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The Disappearers: A Novel

The Disappearers: A Novel

Marlon James
$32.00
Publish Date:
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
ISBN:
9780593717202
Pages:
640
Language:
English
Coming Soon - Available for Preorder

Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 BOOKER PRIZE

“Among Marlon James’s most ambitious and history-making works… James is a singular literary talent.” –Booker Prize judge's citation

From Marlon James, author of the Booker Prize–winning A Brief History of Seven Killings: the electrifying story of the murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its far-reaching consequences


In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. Though strangers to one another, they share an inescapable truth: All of them are gay. And they live in a world that refuses to accept them.

One night the men are savagely beaten and one of them is killed. As their bodies heal, the survivors begin to face the hatred and contempt that the violence laid bare. Some try to ignore what happened. Others double down on retribution. Some disappear completely.

In this spellbinding novel, Marlon James has written a propulsive crime story that is also a deeply human account of connection and acceptance. Full of fascinating characters, biting humor, and unapologetic sex, The Disappearers is both a thrilling page-turner and a finely etched portrait of queer life.

About the Author

Marlon James is the Booker Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling author of A Brief History of Seven Killings; the bestselling and National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; as well as the bestselling Moon Witch, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow’s Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize, James’s novels have won the Amer­ican Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Los Ange­les Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, and have been finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the NAACP Image Award. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellow­ship and named in 2019 one of Time magazine’s one hundred most influential people in the world, James lives in New York City.

Praise for The Disappearers: A Novel

Early praise for The Disappearers

“This language-rich novel is filled with vivid slang … As always, James writes exceptionally well….This book may remind readers of works by John Rechy, Jean Genet, William Burroughs, and Hubert Selby, but James is his own man.” – Library Journal (starred review)

“Captivating and epic… James renders his characters’ tumultuous inner lives with striking imagery and energy; their dialogue is rapid, keen, and hard-hitting. In all, a gritty, powerful, and gripping read.”–Booklist

“Galvanizing … Equal parts detective story and sociocultural history, James’ new novel takes a deep, harrowing dive into the tragic consequences of violent homophobia … with random, frantic voices that leave unsettling echoes.” –Kirkus (starred review)

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