The Secret Dinner 🍴
By Raphael Montes.
By Raphael Montes.
The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes is a dark, shocking, and deeply unsettling thriller that quickly pulls the reader into a world where curiosity turns into something far more dangerous.
The story follows four childhood friends who leave rural Brazil behind in search of a better future in Rio de Janeiro. Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo are typical students trying to build a new life for themselves while juggling university, part time jobs, and the excitement of living in the city for the first time.
They move into an apartment in Copacabana with big dreams and very little money. When their rent suddenly increases, their carefully balanced lives begin to unravel.
Desperate to keep their apartment and hold on to the future they imagined, the group begins searching for ways to make extra money.
That search leads them somewhere they never expected.
What begins as a strange opportunity soon turns into something far darker. The friends become involved in organising secret dinner parties for the wealthy elite of Rio.
At first the idea feels absurd, almost like a joke. But as the events grow more extreme and the money begins to flow, the situation spirals completely out of control.
The deeper the four friends fall into this hidden world, the more the lines between right and wrong begin to blur. Greed, desperation, and fear start to shape their decisions, revealing sides of each character that even they did not realise existed.
This is the kind of book that genuinely makes you gasp while reading. There were moments where I found myself stopping just to process what had happened on the page. It is shocking, disturbing, and definitely not a story that will appeal to everyone.
That said, it is incredibly compelling. The tension builds steadily and the pacing makes it very difficult to put down once the story truly begins to unfold. The author does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of dread as the characters realise just how far they have gone and how impossible it may be to escape.
The characters themselves are complex and flawed, which makes their gradual descent into this dark underworld even more gripping to watch. Their friendship is tested again and again as the consequences of their choices become increasingly dangerous.
The Secret Dinner is intense, provocative, and impossible to ignore. It is shocking, disturbing, and fascinating all at once. While it may not be for every reader, those who enjoy dark, boundary pushing thrillers will likely find themselves completely hooked.
Thank you to Holly and the team at Zaffre Books for sending an early copy of the book out! The book is out now and available to purchase!
Support a local and independent bookshop and buy the book here.
