HarperFiction has acquired “Carnivore”, a thriller by writer, publisher and journalist Kazi Anis Ahmed, centering on an American restaurateur whose life spirals into chaos after a financial crash.
Editor Morgan Springett acquired world English rights from Charlie Campbell at Greyhound Literary, with the hardback set for release in June 2025.
Carnivore follows Kash, a high-end restaurateur in New York City whose business is devastated by the financial downturn.
“Owing a lot of money to a very violent loan shark named Boris, Kash is running out of options, and fingers,” the blurb reads.
“But he has a plan. There’s a rumour of a dinner club, hosted in turns by five billionaires. Lots of ego, and lots of money. If Kash can get the gig, it would pay off Boris and then some. But he needs to wow them with dishes they’ll have never tasted before. Luckily, Boris’s violent ministrations have given him just the exotic meat he needs.”
Kazi Anis Ahmed said he was thrilled that HarperCollins will publish "Carnivore". “It’s a story of boundless greed and desperate schemes. I hope the plight and pluck of the characters will intrigue and delight readers.”
Campbell said “Carnivore” is an original book, with its dark humour and incredible setting. “I am thrilled that Morgan Springett and HarperCollins will be publishing it.”
Springett described Kazi Anis Ahmed as a masterful storyteller, noting that the intelligent and witty narrative gripped her from the very first page.
“He expertly weaves the high-end restaurant world with that of billionaires, migrants and mobsters, while asking the reader what their morals are really worth—at what point would they cross that line? It’s ‘The Bear’ meets ‘The Menu’ but taking everything a step further,” Springett added.
Kazi Anis Ahmed is a Bangladeshi writer, publisher, and businessman. He co-founded and serves as the publisher of the English-language daily Dhaka Tribune, the online news portal Bangla Tribune.
He is also a co-director of the annual Bangladeshi literary festival, Dhaka Lit Fest.
Other works
Kazi Anis Ahmed is the author of three works of fiction.
His first collection of short stories, “Good Night, Mr Kissinger” was published by The University Press Limited in Bangladesh and launched at the Hay Festival Dhaka, in 2012.
Ahmed's first novel, “The World in My Hands” was published by Random House India in December 2013. The book is a political satire that charts the fate of two friends – a newspaper editor and a successful property developer – whose relationship is bitterly tested when they find themselves on opposite sides of a crisis that upends their country's social order.
An early work of Ahmed's, “Forty Steps”, has been published in a bi-lingual edition by Bengal Lights. It was translated into Bangla by renowned translator Manabendra Bandyopadhyay.
