Marlon James is the author of the Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings; the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; the New York Times-bestselling Moon Witch, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow's Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize, his novels have won the American Book Award, the Los Angeles Times' Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Born in Jamaica, James lives in New York City.

Early praise for The Disappearers

"A harrowing, hilarious, magnificent novel that will stand the test of time... Like Whitman, James is a lover of detail and a poet of the body: he dwells on lips, shoulders, chests, and all points south. He ranks among our greatest vernacular authors, rendering most of The Disappearers in an English creole thick with lewd jokes and profanity... This novel will be read decades from now, pored over in seminars and bookmarked on subway commutes... As the disappearers emerge in human form, James mourns those lost to plague and violence while offering sprigs of hope. His defiant queer epic belongs to us all."--The Boston Globe

"The unrelentingly raw and profane vision is enlivened by the energy of the writing, and in particular its infusions of Jamaican slang. Mr. James does not simply reproduce the island's singular patois; he uses it to create abrasive auditory rhythms."-The Wall Street Journal

"Few books have mapped the beleaguered realities of queer existence with such psychological depth, harrowing realism and searing condemnation ... James makes room for the contradictions of queer life, its intimacies, estrangements and hungers, in utterly indelible ways. His prose is a consistent triumph: bitter and hilarious, lyrical, bawdy, pugnacious and scorchingly, ravishingly queer." -The Guardian

"The Disappearers is a harrowing book, to be sure, but never nihilist, or defeatist, or cynical. Its joy in ultimate survival comes through." -The Atlantic

"Breathtaking ... an ambitious and astonishing portrait of queer life." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"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)

Publisher: Riverhead Books

Pub date: 2026-09-01

Length: 640 pages