Author: J.D. Barker
ISBN: 9780008250393
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: 23rd July 2018
Publisher: HQ Fiction
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Fifth To Die is the sequel to The Fourth Monkey, these are the first two books in the 4MK Thriller series. I have heard that though this is the second in a series it does stand alone convincingly.
Dark, disturbing and a chilling insight into the mind of a serial killer; this one is not going to be for the faint of heart.
A young girl is found beneath the frozen waters of a lagoon and there is a list of inconsistencies that make the whole scene fail to add up. The police department start working on the case while Detective Porter continues investigating the 4MK case in secret, until he finds himself suspended.
The Fifth To Die is a race against a serial killer as the detectives do their best to stop the body count rising while Detective Porter follows leads that will hopefully assist them with another serial killer.
Gritty, dark and disturbing this one has had some great reviews. Some of our members are reading and I can’t wait to find out what they think.
J.D. Barker can be followed on Facebook, Twitter and his Website.
The Fifth To Die is out now. Thanks to HQ Fiction 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will also be reading The Fifth to Die so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I’d read so many glowing reviews for The Fourth Monkey I was keen to read the next in the series, The Fifth to Die.
A teenage girl is found frozen under the ice on a lake. The only thing is the lake has been frozen over for months and the girl has only been missing for three weeks. Another teenager goes missing and the race is on to find out who is behind these abductions. As the body count rises the police are asking themselves, is the fourth monkey killer responsible or could this be a copy-cat killing.
Porter is back on the case but he is treating it way to personal, so is suspended from duty. But we know this isn’t going to stop him going after Anson Bishop aka 4MK.
I didn’t mind the story at all up until Porter went off on his own, then the whole plot just got ridiculous. The things Porter did and the risks he took were just unbelievable
I like a gritty murder mystery as much as the next person but the repeated descriptions of the torture of the girls were too much for me.
The story became bogged down with the continual run through of the evidence boards and endless police procedurals.
There were so many things that happened in the story that were unbelievable that the whole plot started to lose credibility.
By 400 pages I’d had enough and I dragged through the last 100 pages only to have nothing fully resolved.
I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed this more if I had of read the first book or if I had of read the first book I may have given this a miss all together.
The Fourth Monkey and The Fifth to Die are both getting rave reviews so I suggest if you enjoy long, gritty crime novels where the ‘unsub’ is a silent, invisible, picklock give this a read and let me know what you think.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for my copy to read and review.
J. D. Baker has a very great imagination. The crimes well thought out, the story in the background slowly drawn forward as the story goes on, stringing the reader along. I have to say I did enjoy this read.
A girl found under the ice of a frozen lake, the lake frozen for months, the girl disappeared only weeks ago, the story draws you in. Linking into the likelihood of a previous murderer’s involvement the story takes our key detective off the case, he’s too close and too involved. In his absence more girls disappear and more bodies appear, with little forensics and leads slowly drawing forward. Clair, Nash & their associates work hard to put the pieces together before another girl disappears, before another girl dies and before another parent follows the pattern of their child. Can they piece this together before its too late for more?
Porter, taken off duty for being too involved, does his own research, into the case that has been take over by the FBI. His information invaluable he follows leads and finds more dead in the wake, as do the FBI who are following their own leads left for them in the files from Porter. Will they find the 4MK killer before more people die?
Despite being the second in a series of books about Detective Porter this book stands well on its own. Any past events eluded to are well explained throughout, except right at the beginning. The start was a bit wierd but as other events occur the pieces fall together in ones mind.
Thanks for the read, can’ wait for the next in the series… really cannot wait!!!!
Well I’ll start by saying I have read the first book in this series The Fourth Monkey by JD Barker and it was a fantastic read so I have been really hanging out for this latest instalment The Fifth To Die. I did think that this is a stand alone book and that you didn’t need to read the first one before this one, it had a lot of recaps in it to help the reader understand previous events.
The Fifth To Die is an excellently crafted story with many twists and turns to keep you turning the pages quickly!
Detective Porter is once again haunted by Anson Bishop who is a very clever and sick serial killer. Anson always kills his victims for a reason, it’s up to the detectives to race against the clock before another girl disappears from the streets, and ends up dead in unusual places.
Detective Porter’s wife has been murdered last year, so with his mind not clear he thinks he has nothing to loose in chasing Anson down and bringing him to justice. But he’s in for one hell of a ride and he puts himself in danger, can he get out of this alive? And bring Anson to justice or will he slip through his fingers again?
I was disappointed with the ending. One minute you are rushing to the end with Porter getting close to Anson, then it abruptly ends. I know this is so you want to read the next book, BUT I don’t want to wait that long.
Thank you HQ (Harper Collins Publishers) and Beauty and Lace Bookclub for the opportunity to read The Fifth to Die by J.D.Barker. Firstly I will say that I have not read the previous book, the Fourth Monkey and although there was some references to it I could easily follow the plot and story line although the conclusion left me frustrated with unanswered questions. A psychological thriller with many character perspectives that kept me turning each page with absolute anticipation. I enjoyed the format that each chapter was given from a different main character perspective of events occurring simultaneously. I cant wait for the “conclusion” in the future.
