Translated from the French (L’heure des prédateurs, Gallimard, 2025) by Sam Taylor, the book will be released on 9 October 2025.
In this gripping and unsettling account, the author of the international bestseller The Wizard of the Kremlin takes us behind the scenes of raw power, from New York to Riyadh, from the United Nations to MBS’s Ritz-Carlton. Da Empoli charts a world where reckless gestures secure authority, unrepentant autocrats thrive on chaos, tech barons appear to inhabit a parallel reality, and artificial intelligence proves increasingly uncontrollable. With the lucidity of Machiavelli and the moralist’s sharp eye, he observes today’s predators without blinking.
Meet Giuliano da Empoli:
About Giuliano da Empoli
Giuliano da Empoli is an Italian and Swiss writer and political scientist living in France. He was once a senior advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. His debut novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin, sold more than half a million copies in France, where it also won the Grand Prix du Roman and was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize. It went on to become an international bestseller, being translated into thirty-five languages across the world. A film version, starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin, is forthcoming.
The Hour of the Predator is currently France’s best-selling non-fiction title, and translation rights have been sold in 17 languages so far.