2026 Booker Longlist: The Disappearers by Marlon James

by jenp27 on September 17, 2026

Next up for panel is The Disappearers by Marlon James. Only 3 of our panel managed to finish it in time but 2 others read at least part of the book.

Marlon James is a Jamaican novelist known for his bold, inventive storytelling and richly layered characters. He won the 2015 Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings, a sprawling novel set against the backdrop of Jamaican politics and violence. His other works include The Book of Night Women and the Dark Star fantasy trilogy.

Book Synopsis from Booker website: In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. The men are strangers to one another and each has a different reason for being involved. But they all share one inescapable truth: all of them are gay – a ‘batty man’ in Jamaican argot – and all of them must contend with the dangers that such a truth lays bare.

One night a mob savagely attacks them, killing one of the men. For the survivors, their recovery is as much emotional as it is physical: as their bodies heal, each man must grapple with the violence, the hatred, and the rage that the attack made plain. Some try to ignore what the attack has unearthed, while others double down on retribution.

The Disappearers is both a dramatic page-turner and an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s.

Jen’s Thoughts: I rarely give a book a full 20/20 and yet this book truly deserves it. Quite frankly, this book deserves to win the whole prize. It was a gut-wrenching, often unpleasant, and thoroughly dazzling novel. I had to read it in small chunks because it was so violent and graphic that I struggled to make it through some sections. Anyone who’s every read any of Marlon’s books knows what to expect. This was a really beautiful book for something that was so violent and it’s rare for me to find beauty in violent books. Beautiful because the violence was necessary to tell the story of homophobia and the AIDS epidemic in Jamaica. My heart physically hurt for these characters, I felt anger, indignation, sorrow, and a sense of such heaviness. I also laughed. There was humor in one of the darkest books I’ve read. We have commented a lot in our panel about the need for editors in some of the other selections. This was our longest book and every single page, paragraph, sentence, and word was necessary. The literary references, music references, politics, tenderness, violences, language and use of slang were truly brilliant and added layer after layer of meaning. It opens slowly and I found myself really struggling through the first third (mainly because of the graphic violence). But then the novel opens up and there is a moment when as a reader you grasp what James is doing and the various threads converge. The title and various forms of disappearing was brilliant and so so sad. I adored this novel.

But maybe I don’t believe in revenge so much as accelerating karma. Or maybe it’s different when you were the one who suffered. Well, I was the one who suffered. I’ve been looking at vengeance as some intellectual conceit for so long that I forgot that somebody did something to me. Somebody busted and bruised and broke my body and cut it open and spilled my blood. And spat in my face and punched out my teeth. These people have names, and each has a life like a moving bus that they just hopped back on to head home. Like nothing happened.

Life got too agreeable and I have the belly to prove it. Not agreeable, easy. Too easy to not care. I ran home because a safe place filled with disappointment was still better than a place where men will try to kill me. The difference between bad and worse is so much worse than the difference between good and bad that I ran back to live in the bad and it’s their fault. At least when I lived in my car I moved where I wanted to. Men have tried to beat me, drug me, and rape me and have succeeded at all three, but I got back in my car, back to my own definition fo safe. After this shit I just ran back to Daddy.

The New York Times reviewer was right, this was a masterpiece.

Writing quality: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Character development: 4/4
Plot development: 4/4
Overall enjoyment: 2/2
Total: 20/20

Tracy’s Thoughts: Okay, I know I said that John of John is the winner, but now I’m not so sure. This was insanely good- in the best way. Violent? Yep. Sexual content/harrassment/abuse? Yep. Heart wrenching and beautiful? Yes. A thousand times yes.
The 80s setting is perfect- I was in college then, and this was the vibe, even the comic books, music, clothes, everything. Sadly, so was the homophobia and hatred. In the US it was bad, but not as bad as Jamaica. I also loved the references to HBO’s Get Millie Brown (based on a James story)- especially the queens living under the bridge.
The characters are so real, gritty, and yet easy to love. And hate. And wonder why they are hyper focused on that night and not moving on. But revenge is a great plot device, and the 600+ pages rolled by. Excuse me, I’m going to go buy the hardback version of this.

Writing quality: 5/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Character development: 4/4
Plot development: 3.5/4
Overall enjoyment: 2/2
Total: 19/20

Nicole’s Thoughts: I spent a lot of time in Jamaica in the 80’s so when I read James books set in Jamaica I get a little added bonus. Fortunately, my experience in Jamaica was quite a bit better than these men. I tried to remember if I knew any gay Jamaicans and honestly couldn’t remember a one.

The music and cultural references were extra fun for me, and yes – there were some great lines that made me laugh out loud. One line “Something is blowing through the air, and it’s not f*#$ing natural mystic“. I had to tell people about that line. Unfortunately, they didn’t know the song reference so I had to enjoy it alone.

The Booker prize takes 13 books and forces comparisons. They took what they (erroneously) thought were the 13 best books of the year and lined them up and said pick 1. This book is so far beyond the the other 12 it’s embarrassing. The sheer scope alone – how can you compare this to a 142 page book that doesn’t have time to develop character or story? You can’t. Plus the writing is absolute perfection. This is the winner, and if it’s not it’s because the judges couldn’t look at this book objectively. Did I enthusaictially enjoy it? No. I didn’t. It was HARSH and brutal, and unlike Jen I do think it could have done with some editing. I just don’t love this much sex in any book. Straight, gay, solo – doesn’t matter. There’s only so many ways you can say it. I get the point. But that’s really a me thing.

There were no boundaries or rules. Nothing was off limits. The end was sheer perfection to me.

Writing quality: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Character development: 4/4
Plot development: 4/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 19/20

Anita’s Thoughts: Sadly, I wasn’t able to finish in time, but at the 50% mark I’m a little blown away. If this book doesn’t get shortlisted, I’ll be shocked. Which is not to say it’s an easy read by any means. Extremely graphic and unflinching, this book is the literary equivalent of the television series, Euphoria. It pushes every boundary of sex and violence and then pushes some more while also being very literary in it’s use of vernacular, music, literature, and original phrasing. It’s immersive, which says a lot from a person who really much prefers short chapters (James’ go on and on and on).

Andrew’s Thoughts: I was unable to finish The Disappearers (and not just due to its formidable length – but more on that in a minute). Of the books I did read from the longlist, this was by far the most moving, powerful, and well-written. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but most are well-developed, interesting, and engaging. James vividly depicts the perils of being a gay man in Jamaica in the 80s (and onward) to the point where I could feel my anxiety rising as I read. Which gets to why I couldn’t finish the book. This book hits hard and James does not pull punches. The emotional and physical brutality depicted makes this a very difficult read – and it reached a point where despite the excellent writing, engaging characters, and epic storyline, I found myself not enjoying the read and actually dreading what was coming next. Given that our current world is kind of a disaster, I need a little escapism in my literature – which this book definitely does not provide. With all that said, this book should definitely be shortlisted.

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