The Secret Dinner – Raphael Montes

Many of my five star reads in August came from Haunt the Readers and this is another one of them!

Thanks to Celadon Books and Haunt the Readers for the free copy

THE SECRET DINNER – Raphael Montes (Released August 18th, 2026)

Book Description:

Four childhood friends, eager for a taste of city life, swap rural Brazil for an apartment in Copacabana, Rio. But they have no idea of the fate that awaits them there. . . .

Dante, Piglet, 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 struggle to keep their new lives and big dreams afloat. They need to make money however they can. In order to keep their apartment, the friends adopt an unorthodox plan and are soon sucked into a dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of Rio’s elite.

What starts as a joke quickly spirals out of their control. As the four friends fall deeper into this dark underworld and earn more money, the stakes get higher and the consequences deadlier, revealing the twisted depths that lurk within each of them and threatening not only their friendship but also their lives.

My Thoughts: 5/5 stars

When Chandra raves about an author, their books basically become required reading. As one of her book besties, I had to read this as soon as I could. She hasn’t disappointed me yet with her recommendations and I had so much fun with this one.

Four friends, Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo, are finding their place in Rio and when they start to struggle with keeping up with rent, they are forced to find some alternative methods to make money. Man, this joke of theirs got real and fast. Little did they know these dinner parties would have incredibly long wait lists consisting of Rio’s most wealthy.

There are some twisted people out there and when money is of no object, the elite get what they want. These friends begin to learn a lot about each other and what they’re willing to do to make some money, and fast.

Suspenseful, unsettling, twisted, atmospheric, characters making questionable decisions, and desperation made for an insane read!