J.D. Barker
NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Something I Keep Upstairs

For a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die.

Releases 05/13/2025
Learn More

Behind a Closed Door

Would you kill a total stranger to save someone you love?

Available Now
Learn More

A Caller’s Game

“I’m going to offer you a choice.”

Available Now
Learn More

The Fourth Monkey

“Ingenious” —James Patterson, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author

“Ingenious”
—James Patterson, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author

Available Now
Learn More

Dracul

Even immortals have their beginnings.

Available Now
Learn More

“A state of the art thriller, a current nightmare, a panic wrapped up in a box.”—Josh Malerman, Award Winning Author of Bird Box
“Eerie, creepy, and frightfully good. Watch out Stephen King…J.D. Barker is hot on the trail of horror writing and will most certainly give you a run for your money!”–Crime Book Junkie
“Well-written, haunting, and insanely addictive. . . Bottom line, this is what a suspense thriller is supposed to look like. Think Stephen King meets Michael Connelly — J.D. Barker was born to write suspense thrillers, and The Fifth to Die is his latest masterpiece.” —The Real Book Spy
“Scary as hell!”–Horror After Dark
“A first-rate, devilish thriller.”—Eric Rickstad, NY Times Bestselling Author of The Names of Dead Girls and The Silent Girls
“Harry Potter for adults. The imagery will haunt you.”–Jack Stevenson, Author
“Barker knows how to evoke chilling imagery and will have readers anxiously looking over their shoulders with each terrifying “clickity, click, click.”–Library Journal
“This book is seriously brilliant: the best serial killer thriller I’ve ever read.”—Lisa Milton, Executive Editor HarperCollins HQ
“It is clear Barker is a name to watch in horror.”–The Horror Bookshelf
“THE FOURTH MONKEY will keep you up all night …reading.”—Lansing State Journal
“Do you hear that creaking sound? That’s a door opening, as a fantastic new artist enters the room. World… meet J.D. Barker. That’s Forsaken under his arm and you’re gonna wanna pay attention to every word..”–Josh Malerman, Author of Bird Box and Black Mad Wheel
“Masterful storytelling.”–Bookish
“Incredibly written, supremely creepy. I don’t say this lightly: J.D. Barker is a force to be reckoned with.”–Tosca Lee, NY Times Bestselling Author
“A great stay-up-all-night spooky story.”–The Book’s The Thing
“Barker’s ambitious debut is aimed squarely at fans of classic horror. Witches, spells, miniature demons, and personal doubt give plenty to latch on to… the plot moves at a brisk pace… a promising start to a planned series.”–Publisher’s Weekly
“Superbly constructed and immaculately paced, this is one of the few serial killer thrillers that bears comparison with Thomas Harris’s 1981 masterpiece Red Dragon.”—Daily Mail
“A highly recommended and beguiling page-turning thriller that is both disturbing and immensely entertaining.”—New York Journal of Books
“Scary as hell. Gothic as decay. Dracul will have you checking over your shoulder, under your bed, and up on the ceiling, too. All while wondering about the contents of every crate and oblong box you see.”–Josh Malerman, Bestselling author of Bird Box
“Brilliant. Dracul pumps fresh blood into the vampire genre by telling the story of the man who started it all — Bram Stoker. And what a story! A grand adventure that contains all the literary playfulness and mounting dread of the original Dracula. It gave me chills.”–Riley Sager, Bestselling Author of Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied
“Intense, disturbing and relentlessly suspenseful, “The Fourth Monkey” is a dark and wildly entertaining novel.”—Plattsburgh Press Republican
“WOW if there is one horror book that you need to read this year, then this is the one.”–Wyres World
“This book gave me chills!”–The Word Smithe
“J.D. Barker has conjured a modern cauldron of horrors based on historical fact.”– The Tomb of Dark Delights
“A chillingly delicious page-turner.”—Kelley Armstrong, NY Times Bestselling Author
Markets Insider – J.D. Barker Rewrites the Rules of Publishing, Signs with Simon & Schuster
“A compelling, deep, dark drama about Dracula’s origin. Even I had to keep the lights on when reading this book!”–John Saul, NY Times Bestselling Author
“Bram Stoker Award finalist Barker ingeniously blends horrific images into a bizarre plotline to create this devilishly dark thriller.” —Library Journal
“Brilliant. Complicated. Psychopath. This character is truly riveting.”—Marc Webb, Director of The Amazing Spiderman, Gifted, & (500) Days of Summer
“A talented writer with a delightfully devious mind!”–Jeffery Deaver, International Bestselling Author
“Creepy, scary . . . and impossible to put down! The Fourth Monkey is everything a thriller should be—a must read!”—Heather Graham, NY Times Bestselling Author
MSN – J.D. Barker’s Meteoric Rise from Indie Author to International Bestseller
“The Fourth Monkey has one of the most ingenious openings that I’ve read in years. This thriller never disappoints.”—James Patterson, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author
“Gritty, masterful suspense…Lee Child, you’ve met your match.”—Tosca Lee, NY Times Bestselling Author
“Scary, stomach churning, and utterly addictive, this has to be one of 2017 most exciting thrillers.”—Lancashire Post
“A terrifying and compelling prequel that reveals how a young Bram Stoker confronted evil to craft a masterpiece.”–Library Journal
“J.D. Barker’s second novel is a terrifying romp.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“…Nice twists on classic thriller tropes.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“In the tradition of SE7EN and THE USUAL SUSPECTS, THE FOURTH MONKEY combines breakneck speed with a baffling puzzle. It has pace to die for.”—David Morrell, New York Times Bestselling Author of Murder As a Fine Art and First Blood
“Not since Hannibal Lecter had a friend for dinner has a serial killer been so skillfully rendered on the page.”—Taylor Elmore, Writer/Producer of Justified and Limitless
LA Weekly – J.D. Barker’s Latest Erotic Thriller Rattles TikTok
“Barker is a master wordsmith.”–AudioBookReviewer.com
“If you like fast-paced, disturbing thrillers, this is the summer read for you!”—BookRiot
“Like watching a classic vampire film. Bram Stoker lives! Dracula lives! HORROR lives on nearly every page. A terrifying read that gave me hours of fun.”–R.L. Stine, International Bestselling Author of Goosebumps and Fear Street

Recent News

Mailing List

Sign up for J.D.'s newsletter for news, previews, and more!

Mailing List

Sign up for J.D.’s newsletter for news, previews, and more!

© 2018 J.D. Barker