Book Review: The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

I had extremely high hopes for this book as there has been a lot of hype in the Psychological Thriller Readers Facebook group. J.D. Barker’s The Fourth Monkey sets out to be a dark, twisty psychological thriller which gave me echoes of James Patterson’s early Alex Cross novels - but ultimately, it feels more like an imitation than a reinvention.

​​The premise is definitely intriguing: a notorious serial killer known as The Fourth Monkey Killer dies unexpectedly, leaving behind a diary that promises to reveal the location of his latest victim. Detective Sam Porter races against time to find the killer’s identity and find the girl before it’s too late. On paper, it’s a formula for high-stakes suspense but in reality it fell short of the mark.

Lots of elements of this book were hallmarks of a good thriller; alternating timelines, shocking reveals, and a cat-and-mouse dynamic between detective and killer. Unfortunately in this case it often felt predictable and over-rehearsed. The supposed twists are recognisable far too early, and the diary entries come off as melodramatic rather than chilling.

While Barker’s pacing is good and the story occasionally grips you out of sheer momentum, the characters feel like stock archetypes; the brooding detective with a haunted past (who in this case feels very one dimensional), the genius killer with a tragic childhood, and the damsel in distress who exists mostly to drive the plot forward. Readers familiar with early Alex Cross novels will recognise the structure, tone, and even the rhythm, but without the same emotional weight or originality. As a minor point, I was also quite put off by some of the dialogue between the detectives in relation to women. I listened to the audiobook version on Audible (which was a solid performance) and maybe the lines being animiated is why this hit a nerve. Regardless, I felt outdated and added to the narrative of the female characters being mere background dressing. 

The Fourth Monkey isn’t a bad book, it's a solid 3/5 read. It hits all the expected notes of the genre but rarely offers anything new. For readers craving a nostalgic throwback to 1990s serial killer thrillers, it may scratch the itch. But for those seeking genuine surprises look up the Pierre Lemaitre books. 

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