Serial-killer thriller author, J.D. Barker is the latest writer to become a James Patterson co-author. Evidently, working with the world’s #1 bestselling author is rubbing off on him. J.D. has become a writing machine this year.
The Fifth To Die, the second offering in the Fourth Monkey (4MK) trilogy was published this summer. Dracul, the prequel to the Dracula series which J.D. was commissioned to write by Bram Stoker’s family is to be released on October 2, 2018. The novel was inspired by notes kept by Bram Stoker, the author of the original, classic novel, Dracula. It is co-authored by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand-nephew.
Writing Machine
Early next year, J.D. plans to launch the sequel to his first hugely successful, self-published novel, Forsaken (which I wrote about here.) Next summer will also see the publication of the final book in the Fourth Monkey trilogy (“I can’t tell you what the title is, but it will have a “6” in it,” J.D. tells me.)
Additionally, he has sent his agent a newly completed novel ( a “lighthearted” suspense novel) which will likely be published in 2020; and he has drafted 80,000 words of an upcoming novel co-authored with James Patterson which is likely to be scheduled for a release date in 2019.
“I want to stay in front of my audience with at least two books a year,” said J.D. Barker. He added they don’t have to be traditionally published. “I have no problems with continuing to self publish some of my work and becoming a hybrid author.”
Meeting Patterson
J.D. met Patterson last year after the world’s bestselling author read J.D’s book, The Fourth Monkey and wrote an endorsement of it that proclaimed it, “Ingenious.” An invitation to Patterson’s Palm Beach mansion and office followed. “It was a peek behind the curtain,” said J.D. when I spoke to him earlier this week. “It was surreal to see all his work, like the latest Alex Cross novel, lying around half-way done.” After a few weeks of throwing around ideas, the two decided to collaborate.
Nailing Suspense Rule
In becoming a Patterson co-author, J.D. is following in the footsteps of America’s 42nd president, Bill Clinton (co-author of The President Is Missing) but he brings to the table his own unique talent for keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The talent for creating suspense was very visible in his serial-killer thriller The Fourth Monkey, published last summer ( I devoted an entire blog to the novel which I described as the ultimate thriller) and it is visible again in The Fifth To Die.
I must say, however, that I honestly had no idea that the series about a Chicago detective, Sam Porter on the trail of a sadistic serial killer, Anson Bishop was to be a trilogy. I was prepared for more of the same thrilling- by- the- seat- of- your -pants ride in the sequel especially since The Fourth Monkey, as J.D. acknowledges ended on a “little bit of a cliffhanger.” But, I had no clue that The Fifth To Die would leave me, metaphorically speaking, hanging by the fingernails from the open door of a chopper hovering a couple of thousand feet above a shark-infested ocean.
Creating Suspense
J.D. appears to follow the Lee Child method of creating suspense. Child, author of the bestselling Jack Reacher novels has said that novelists tend to focus on the wrong question: They want to know what ingredients are required, and how to mix them correctly, in order to create suspense. But, says Child, the question is not “how to bake a cake,” but “how to make your family hungry?” In other words, as Child explained in a New York Times article, “as novelists, we should ask or imply a question at the beginning of the story, and then we should delay the answer (make your family wait four hours for dinner!) The big answer is parceled out slowly and parsimoniously.”
Serial Killer Eludes Capture
To say that J.D. Barker parcels out the answers “slowly and parsimoniously” is a huge understatement. At the end of The Fourth Monkey, the reader knows the motivation for the brutal killings by sadistic serial killer, Anson Bishop, but Bishop has eluded capture. In the final twist (of several humdingers) in that first novel of the trilogy, Bishop appears to do a favor for Porter. In return, Bishop has a specific request involving his mother who features prominently in Bishop’s diary which falls into Porter’s hands at the beginning of the novel.
What set the story apart for me — and, I daresay, for thousands of other readers — was the insight into the serial killer’s mind in the form of that diary which is found on the body of a man initially thought to be the 4MK killer when he steps in front of a city bus. The diary introduced readers to the serial killer as a boy, and to his equally terrifying parents especially his mother. So, naturally, I could hardly wait to meet this woman in the sequel.
The Fifth To Die
However, The Fifth To Die, starts with Porter being taken off the search for Anson Bishop. Instead, he is assigned to investigate a couple of bizarre murders of young girls. It appears that a second serial killer is stalking, kidnapping, torturing and slaying young women in Chicago.
The questions come fast and furiously in this one: (a) are the serial killings of two girls in Chicago the work of a new serial killer, or is Anson Bishop involved? (b) how has the killer managed to bury the bodies of the recently-kidnapped young women under a layer of ice covering a lagoon which has been frozen for months before they disappeared? (c) will Sam Porter succeed in his secret pursuit of Anson Bishop without getting fired? (d) will he succeed in finding and getting to know whether Anson Bishop’s mother is as evil as she is portrayed in Anson’s diary? (e) is there still an evil connection between Bishop and his mother?
Serial Killer’s Diary
Anson Bishop’s diary is the common thread through both books so far. In The Fifth To Die, it ends on a truly chilling note, giving us just enough of a hint as to how the third and final thriller in the trilogy might unspool.
Or, in the vernacular of Lee Child’s analogy, J.D. doesn’t just know how to “make the family hungry,” he leaves the family totally famished, and then before satisfying its hunger, he snatches away the plate. Again.
When we talk, J.D. appears to be apologetic for leaving me in limbo for another year. “In a perfect world, books two and three in the Fourth Monkey trilogy would be released on the same day,” he conceded.
Short Chapters
As for what he has learned, so far, at the knee of the master? Like other bestselling authors, (for example, Woman In The Window author A.J. Finn) J.D credits James Patterson with opening his eyes to the utility of short chapters in thrillers. Short chapters are essential to creating suspense.
“Each chapter is a scene,” says J.D. “and each scene must have a solid point, and must end with a twist or a revelation that drives the plot forward in some way.
Learning Experience
“It’s a priceless learning experience,” said J.D. “It’s giving me a chance to work with one of the greatest authors.
“As a new author if you want to excel, you seek the advice of other authors, and there’s no point to that unless they are the best in your business.” He observes that many well-established authors are very good at helping new, young authors.
“Maybe it’s a form of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) because they still clearly remember their own rejection letters.”