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
“The stakes get higher, and things get deadlier, and the depraved inner depths that lurk within each [character] 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
“A satirical (and literal) evisceration of foodie culture and wealthy excess, The Secret Dinner should be read in public, while eating a very bloody piece of meat, and snickering softly. If everyone around is not freaked out by the time you finish your meal then you are DOING IT WRONG.”—Crimereads, Summer 2026 Most Anticipated
“An unsettling exploration of ambition, excess, and moral collapse that blends literary thriller with visceral horror. The tightly paced narrative interrogates privilege and complicity among Brazil’s elite.”—Library Journal