing read-alikes
- What is the closest match for Say Nothing?
- Empire of Pain. Both Keefe books and structurally his strongest two. Empire of Pain handles the contemporary American corporate-pharmaceutical fraud where Say Nothing handles the late-twentieth-century Northern Irish political violence; the methodology and the prose register are identical.
- I want more Patrick Radden Keefe.
- Rogues (2022) is the New Yorker collection. The Snakehead (2009) is the earlier major work on Chinese human trafficking. Keefe's ongoing New Yorker staff writing is itself a standing reading recommendation.
- I want more Irish or Northern Irish literary work.
- Prophet Song (Paul Lynch's Booker winner on a near-future Ireland sliding into dictatorship) and The Bee Sting (Paul Murray on contemporary Irish family) are the closest contemporary literary picks. Outside the catalog, Anna Burns's Milkman is the canonical contemporary Northern Irish literary novel.
- I want more investigative non-fiction.
- Killers of the Flower Moon (David Grann on the Osage murders), Bad Blood (John Carreyrou on Theranos), and The Wager (Grann on 1741 Royal Navy disaster) are all in the same contemporary American narrative non-fiction tradition.
The original