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
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Behind a Closed Door

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

Available Now
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A Caller’s Game

“I’m going to offer you a choice.”

Available Now
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The Fourth Monkey

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

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

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Dracul

Even immortals have their beginnings.

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“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 talented writer with a delightfully devious mind!”–Jeffery Deaver, International Bestselling Author
“Intense, disturbing and relentlessly suspenseful, “The Fourth Monkey” is a dark and wildly entertaining novel.”—Plattsburgh Press Republican
“This book is seriously brilliant: the best serial killer thriller I’ve ever read.”—Lisa Milton, Executive Editor HarperCollins HQ
“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
“A highly recommended and beguiling page-turning thriller that is both disturbing and immensely entertaining.”—New York Journal of Books
“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
“If you like fast-paced, disturbing thrillers, this is the summer read for you!”—BookRiot
Markets Insider – J.D. Barker Rewrites the Rules of Publishing, Signs with Simon & Schuster
“A first-rate, devilish thriller.”—Eric Rickstad, NY Times Bestselling Author of The Names of Dead Girls and The Silent Girls
“This book gave me chills!”–The Word Smithe
“THE FOURTH MONKEY will keep you up all night …reading.”—Lansing State Journal
“Brilliant. Complicated. Psychopath. This character is truly riveting.”—Marc Webb, Director of The Amazing Spiderman, Gifted, & (500) Days of Summer
“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
“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
“WOW if there is one horror book that you need to read this year, then this is the one.”–Wyres World
“A chillingly delicious page-turner.”—Kelley Armstrong, NY Times Bestselling Author
LA Weekly – J.D. Barker’s Latest Erotic Thriller Rattles TikTok
“Scary as hell!”–Horror After Dark
“Bram Stoker Award finalist Barker ingeniously blends horrific images into a bizarre plotline to create this devilishly dark thriller.” —Library Journal
“Harry Potter for adults. The imagery will haunt you.”–Jack Stevenson, Author
“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
“J.D. Barker’s second novel is a terrifying romp.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“…Nice twists on classic thriller tropes.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“A great stay-up-all-night spooky story.”–The Book’s The Thing
“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
“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
MSN – J.D. Barker’s Meteoric Rise from Indie Author to International Bestseller
“Barker is a master wordsmith.”–AudioBookReviewer.com
“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
“Scary, stomach churning, and utterly addictive, this has to be one of 2017 most exciting thrillers.”—Lancashire Post
“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
“A state of the art thriller, a current nightmare, a panic wrapped up in a box.”—Josh Malerman, Award Winning Author of Bird Box
“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
“Masterful storytelling.”–Bookish
“Gritty, masterful suspense…Lee Child, you’ve met your match.”—Tosca Lee, NY Times Bestselling Author
“J.D. Barker has conjured a modern cauldron of horrors based on historical fact.”– The Tomb of Dark Delights
“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
“A terrifying and compelling prequel that reveals how a young Bram Stoker confronted evil to craft a masterpiece.”–Library Journal
“Barker knows how to evoke chilling imagery and will have readers anxiously looking over their shoulders with each terrifying “clickity, click, click.”–Library Journal
“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
“It is clear Barker is a name to watch in horror.”–The Horror Bookshelf
“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

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© 2018 J.D. Barker