Riverhead Books is preparing to release a new novel from Jamaican author Marlon James, adding another entry to a body of work known for its sweeping scope and unflinching engagement with violence, history, and identity.
The Disappearers, due in September, is set in Kingston in the 1980s and centres on the aftermath of a brutal mob attack on a group of gay men. One is killed, and the survivors are left to navigate trauma, fear, and fractured lives in a society shaped by silence and hostility.
James is no stranger to literary ambition or controversy. He first appeared on the literary scene in 2005 with John Crow’s Devil, before gaining wider recognition with The Book of Night Women, a historical novel about enslaved women plotting rebellion in Jamaica. 
His global breakthrough came with A Brief History of Seven Killings, the Booker Prize–winning novel that used the attempted assassination of Bob Marley as a prism through which to examine crime, politics, and cultural power in the Caribbean. In recent years, he has expanded into fantasy with Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019) and Moon Witch, Spider King (2022).
With The Disappearers, Riverhead describes James’s latest work as a tense, emotionally charged portrait of survival and compromise, and a stark look at queer life in Jamaica during the late 20th century.
The novel will be published on September 1.
Pre-Order The Disappearers Here.
