The Fourth Monkey

By: J. D. Barker

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Graham Winton

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Se7en meets The Silence of the Lambs in this dark and twisting novel from the author Jeffery Deaver called "a talented writer with a delightfully devious mind".

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one that proves he has taken another victim, who may still be alive. As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own. With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer's identity remains a mystery. Time is running out, and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written, fast-paced thriller.

©2017 J. D. Barker (P)2017 Recorded Books

Guessing 'till the end.

Good mystery. Was sometimes hard to follow with all the characters but mostly because I was distracted. Highly recommend if you like murder mystery with a story behind the story. Surprises right up to the end. Love that!

Fantastic Listen! Give it a Try

This is a great book. The storyline has the police investigation one chapter and then the "autobiography" diary excerpts from the dark,twisted 4MK - Four Monkey Killer - the next chapter. It took me a bit to get used to the plot due to this but soon I was captivated and listening for the entire day.

The two person narration works wonderfully. The best performance by Graham Winton I've listened to this far. He has portrayed the serial killer perfectly and in my opinion make the listen even better. The performance by Edoardo Ballerini is very similar to the other books he has narrated. It's very good as well.

Well worth a credit or buying! The writing by Baker show great talent. The characters are very well written. I knew the killer was detestable but yet his diary had me liking him a lot and rooting for his family. Then as the police investigation unfolds I found myself rooting for them. This is the greatest surprise of the book and what make it so hard to stop listening.

different is good

With shades of Nabokov's Pale Fire, parallel narratives intersect nicely. Despite some grotesqueries (essential for the plot), this book is a lot of fun, and the narrator is up to the task of playing along with it.

I believed the review.

I took the reviewer's word about listening to a new author and I am really glad I did. it's been a few books since I didn't want to put a book down!

Buyer Beware

One of my rare reviews, but I feel those who rely upon reviews to purchase should know about this book. Extremely violent and unnecessarily so. Graphic descriptions of both physical and mental torture.

Disturbing

I was creeped out by this story. I love mystery and crime stories but this was over the top for me.

I really wanted to like it.....

I had such high hopes for this after reading the preview and readers' reviews; however, I had to continually pop my eyes back in my head after they rolled out so many times. It lost any semblance to real life after it reverted back to his childhood and he was supposedly really young and yet he was talking and thinking like he was grown. Also, had to suspend belief over his parents and their way of life. That was just ridiculous and no one is going to trust knowledge of that kind of lifestyle to a child, as children usually blab about everything that goes on at home. Who hasn't been embarrassed by their kids at one time or another when they pop out some tidbit of info to a room full of people? Yes, it's fiction, but I had to disregard so much that I just found it ridiculous. I would not recommend this book to my friends or family.

Lots of twists and turns

I enjoyed this book. Great narrations and realistic plots. The killers dark past was captivating.

Airplane book

A by the numbers thriller that can be entertaining or serve as a break, but otherwise not that special. Overdoes humor and gore at times

Serial killer and part demented Adams Family

The diary of the killer was at times like reading about a demented Adam's family.