Audiobook Review: The Fifth to Die by J.D. Barker
The Fifth to Die
Series: 4MK #2
Author: J.D. Barker
Narrators:
Edoardo Ballerini
Graham Winton
Published: July 10, 2018
Audiobook: 15 hours 7 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: August 5-16, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
Detective Porter and the team have been pulled from the hunt for Anson Bishop, the Four Monkey Killer, by the feds. When the body of a young girl is found beneath the frozen waters of Jackson Park Lagoon, she is quickly identified as Ella Reynolds, missing three weeks. But how did she get there? The lagoon froze months earlier. More baffling? She’s found wearing the clothes of another girl, missing less than two days.
While the detectives of Chicago Metro try to make sense of the quickly developing case, Porter secretly continues his pursuit of 4MK, knowing the best way to find Bishop is to track down his mother. When the captain finds out about Porter’s activities, he’s suspended, leaving his partners, Clair and Nash, to continue the search for the new killer alone.
Obsessed with catching Bishop, Porter follows a single grainy photograph from Chicago to the streets of New Orleans and stumbles into a world darker than he could have possibly imagined, where he quickly realizes that the only place more frightening than the mind of a serial killer is the mind of the mother from which he came.
Jessica’s Review:
J.D. Barker is back with the second 4MK novel The Fifth to Die. Fifth picks up four months after the ending of Fourth and this time we have more gruesome deaths, multiple storylines, multiple povs (which you know by now that I love!), and even better: multiple bad guys! And an addition which could be just as frightening as 4MK himself: None other than Bishop’s mother! We really can see how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with her added to the mix. We learn more about Porter in Fifth and he is determined to find Bishop’s mother. He actually goes rogue with this determination. We have two police storylines, one for each killer.
There is a lot going on in this novel and it is just as fast paced as Fourth and you just wonder HOW did some of these things with the missing girls happen when it doesn’t seem plausible? But yet these things DID in fact happen. Yes, we do get answers.
This new killer is just as frightening and messed up as Bishop. They are fabulous villains, but I always enjoy the villains! It makes you wonder just what does that say about me? I thank my dad for not restricting my reading as a teen (unlike my tv and movie viewings) and as a 14, 15, and 16-year-old I was reading Stephen King. Of course my love of thrillers started with the Fear Street books by RL Stine when I was younger. I am on the tail end of Gen X, and this is just how we grew up and we would not change it for anything!
This was my second reading of Fifth and this time I listened to the audiobook. Both Edoardo Ballerini and Graham Winton return as narrators and once more they are superb! I am happy to share that they narrate the final book in this trilogy! And speaking of the final book, Fifth ends in a cliffhanger, but readers are fortunate now to not have to wait for the final in this trilogy.
Many thanks to JD. Barker and his publisher for sending me paperback copies of this trilogy!
Audiobook Review of The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
The Fourth Monkey
Series: 4MK #1
Author: J.D. Barker
Narrators:
Edoardo Ballerino
Graham Winton
Published: June 27, 2017
Audiobook: 12 hours 32 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: July 26- August 4, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
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.
Jessica’s Review:
I first read The Fourth Monkey nine years ago as a part of the blog tour. It is a trilogy and next month the first in a prequel series will be released! I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy of that one AND the original trilogy from J.D. Barker and his publisher Hampton Creek Press! This time around I did opt to listen to the audiobook and it is just as brilliant and unsettling as it was the first time I read it! I that big twist as to who 4MK is… I forgot that and was shocked when I got there this time!
Most of what I said nine years ago still applies, so here is a link to my review written back then.
I really enjoyed these short chapters, you really don’t want to put the book down and as you progress in the story there is a strong sense of urgency that compounds! The story online takes place over a few days so it is fast moving the entire time!
As I listened to the audiobook this time I have this to say about the narrators:
Edoardo Ballerini- I have heard him narrate before and he narrates as Porter with perfection.
Graham Winton- I believe this is my first audiobook with him as a narrator and he is chilling as 4MK in person and as he narrates 4MK’s shocking and disturbing diary! This was one creepy narration! (As it is supposed to be!).
Many thanks again to JD. Barker and Hampton Creek Press for bringing me back into 4MK’s world and also expanding it with the upcoming prequel trilogy! “We’re going to have such fun, you and I”….
Please note, it looks like we are getting closer to a 4MK series! Let’s see how they are going to do this, as the novel is graphic and could be nightmare inducing. There are lots of triggers with this one to come!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Be careful what you choose to read because you never know what world you are about to go into….
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Blog Tour: An Extract from The Knife Maker of Venice by David Gilman
Today I am taking part of the blog tour for The Knife Maker of Venice by David Gilman by sharing an extract from the novel! This one was just released last week on August 13th.
Book Description:
A young Englishman captured by slavers must survive the snakepit that is seventeenth-century Venice.
1604. As pirates seeking slaves to sell in the markets of North Africa terrorise the coasts of Europe, headstrong Richard Sheriff and his sister Elizabeth are torn from their Devonshire home and thrust into a waking nightmare.
Richard’s skills as a blacksmith see him fetch a high price, but the pirate captain has other plans for Elizabeth and once they are separated, Richard has no idea of his sister’s fate. They must both learn to survive on a deadly voyage into the unknown.
Sold into servitude in Venice: glittering, vicious city of secrets, he is apprenticed to a knife maker. Richard’s talents soon win him renown… but haunted by his sister’s absence, he vows never to stop looking for her, knowing she would do the same for him.
First he must survive that city of ghosts. Will the siblings live to see each other again, or will they join the myriads lost to Venice, where life is cheap, profit is all, and escape nigh-on impossible?
A powerful historical adventure perfect for fans of Kate Mosse, Ken Follett and Robert Harris.
Buy Your Copy Here:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Extract:
Her life before being captured had been lived on her own terms. Her plain-speaking manner had served her well in the company of others less straightforward, who used words that teased, chastised, cajoled or enticed. This manner, together with a similar plainness of dress, had kept most suitors at bay. And Challenor had always kept a respectful distance whenever he visited Dartmouth, while still making his feelings known.
Elizabeth’s desire to protect her younger brother had never faltered and she allowed no one to come between them. Had she permitted her heart to soften and allow a man to enter her life, there was a risk that brother and sister would be parted, for her responsibility would then be to her husband. It had been Challenor’s understanding and acceptance of her love for Richard that allowed her to agree to his proposal, before Challenor went missing.
She embraced the lessons learnt from her early life. Peasant children like Elizabeth would often be traded into a marriage for the benefit of their family. But when her mother died after Richard’s birth, although he was wet-nursed by a woman in the town, he soon became Elizabeth’s responsibility. She not only looked after him, but also their father when he was not at sea. The care she gave the infant never wavered. In her mind the affection she bore for him was that of a mother’s love from beyond the grave. Despite the grief of her mother’s death, her brother’s birth was Elizabeth’s salvation.
About the Author:
David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. David lives in Devon. Follow David on @davidgilmanuk, www.davidgilman.com, and facebook.com/davidgilman.author.
Contact David:
Website
X @davidgilmanuk
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