The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker ~ Review by Norma

The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All I can say is WOW! and thank you so much to my dear friend, Kaceey for encouraging me to read this book! You only told me I don’t know how many times that I needed to read this book and now I know exactly why!!! 5 Thrilling Stars!

THE FOURTH MONKEY (A 4MK Thriller, #1) by J.D. BARKER is a dark, thrilling, chilling, creepy, and suspenseful mystery/thriller/police procedural novel that was a captivating, gripping, and fast-paced read that was extremely hard to put down. I absolutely loved this one from start to finish as I was stepping into the sadistic mind of this sick and twisted serial killer. There are so many good twists and turns to keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat with all the cat and mouse games that occurs throughout this story between a detective and a serial killer.

The premise of the book involves the four monkeys which I found to be quite interesting. The four monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil; and the fourth monkey Shizaru, symbolizes the principle of “do no evil”.

J.D. BARKER delivers an extremely intense and well-written story here with some cringe worthy scenes that is told through three different perspectives including the serial killer’s backstory by way of diary chapters. The diary chapters was one of my favorite parts of this story as it really allowed me to get inside the life and mind of this disturbing and creepy character.

I couldn’t help but love Detective Sam Porter’s character as he was vulnerable, funny and such a likeable character. I really appreciated the witty banter that ensued between him and Nash as it really helped to ease the tension of the disturbing scenes as they could get a little gory at times.

This book was so exciting, fun and thrilling to read that even had a little bit of horror thrown in to keep me totally engaged and eager to read to see how it was all going to play out. The ending was unexpected and spectacular which left me wanting more. So I am so happy to hear that there is a second book coming out and that this is also optioned for both television and film. I can hardly wait!! Would highly recommend!

In addition to reading this book, I purchased myself a copy of the audiobook and although it took me a little bit to warm-up to the narrator voices, once I did I thoroughly enjoyed Edoardo Ballerini and Graham Winton’s performance and thought they both delivered the perfect voices for the characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and J.D. Barker for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review!!