The Fourth Monkey

April 3, 2017
Horror author Barker (Forsaken) ventures into crime fiction with mixed results. When a man steps into a Chicago street and is fatally hit by a bus, the police find evidence on him suggesting that he’s the famous Four Monkey Killer, who liked to kidnap relatives of criminals and cut off ears, eyes, and tongues over a period of days. Suspecting that the latest victim is still alive, newly widowed detective Sam Porter forms a task force to try to find her before she starves or dies from her wounds. Meanwhile, Porter reads the killer’s diary—found on his body—to try to get a sense of his motivations. Diary entries reveal the killer to have been a reasonably standard budding sociopath, but the focus soon shifts to the boy’s equally warped parents and a ludicrous plot involving mobsters. Past events inform the present-day investigation, which fortunately offers some nice twists on classic thriller tropes. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Kristin Nelson Literary Agency.

April 15, 2017
The death of an elusive serial killer, who may have snatched one last victim before he died, sends Chicago cops on a mad dash to uncover his identity and unravel his bizarre crimes.Chasing a killer for five years is a grind, especially one as wily as the self-proclaimed Four Monkey Killer, who, in a tired twist on the vigilante theme, chooses his (young, female) victims based on the sins of their family members. For Chicago homicide detective Sam Porter, the case is nearly as consuming as the personal issues that eat away at him as predictably as Barker's (Forsaken, 2014) other telegraphed plot developments. When a man steps in front of a city bus, it seems like suicide until his personal effects are examined and it's discovered that he's carrying a box addressed to Arthur Talbot containing a human ear, later identified as belonging to Talbot's daughter, Emory. That's Four Monkey's calling card: first the ear (hear no evil), then the eyes (see no evil), then the tongue (speak no evil), and finally the corpse (do no evil). Except it seems like the killer's own corpse is now in a body bag. Porter also finds a diary on the body--which Barker heavily excerpts and which readers might wish could be excised like the killer excises body parts--that chronicles Four Monkey's unusually gory upbringing. Along with his partner, a motley assortment of cookie-cutter cops, and a CSI expert named Watson, whose ability to rattle off facts rivals the supercomputer, Porter races to find Emory, growing increasingly unsure if Four Monkey is really dead. Wipe away all the blood and you're left with a dull, unsurprising serial killer tale.

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May 15, 2017

Bram Stoker Award finalist Barker (Forsaken) ingeniously blends horrific images into a bizarre plotline to create this deviously dark thriller. When a man jumps in front of a Chicago bus in an apparent act of suicide, Det. Sam Porter identifies the deceased as the Fourth Monkey Killer (4MK) after finding a white box in his jacket, which contained an ear from his latest victim. For more than five years, he had dismembered seven girls in the Chicago area, targeting the daughters of high-society criminals. The apparent eighth victim, Emory Talbot, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy real-estate developer, might still be alive. Barker torques his characters through unforeseeable and highly unusual twists. VERDICT By splitting his narrative among Porter, 4MK's diary, victim Emory, and Det. Clair Norton, Barker adds multiple perspectives, making following this intricate story unnecessarily more difficult. Still, fans of the movie Se7en and gruesome serial killer thrillers will hang on for the ride. [Barker has signed on to write a prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula with Dacre Stoker.--Ed.]--Jerry P. Miller. Cambridge, MA

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