Yikes egad and yikes again! #thefourthmonkey @JDBarker #psycologicalthriller #serialkiller @houghtonmifflinharcourt @chesapeakepubliclibrary @absltmom

Great balls of fire…this was some book! Seriously bizarre, grisly appalling, gruesome and I loved it!

“We’re going to have such fun, you and I.”

I know I am a bit late to this soiree and have wanted to read this book for quite so time, so when it became available at my local library, I snapped it up and began a terrifying journey down the road to depravity and hideous events. Seriously, for a day, that it took me to read it, I placed a Do Not Disturb sign on my door and threatened to send whoever bothered me to 4MK.

From now on when I think of thrillers, this is the book I will use as my go to comparison. Yes, it is shocking and lurid, but J. D. Barker keeps the reader on their toes throwing so much at you that your heads spins and the look of shock seldom disappears from your face.

The four monkey killer has terrorized Chicago and sent grisly packages to the parents of the women he has kidnapped and later killed. He is cunning and devious and does have something driving the choices he makes and the people he seeks out. Detective Sam Porter has been on his trail for over five years. However, when a diary is discovered in the pocket of a man who stepped out in front of an oncoming bus, perhaps the search for 4MK has come to a close. The diary holds the clues and Detective Porter soon comes to realize that his search for the killer is far from over.

After finishing this book, I felt like I had been run over by a bus. There was so much action that every page offered another heart racing moment that propelled you through the mind of killer. Definitely recommend this one, with a caveat though. This is not for the faint of heart or for those who are unable to read the grisly and macabre. This is definitely going to be one of those books that are a very tough act to follow. ….and the four monkeys? “Mizaru means see no evil, Kikazaru means hear no evil, and Iwazaru means speak no evil.” and then there is Shizaru…..do no evil!

and here’s the author:

J.D. BARKER is the internationally best-selling author of Forsaken, a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, and winner of the New Apple Medalist Award. His work has been compared to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Thomas Harris. His 4MK Thrillers, The Fourth Monkey and The Fifth to Die, were released in June 2017 and June 2018 respectively. He has been asked by the Stoker family to coauthor the forthcoming prequel to Dracula due out in fall 2018. His novels have been translated into numerous languages and optioned for both film and television. Barker currently resides in Pennsylvania with his wife, Dayna, daughter, Ember, and their two dogs, both of whom sit outside his office door daily, eagerly awaiting his next novel.