Deeply disturbing

Any additional comments?

There is nothing redeemable about this book. The major portion of the book was devoted to the heinous torture of women. I just do not need to fill my head with such disturbing images. This is just another example of an Audible "Daily Deal" gone bad.

50 people found this helpful

This is a MUST HAVE mystery...

This book is a must have book for anyone who loves a good mystery. I don't know why but I always hesitate when I see a new unproven author but for a change I didn't and boy am I glad I didn't. This book is one of my better finds this year and the way it's written it looks like it could easily become a series with some very interesting characters.
You have the protagonist aka the police and the antagonist who appears to be a very demented killer. The women he kills are all somehow related to the person he really wants to get at. In his mind killing a loved one will cause the person to suffer more knowing they are to blame.
The killer's story of his life from childhood up is told in the form of a very descriptive diary. You learn early on that he learned his lessons from his parents and grows up to become the 4MK or fourth monkey killer. When he abducts a woman first he sends home an ear, then the eyes and finally their tongue and left to die.
In this book the police are looking for a live victim, thinking that the killer is dead after being hit by a bus. And the race is on in a fast paced heart thumping thriller. The ending is great and leads me to believe there will be more to come.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
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270 people found this helpful

Twisted Knives And Killer Humor

This is the most original serial killer/Police Procedural I have experienced on Audible. Ingenious method writing and a great story with great narration.

Early in the book the police find a diary left for them by the killer. It's written by the killer about significant events that occurred when he was eleven years old. Barker reveals the twisted tale of a family of killers, written in first person, intermittently between chapters of police working desperately to save another victim. It is a grotesquely bizarre tale told in an entirely unique fashion.

The story told around the strange diary is nothing short of brilliant. I do have some holes to fill, but I suspect I was so caught up in the story I missed a few answers. I listened to this in a 24 hour period, which means I most certainly drifted at times.

Do yourself a favor and listen to this masterpiece!

162 people found this helpful

Awful! just don't buy it!

Yes, it is intentionally a creepy story but just so unnecessary. Who reads this creepy stuff. I knew it was a murder mystery, but this is just gratuitous. Don't waste your money!

17 people found this helpful

Author Doesn't Know Chicago

This book is ostensibly set in Chicago. I'm from Chicago: Barker was a suburbanite, and is obviously unfamiliar with the city. That's how it is; some who live in the far flung suburbs don't come into the city. He's not familiar with the geography or the ethos. The errors in the book are so glaring it was like having cold water thrown in my ear.

Examples:
Chicago Police Department: detectives wouldn't introduce themselves to an interviewee as being from "Chicago Metro." That term doesn't really exist. Detectives would introduce themselves as being from the Chicago Police Department.

Tea and bagels: seriously? If the cops come to your house you might offer coffee, but not tea. Who eats bagels with tea?

It's North Avenue, not North Street. And taking it to I294 would take over an hour to get to the expressway. There are much faster ways to get there. And the police would take them, assuming CPD detectives had a reason to venture so far out of their jurisdiction.

Every time I heard one of these errors it jolted me out of the story, such as it is. I don't recommend the book, and am going to return it.

12 people found this helpful

Too morbid for my taste

I like a good detective book but this was way too gross. Couldn’t finish. Not for me.

10 people found this helpful

3.91 stars

This disturbing mystery starts off a bit slow, but it picks up some steam as it goes. The story does have some twists and turns, some you may see coming and some you may not. The 2 audio narrators are a talented pair. It’s a pretty good audiobook that sets up book # 2 in this series. I'm in no rush to get to book # 2, but I'll probably listen to it one day.

Overall rating: 3.91 stars.

9 people found this helpful

Well written, but not my thing..

For hard core crime story buffs. I like more character development with the investigation enhancing the personalities. It's a preference thing.

Well written, performed, but attention to details I didn't think added to the story. Again, probably a matter of taste.

50 people found this helpful

What a Fabulous Find

A simply outstanding novel that'll grab you and not let go... The back and forth between the detective and killer as a child pov is done w/ panache, subtlety, and extreme skill... wonderful mood and atmosphere that encourages a binge read... Along w/ some great suspense, gotchas, and chills is some crafty humor of both the dark and light varieties... The Diary format of the killer's life is surreal and engrossing... Talk about a family that slays together stays together, or do they??? Those segments feel like Dexter meets Father Knows Best;). Great characters will have you invested immediately, and chuckling here and there... The mystery flows beautifully between past and present thanks to excellent narration... My only complaint is that now I have another series to be hooked on, and make no mistake, this setups for a dandy of a second book, and I'll be greedily awaiting... If you need a comparison point - I believe fans of Robotham and Deaver will fall ass over tea kettle for this gem... Definitely worth the price and a hungry read...

57 people found this helpful

Lesser Known Simian Quadruplet...

For over five years Chicago's Finest have been plagued by the taunts of a deranged self-styled vigilante/serial murderer, notified of his latest cause by the delivery of a white box containing the severed ear of his latest victim -- whenever the *cause* strikes him. He focuses on the crimes of the powerful that escape justice, those with enough money and connections to buy the blind eye of legitimate judgment, the white-collar elite too slippery for Lady Justice to hold in her grasp. Those who pay the price of justice, the victims who lose...first, and ear...are condemned by the egregious actions of the person closest to them, innocent scapegoats, chosen to die in order to produce the most painful blow to the real culprit. Because of his demented philanthropic efforts, the public has nicknamed the murderer the 4MK Killer, *the Fourth Monkey Killer, after the *Do No Evil Monkey* (the lesser known sibling of the *wise monkeys* Hear No, See No, and Speak No). Everywhere, you will read comparisons to another book about a psychopathic serial killer/avenger obsessed with the so-called *Seven Deadly Sins.* (Actually, the movie came first, followed by the book written by Anthony Bruno.) It's not hard to picture this book coming to life on the silver screen with similar impact.

Not to belabor the point, but of course a book about a murderer whose hobby it is to torture people is going to be a bit gory, but fortunately, Barker keeps the gore specific but brief...dare I say *clean-cut?* And creative, especially when delivered by the 4MK Killer's own trainers, his oddly elegant parents. The strange mother-father duo spares no etiquette when teaching their young intelligent boy the finer points of murder and torture. These chapters, experienced by the reader by way of a diary the killer leaves for the detectives, give this otherwise gruesome book a tongue-in-cheek comical touch. The abdomen mouse habitat had me struggling with the physical urge to either gag or laugh. It's an ewwww-ha-ha-ewwww moment. The parents, before they go completely off the rails, are at times laugh out loud funny in a Gomez and Morticia Addams kind of way.

There are more than a few cunning twists to the plot, and several revelations that are *BOOM* right in your face. The astute book shopper might notice that in some markets there is a subtitle: *(A 4MK Thriller, #1),* which will have you listening to the opening scenes where the terminally ill 4MK Killer steps in front of a bus, with some confusion. Barker doesn't exactly leave you dangling with the ending, instead, he gives you some pliable options in the case that he really decides to write #2. Either way, the book left me with a satisfied quasi-conclusion. The characters are distinctive, diverse, and in some cases, imbued with an acerbic morbid wit. Mistaken identity, Psychopathy, Sex, Mobsters, Embezzlement, and Medications...The Fourth Monkey is a well-plotted, thrilling, psycho-logical drama that didn't disappoint this reader...disgusted at times? maybe...but in the best way.

61 people found this helpful