The Secret Dinner
Jantar Secreto
Over 400,000 copies sold
Four childhood friends, eager for a taste of city life, swap rural Brazil for an apartment in Copacabana, Rio. But they can have no idea of the gory fate that awaits them there…
Dante, Leitão, Miguel and Hugo are your average students trying to make ends meet with part-time jobs, excited about the bright future at their fingertips.
So when their rent skyrockets, they need a good idea to make some money however they can. That’s how one day, they end up accidentally starting an illegal business serving secret dinners, arranged through the internet, to customers hungry for culinary experiences like no other.
But what starts as a joke quickly spirals out of their control. As the four friends earn more and more money, the stakes get higher, and the consequences deadlier, revealing the ugly side in all of them and threatening not only their friendship, but their lives.
Previous publishers include: Czech (XYZ), Hungary (Lettero), Poland (Filia), Russia (Eksmo)
Reviews
“The translator Zoë Alexandra Perry brings Brazil’s top thriller writer to American readers with this fast-paced tale of four broke 20-somethings lured into the world of Rio’s shady elite. What begins as a jokey get-rich-quick scheme—catering exclusive dinner parties—quickly morphs into something much more sinister.” —The New York Times, New Novels Everyone Will be Talking About in 2026
“This rollercoaster of a novel is highly imaginative and totally unique. I devoured it—no pun intended!—in one sitting. By turns gory, shocking, macabre and often very funny, you won’t be able to put it down. Just be grateful you’re not on the menu…”—Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
“Dark, compelling, and wickedly smart, The Secret Dinner is a deliciously twisted thriller about friendship and ambition with a mind-blowing end. It seizes your breath from the first page and refuses to let go! Raphael Montes is a spectacular talent.”—Lisa Jewell, New York Times Bestselling author of Don’t Let Him In
“Four desperate friends. One irresistible idea. But how many survivors? The Secret Dinner is delectable and diabolical, a zesty blend of Parasite, Sweeney Todd, and Fight Club.”—AJ Finn, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
“We have four childhood friends, Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo—already I’m just drawn in by the names. They are college-age students, they are trying to make ends meet, they’ve got part time jobs, they are excited about the future… And then, their rent skyrockets. Boy, does this sound familiar or does this sound familiar? […] In order to keep their apartment they adopt an unorthodox plan, and are soon are sucked into this dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of Rio’s elite. They earn more money, but as the song goes, mo money, mo problems. The stakes get higher, and things get deadlier, and the depraved inner depths that lurk within each of them begin to come forth… This sounds so dark, and so twisted, and having read one of [Raphael Montes’s] books before, I am both excited and terrified.”—Book Riot’s ‘Read or Dead’ podcast
“Hustle culture meets cannibalism in this bruising satire from Montes. […] His sense of humor is stinging and he garnishes the novel with a delicious last-minute twist. Readers who can stomach the premise will walk away satiated.”—Publishers Weekly