The Fifth To Die always going to be a big read. 526 pages long it seemed quite a challenge given that it was a thriller and therefore a deeper read than usual.
For me I need a book to capture my attention and pull me in from the first few pages. Well straight away you can tell that this is going to be a book you will find hard to put down.
The book opens with Detective Sam Porter having a dream where he has been caught and held captive by the very serial killer he is trying to find Anson Bishop.
The story is about Porter tracking down Bishop but it also a whole lot more than that.
There are the the stories about the girls themselves. Each one has her own story to tell and this way you are able to see a glimpse of each girls life and find out how they can to be where they are.
While reading a thriller you can’t but help try to work it all out but with this one you you never will. There are so many new elements added to the story through it’s telling that it’s like adding a new layer as you go along. The story is in depth and with such vivid descriptions that you really feel as though you are along for the ride.
Part way through I found worked out that this book was part 2 of a series but I don’t think it detracted from the story in any way. Most of the bits you needed to know where told in recaps during the story and the bits that weren’t you could get by with not knowing. Just when you think you’ve worked out a little bit ‘boom’ something else happens and you realise you were wrong again.
This is an awesome book that I’m sure I’ll read again just to see if I notice a few more things the second read.
It’s a book that makes you want to keep reading quickly to get to the end to find out what is going to happen, how will it all work out but then the greatest horror of all happens on the last page…..those final three words………..
you’ll just have to read it to find out.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the book.
Thanks must also go to J.D. Barker for the most amazing thriller.
The Fifth to Die
The Fifth to Die, though presented as a stand along novel is also the second instalment in the Detective Porter Series. The plot of The Fourth Monkey is recapped at the beginning of the novel as the plot begins to unfold which provides insight into the previous novel and builds on into the start of The Fifth to Die.
The novel is very descriptive, manipulative and deeply perceptive. Barker has created a quiet thriller that allows the unsub to seep into the corners of your brain in a quiet and deceptive way, leaving you unable to digest or distinguish enough about them to guess directly as to the direction of the story, the identity of the killer, his accomplice and the turn out of the story.
As the story unravels you find some revelations about the serial killer and his accomplice slowly drip fed to the reader but not enough to leave you feeling like you know the ending before you get there. There is some amazingly descriptive writing, character development and plot twists which create a positive reading experience.
Detective Porter, smart, broody, lonely and at times unnerving in his risk-taking abilities is left to investigate the murder of a young girl found beneath a frozen lake with his team. Quickly things are found to not be what the first seem to be as things slowly expose an inability to occur as they seem. Brutal murders continue but the unsub is left as unnamed and only identifiable by a small number of physical features which do not stack up to the description of a know serial killer Anson Bishop and the story must follow two different directions as the plot and investigations separate into different directions. Especially as Porter takes off without letting his team know and without any trace, following leads fed to him and without disregard for his own safety.
Baker leaves us with a huge open and very frustrating cliff hanger as the story finishes with a to be continued… I was mortified to read this after getting through each page and thinking soon I would have my resolve. That’s not taking away from the fact that I will definitely read the next instalment to continue my hunt for a resolution and ending to the plot at hand.
Thankyou for the chance to read this novel and I recommend it to those who enjoy a good thriller as part of a series and who can handle a wait for a resolve.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read the Fifth to Die by JD Roberts. This is the second book, in what will be ,at least, a trilogy. It would have been good to read ‘The Fourth Monkey’ first, but this book is able to stand alone. However I was disappointed with the ending. I prefer a clear cut finish to a story.. It was similar to Dean Koontz’s Jane Hawk series where it is only on the final page you realise the story will continue.
.This is a fast paced psychological thriller which I could not put down. It is an incredible story, with many twists and turns involving many characters.. The police use an ‘evidence board’ to keep track and link all the information they have. I feel Roberts must have done the same thing in order to keep all the characters in order..
The story is linked to a previous serial killer, it is not known if the current series of murders are by this person or a different killer. The murders are proceed by torture and these are described in graphic details. So it is not a book for those easily upset by the written word.
In the latter part of the book I became a little confused with the story line. I could not understand why Detective Porter pursued Anson Bishop in the way he did, perhaps I need to reread the story as I may have missed something in my eagerness to discover what was coming next.
This is a great, fast paced book that will be enjoyed by lovers of the genre’. I will be looking to get the third book.
OMG!! This book was AMAZING, one of the best books I’ve ever read. Thrilling, scary, twists and turns everywhere. I was up late many nights because I couldn’t put this down and I didn’t see the ending coming usually you can get an idea but I love books where you are no where near what actually happens. I can’t wait to read to the follow on book from this one.
Thank you for picking me to read and review such a fabulous book Beauty and Lace
Awesome! Fantastic book!
Set in Chicago in winter freezing conditions. Finding someone in the lake that’s been frozen for months but the body’s been there only weeks!! Once you start this book you won’t be able to put it down!! I do think reading the first book is a good idea to make things a little clearer.
Keeps you guessing until the very end.