Coming July 21, Patrick’s new book:
THE SNAKEHEAD: AN EPIC TALE OF THE CHINATOWN UNDERWORLD AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

“Keefe examines America's complicated relationship with immigration in this brilliant account of Cheng Chui Ping, known as Sister Ping, who built a multimillion-dollar empire as a “snakehead,” smuggling Chinese immigrants into America. Sister Ping herself entered the U.S. legally in 1981 from China's Fuzhou province, but was soon known among Fujianese immigrants in Manhattan's Chinatown as the go-to for advice, loans and connections to bring their families to America. Her empire grew so large that she contracted out muscle work to the local gang, the Fuk Ching. Keefe points to the Golden Venture–a ship full of Fujianese illegals that ran fatally aground in 1993–as the beginning of the end for Sister Ping. She was sentenced in 2000 to 35 years in prison for conspiracy, money laundering and trafficking. Despite an enormous cast of characters in a huge underground web of global crime, Keefe's account maintains the swift pace of a thriller. With the immigration debate still boiling, this exploration of how far people will go to achieve the American dream is a must-read.”

                                                              Publishers Weekly
                                                              **Starred Review**

“A panoramic international true-crime adventure”

                                                              Kirkus

“Patrick Radden Keefe has written a vivid non fiction thriller. The Snakehead reads like a Chinese-American version of The Sopranos, except that the mob boss is a grandmother who runs a human smuggling enterprise, and the story is true.”

                                                              Jane Mayer
                                                              author of The Dark Side

“In The Snakehead, Patrick Radden Keefe recreates an absorbing portrait of a 1993 shipwreck to illuminate the methods used by Chinese racketeers to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. At the same time, in an artful twist, Keefe leaves the reader pondering the whole process of immigration.”

                                                              Jonathan Spence, Yale University
                                                              author of The Search for Modern China

“The Snakehead is a brilliant tour de force, both a gripping true-crime saga, full of intrigue and suspense, and a chilling exposure of the dark underside of America’s deeply flawed immigration system. Through his central account of the smuggling empire of Sister Ping and the FBI investigation that brought her down, Keefe evokes a moving and timeless story about why people continue to risk everything to come illegally to the United States—and what happens to them when they get here. Vividly written and filled with unforgettable characters, The Snakehead is a terrific read, and one that will change the way you think about the vexing dynamics of illegal immigration.”

                                                              Amy Chua, Yale Law School
                                                              author of Day of Empire and World on Fire

“In Keefe’s steady hand, the history of immigration to America is brought to life with the story of Chinese sojourners who arrive in a strange new land. You will pick it up for the drama it promises, but you will read it for the warmth and humanity it delivers. ”

                                                              Sudhir Venkatesh, Columbia University
                                                              author of Off the Books and Gang Leader for a Day

“The Snakehead achieves what only the finest reporting can: it peels back an astonishing hidden world. Keefe takes the reader on a spellbinding journey from peasant farms in Asia to the treacherous high seas to the violent streets of Chinatown—a journey that will forever change your understanding of what it means to become an American.”

                                                              David Grann
                                                              author of The Lost City of Z

CHATTER (Random House, 2005; Paperback, 2006)

Read the first chapter of CHATTER here.

Boston Globe Editorial Board Pick, one of the Best Books of 2005

“It is absolutely thrilling to see someone as young, as competent, and as gifted as Patrick Radden Keefe taking on the secret world in Washington. We need much more of this kind of work, and Keefe has made a brilliant start.”
                                                              Seymour M. Hersh

“Keefe does a wonderful job of exploring the role of SIGINT, or signals intelligence (NSA's $5 word for eavesdropping), in the post-Cold War world; the mysterious Echelon system that links the many listening posts belonging to America's English-speaking allies; the agency's obsession with secrecy; the age-old question of human versus technical intelligence collection.”
                                                              James Bamford
                                                              The Washington Post Book World

“A useful research primer on today’s surveillance society…Keefe does what a brilliant, persevering law student with no inside sources or a prestigious press pass should do: he surveys much of what has been written about sigint and pores over the public hearing transcripts. He visits worried scientists and some former spooks…[He] is a researcher adept at compiling intriguing bits and pieces.”

                                                              William Safire
                                                              The New York Times Book Review

“Keefe writes crisply and entertainingly…filled with anecdotes, colorful quotes and arresting statistics.”
                                                              William Grimes
                                                              The New York Times

“A most useful, challenging, and provocative book.”
                                                              The Los Angeles Times

“Deft, trenchant, and eye-opening.”
                                                              The Boston Globe

“Unveils much of the inner workings of the National Security Agency.”
                                                              The New Yorker

“In his gripping debut as an intellectual sleuth, Patrick Radden Keefe offers sharply observed glimpses of the culture of global eavesdropping. CHATTER is an unusually elegant combination of narrative reporting and analysis that makes a passionate and convincing case for the importance of human intelligence in the post-9/11 world.”
                                                              Jeffrey Rosen

“A kind of naturalist’s ramble around the fenced perimeter of the whole vast establishment of technical gear used for intercepting communications…written with fluid grace.”

                                                              Thomas Powers
                                                              The New York Review of Books

“A tour de force of investigation, analysis, and fine writing.  Keefe dares an unblinking look into the abyss of government secrecy, laying bare a tangle of lethal questions few know to ask. This book is every citizen's urgent business.”
                                                              James Carroll

“CHATTER reads like a thriller. I trust that Keefe’s provocative exposition of the issues—the glut of information and questions about accuracy, efficacy, interpretation, and privacy—will inspire a much-needed national conversation.”
                                                              Senator & 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey

“CHATTER represents a timely and important contribution to the literature of eavesdropping and codebreaking, and an extraordinary introduction to a world about which most Americans know very little.”
                                                              David Kahn