Title: The Fifth to Die
Author: J.D. Barker
Series: 4MK Killer (#2)
Date Published: July 10th 2018
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 416
GoodReads Description: "In the thrilling sequel to The Fourth Monkey, a new serial killer stalks the streets of Chicago, while Detective Porter delves deeper into the dark past of the Four Monkey Killer.
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. "
MY REVIEW:
Criminal Minds fans - please form a line.
That was what this book felt like to me - like Criminal Minds in book form. I should mention I love Criminal Minds so that's totally a compliment. It was like a really good story arc over a few episodes of Criminal Minds.
That being said, I didn't read book one before I read this book - which was a mistake - you should totally read the first book. But it was still a really good serial killer style thriller/police procedural and I got what was happening even without having read the first book (because I'm so smart - toot toot! That was me tooting my own horn... No, because the author does a good job of backtracking just enough for understanding). There is a big "To be continued..." at the end of this book as well - so the story continues! And I'm anxiously awaiting book 3.
I appreciated the exploration of the background of the serial killer in this book, while simultaneously solving new crimes related to him. It was very Mindhunter (the Netflix series. Am I the only one who binge watches psychological crime shows?) By the way - complete side note, but I just Googled Mindhunter and there's an article titled "Fans of Netflix's 'Mindhunter' Can Take Home Props at Sale." That literally has me laughing (uncomfortably) out loud. Keep a list of those people buying the serial killer props to keep in their home - it may come in handy for future use.
Anyways, this book was awesome - it would make a great movie or TV series. It was a fast-paced action packed thrill!
MY RATING:
Entertainment Value: 5
Characters: 4
Voice: 4
Plot: 5
Overall: 4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
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