bearley
Written on Jan 7, 2023
`The Fourth Monkey has one of the most ingenious openings that I've read in years. This thriller never disappoints.'
James Patterson`Superbly constructed and immaculately paced' - The Daily Mail
Brilliant. Complicated. Psychopath.
That's the Four Monkey Killer or `4MK'. A murderer with a twisted vision and absolutely no mercy.
Detective Sam Porter has hunted him for five long years, the recipient of box after box of grisly trinkets carved from the bodies of 4MK's victims.
But now Porter has learnt the killer's twisted history and is racing to do the seemingly impossible - find 4MK's latest victim before it's too late...
- ISBN10 0544969944
- ISBN13 9780544969940
- Publish Date 27 June 2017
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Harper
- Format eBook
- Pages 448
- Language English
Reviews
Leah
Written on Sep 25, 2017
The Fourth Monkey is one of those thrillers that grabs you from the start - the chapter are short and snappy, and you just find yourself lost in the plot, desperate to unravel what’s going on. 4MK is different to most thrillers, in that it starts kind of at the end of the killer’s reign? We step onto the novel as Detective Porter rushes to a crime scene, where there’s a dead man and a white box, with an address on, something familiar to him after five years of searching for the 4MK killer - it looks like the 4MK killer is dead, but the box tells the detectives that even if the killer is dead, there’s still a girl missing, so the hunt is on to unravel just who it was who stepped into that bus and where exactly the missing girl is, who is now missing her ear…
It’s such a thriller way to start a book - you’re thrown into the action and suddenly there’s a dead man and a missing girl, and it’s like the end of the novel has come first, like you’re late to the whole thing, but it’s only the start really, because while the dead man may be the 4MK killer, the team don’t know who he is, where the missing girl is, or why he became the killer he became, but he’s one step ahead of everyone because he’s left behind the perfect crime scene and a book filled with his life story.
There’s so much to unpack in this book. For me, the backstory was exciting, but it got to the point where it eventually started to lag. I also thought it was wildly fantastical and, since this is the start of a series, it’ll be interesting to see if the story holds up - if that’s the *actual* story of the 4MK’s origins, or if it’s make believe. It’s incredibly twisted, there were times my stomach was churning at the scenes unfurling, but it was gripping. It just became a bit over complicated towards the end. Like J.D. Barker had so many ideas and tried to jam them all into this one story, it didn’t need the extra padding, and I admit I was a bit confused at the end, wondering what the heck had actually happened.
The present of the novel is also fascinating - we learn the backstory of the 4MK, we learn why he took who he took and what that led to (the crimes they committed, etc) and it’s like he’s a vigilante, but a weird one because he doesn’t punish the men who did the crimes, he punishes their family and you’re like????? WHY? But that’s his logic. The search for Emory was fascinating and I quite like the detectives we were introduced to, although I felt like we didn’t really get a chance to know them, if that makes sense. This was all about uncovering the 4MK and why he did what he did.
I really liked this book. I do feel it got overly complicated, yes, but it was a well thought out and well executed plot. The diary entries, the present day narrative, it all coupled together very nicely. And that ending! The bits leading up to the ending needed some kind of chart for me to understand, but that last page. THAT LAST PAGE. Has set the stage for a brilliant second book, it’s like it’s all come together and now… the tables could turn completely and I am stoked to get into the next one and see where it all goes. The Fourth Monkey was an incredible thriller, I can see why everyone has been raving about this book, it really was incredibly gripping.
chymerra
Written on Jul 3, 2017
The plot lines of the book were fantastic. You have two major ones: the diary (or as I called it: the making of the Four Monkey Killer) and the race to find out where is last victim, a 15-year-old girl, is being held. I was fascinated by diary and how the 4 MK was shaped into the twisted person he was. Normally, if an author switches from 1st person to 3rd person every other chapter or so, it bothers me. But in this case, it didn’t because when that chapter of the diary ended, the book picked up right where the Four Monkey Killer was leading them. Which I haven’t seen done well until this book.
I felt awful for Porter and didn’t realize that he had a personal tragedy until almost halfway through the book. I did think certain scenes were odd when he was mentioning his wife but I figured, “Hey, he’s a homicide detective working lead on a case and is working odd hours“. It wasn’t until after he got the phone call and everything was explained that I went “No way” and I felt horrible for him.
I will say that I did like the lore behind the 4 monkeys and found it fascinating that there was a 4th monkey. The three monkeys that we know are: Hear no evil (monkey covering ears), See no evil (monkey covering eyes) and Speak no evil (monkey covering mouth). The fourth monkey is Do no evil (monkey covering stomach or genitals) and is very rarely mentioned in Japanese or Buddha lore (click here). The way that the author wove that lore into this story and how the fourth monkey was woven in was pretty awesome.
The end of the book was insane. Not only was the identity of the Four Monkey Killer found out, it was the last person that I thought it was going to be. I literally put my book down and shook my head when his identity was revealed. The final twist at the end of the book made me shake my head in disbelief and make me wonder if there will be a book 2.
How many stars will I give The Fourth Monkey: 5
Why: A beautifully written mystery/horror book that is true to its genre. An excellent read and I am looking forward to reading more books by J.D. Barker
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Violence and language
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**