Thanks for the ARC.
Not my usual choice but thought I’d give it a go.
Wasn’t extremely captivating and I didnt enjoy the flash back chapters - don’t think they’ll let added much to the story at all and I found myself skipping them.
I got more intrigued as we got more into the dinner planning and preparation as to how would they pull it all off and how would it go down with the billionaires.

So, you can imagine how anxious I was when it was getting to the dinner, there on the boat and we’re at 90% of the book already.

Then the disappointment hit.
We went from the first night on the boat, to an unknown amount of time after and didn’t get ANY of the dinner?! WTAF?!

Would not recommend at all.

This is a very strange and unusual book.

In this book we meet Kash who is the main partner in a restaurant in New York. When he has some financial problems, he borrows money from a loan shark named Boris. When Kash is unable to repay the loan, Boris and his big and scary friends come to call. Kash needs to find money, and fast. He and his business partner hit on this idea to cater an event that will bring in a lot of money for him.

While this is an enjoyable read, it regularly goes back to Kash discussing his childhood in Bangladesh and his early life in America. While some of this is definitely interesting I thought there was a bit too much of it as it took me out of the story.

There were also some large sections about slaughtering the animals Kash uses for his restaurant. I really didn't want to read this, and skipped these sections.

I would recommend this book, as the main story is very enjoyable, but it definitely won't be for everyone.

Darkly humorous, morally questionable, thrilling nonetheless! Very enjoyable read! Than you for the opportunity to read this prior to release

Kash is a restaurant owner and a desperate one at that which is how Boris is in his life and he’s after some of his investment money back and the threat level is ramping up. It all starts in 2008 when he launches The Hide, reflecting his love of meat which emanates from growing up in Bangladesh. The future seems golden but the crash sees to that and now by late 2010, if Boris doesn’t get some of his money back, it will get painful. No matter what Kash does it’s never enough, he can’t catch up. However, don’t worry too much as Kash has a plan and it involves a new client, billionaire Viktor Karakozov who requires something new, a bit special and it’s a success. He gets more billionaire referrals but he needs something big to get the Russian off his back and thus, the Miners Club is born. Boris isn’t a patient man so Kash needs to think out of the box if he’s to make sufficient money in order to pay him back.

It’s fair to say that I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this! As I’m rarely a meat eater, I decide to just go with the flow and as it’s fiction, I don’t have to believe it but I can relish the outlandishness. The writing flows, it’s very easy to read, Kash is very likeable despite what desperation drives him to. This club is definitely unique and like no other, it’s certainly not Diners Club or any posh dining club you’ll find in our nations capital. At times it’s so awful and OTT that I find myself laughing, thoroughly enjoying Kash’s wit and deprecating humour as it swings into the dark as it’s no holds barred to get Boris off his back. Most of the descriptions give you just the right amount of information to understand what’s going on and I’m thankful for that!

It reaches a conclusion fairly quickly, but somehow that feels right, but I would like to know what Kash gets up to next! It probably won’t be pretty!

This novel is certainly creative and witty, it’s darkly decadent but it won’t be for everyone but I like that it’s boldly different, it packs a definite punch and questions morality and how far you’d be prepared to go if you’re desperate enough. I love the witty descriptions of the food and the wine pairings are a great touch.

With thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

Carnivore is a book about a desperate plot by a New York restauranteur to make the money he owes, by catering for an elite dining club looking for something unprecedented. Kash's exotic meat restaurant caused him to become embroiled with loan shark Boris and now Kash needs to pay up. When he has the chance to impress uber rich Victor, who happens to be part of a secret billionaire dining club, Kash formulates a plan to offer Victor something to impress his billionaire club, taking gruesome inspiration.

This thriller isn't for the squeamish, but for those who aren't, it's a fun take on the 'character in debt has to go to extreme lengths to escape a loan shark' story that also plays with ideas of fine dining and the New York restaurant scene. Despite being a thriller, the book has a fairly slow pace, with a lot of flashbacks to Kash growing up in Bangladesh, and it explores the world of immigrants in the USA as well as the main thriller plotline. The ending is much faster, perhaps a bit too fast and without fully addressing all of the threat and tension that came before, but regardless it does follow through on what it sets up as the main narrative. One interesting point is that, in my (vegetarian) opinion, the descriptions of the meat aren't quite as luscious and visceral as some other novels centred around food, which means the reader isn't quite as drawn into the meal and its "unprecedented" conclusion (which may be a good or a bad thing).

I had fun with this novel, which you can easily imagine adapted into a film, and the current interest in media around restaurants and high end food hopefully means that the right audience will find it. If you like crime thrillers that are a bit deeper and with a satirical side, Carnivore is an enjoyable ride.

Dark, sharp, and wildly inventive, Carnivore by K. Anis Ahmed is a thriller that will leave you reeling long after you have turned the final page. Set in the ruthless world of New York’s elite restaurant scene, it follows Kash, a desperate chef whose spiralling debts force him into ever more extreme choices in pursuit of survival.

Kash’s dream restaurant, specialising in exotic meats, was once the talk of the city. Now, it is on the brink of collapse, and the loan shark Boris is circling. When Kash hears of an exclusive billionaires’ dinner club, he seizes on it as his last chance to claw his way back. But standing out among the ultra-rich demands something truly unprecedented. When Boris exacts a brutal punishment, Kash has a grim epiphany – one that will test every limit of morality and ambition.

Ahmed’s writing is visceral and razor-sharp, pulling the reader into a world where desperation and decadence collide. The pace is relentless, the atmosphere crackling with tension, and the descent into darkness both shocking and chillingly plausible.

There is a savage cleverness to this book, with its commentary on excess, greed, and the thin line between high art and horror. Kash is a fascinating character – both repellently ruthless and pitifully human – making his journey as gripping as it is horrifying.

Carnivore is a daring, brutal feast of a story, served with a generous helping of dark satire. It will definitely not be to everyone’s taste, but for readers who like their thrillers bold, bloody, and biting, it is an absolute triumph.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

4-4.5 star

Very enjoyable read. The flow of the inner dialogue was very entertaining and drawing the right balance of comedy and the story unfolding. Inventive story that played out well.

The reason for the 4 rather 5 was that there felt to be areas of jeopardy, particularly earlier in the book, that we just skirted over or almost dismissed out of hand. More could've been made of this to build the tension.

As someone who likes their meat, even I would balk at some of the foodtsuffs served at Hide -- an exclusive restaurant venture specialising in unusual, sometimes less than legal meats. But when the owner gets involved with a Russian gangster, his idea of what might constitute an exclusive and unprecedented meal grows to include a very particular kind of meat...

The question of morality hangs over this darkly humorous take on the food industry and the lengths those with money will go to in order to attempt things no normal person would consider. Kash -- the owner of Hide -- is takes us on a believable journey as he shows just how far one can stretch one's own morality to cater to the superrich and to get within reach of their world. This is a book about the American dream seen from the view of an immigrant, about how money creates more problems than it can ever solve, and about one can break taboos without breaking the law (or at least skirting it a little). Great fun, sharp as a chef's nice, and will either help you work up an appetite or ensure you never look at a plate of unknown meat the same way again...