Review by Phg_Ngx -- The Dark Web Murders by Brian O'Hare
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Review by Phg_Ngx -- The Dark Web Murders by Brian O'Hare
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Dark Web Murders" by Brian O'Hare.]
A special party was held in Judge Neeson’s house, gathering a whole bunch of elites including a barrister, a millionaire, a surgeon, and even a gambling machine trader. In the middle of that party, Judge Neeson received a call from a blackmailer. The next morning, his assistant found Neeson’s corpse in his study. The Judge died by a single hard blow to the head. And there was a truncheon protruding from his rectum, obviously a gift that was left behind by the murderer.
The members of the party were put under suspicion, alongside some criminals who issued death threats against Judge Neeson. But the investigation started to veer when the second death happened. The same pattern, but there was no connection between the next victim to the judge. What is this elite group and what were they actually doing in Judge Neeson’s house instead of the reason they gave: ‘Brexit’? What is the link between those victims? Why was there a truncheon thrusted into the victim’s rectum?
Things became more mysterious when the detective team discovered a blog on the dark web that detailedly described those murders and lengthily ratiocinated the motives of the murderer's actions.
The Dark Web Murders is the fourth in The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries by Brian O’Hare. Since the author spends a great deal of effort to describe all characters (old and new) and make things clear (from the role of each detective in the team to the way they operate), this book can easily be counted as a stand-alone novel. I haven’t read the other three, but still find this one enjoyable.
Thus, this book is even convincing enough for me to try all the series. I’m a fan of detective novels and this book reminds me pretty much of Stephen King’s or Jeffery Deaver's works, especially the pace of the story. If you like serial killers who have clear patterns and psychological problems, if you are into crime fiction or mystery fiction which is long and elaborately written, you definitely should try this one.
My very first impression of this book is its exquisite choice of words. I love the flow of those words: beautiful and eloquent. There’re many excellent psychological or scene descriptions that amazed me. In addition, the author provides wonderful writings on justice, revenge, hate, or justification in the form of blog posts written by the murderer. He even shows his knowledge on psychology by portraying and explaining psychological symptoms of a narcissist and psychopath.
Other things I like: detailed descriptions on the process of solving a case and the way detectives work together (how they discuss, how they divide duties,...); the theme of the book about gay, transgender, and morality issues in today society.
However, I have to say that it’s quite easy to reckon who is the killer. It’s just a work of guessing, through the way the characters had been described and the hints the author gave out; but still, the plot twist is weak to my taste. I was expecting more and the ending was a bit disappointing to me.
And there is this character that puts a big question in my mind. The commentaries about him seem irrelevant to the story. It might do a job on distracting me from the true identity of the killer; but in the end, I can’t comprehend what is the purpose of mentioning him at all. This character reminds me of a concept called Chekhov’s gun: "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off”. Or, maybe he would have a bigger role in the next book of the series?
I give it 4 out of 4 stars. I did think about giving it 3.5 stars because of the incomprehensible character and the unsatisfied ending. But, I enjoyed reading this book a lot, so 4 it is.
******
The Dark Web Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A special party was held in Judge Neeson’s house, gathering a whole bunch of elites including a barrister, a millionaire, a surgeon, and even a gambling machine trader. In the middle of that party, Judge Neeson received a call from a blackmailer. The next morning, his assistant found Neeson’s corpse in his study. The Judge died by a single hard blow to the head. And there was a truncheon protruding from his rectum, obviously a gift that was left behind by the murderer.
The members of the party were put under suspicion, alongside some criminals who issued death threats against Judge Neeson. But the investigation started to veer when the second death happened. The same pattern, but there was no connection between the next victim to the judge. What is this elite group and what were they actually doing in Judge Neeson’s house instead of the reason they gave: ‘Brexit’? What is the link between those victims? Why was there a truncheon thrusted into the victim’s rectum?
Things became more mysterious when the detective team discovered a blog on the dark web that detailedly described those murders and lengthily ratiocinated the motives of the murderer's actions.
The Dark Web Murders is the fourth in The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries by Brian O’Hare. Since the author spends a great deal of effort to describe all characters (old and new) and make things clear (from the role of each detective in the team to the way they operate), this book can easily be counted as a stand-alone novel. I haven’t read the other three, but still find this one enjoyable.
Thus, this book is even convincing enough for me to try all the series. I’m a fan of detective novels and this book reminds me pretty much of Stephen King’s or Jeffery Deaver's works, especially the pace of the story. If you like serial killers who have clear patterns and psychological problems, if you are into crime fiction or mystery fiction which is long and elaborately written, you definitely should try this one.
My very first impression of this book is its exquisite choice of words. I love the flow of those words: beautiful and eloquent. There’re many excellent psychological or scene descriptions that amazed me. In addition, the author provides wonderful writings on justice, revenge, hate, or justification in the form of blog posts written by the murderer. He even shows his knowledge on psychology by portraying and explaining psychological symptoms of a narcissist and psychopath.
Other things I like: detailed descriptions on the process of solving a case and the way detectives work together (how they discuss, how they divide duties,...); the theme of the book about gay, transgender, and morality issues in today society.
However, I have to say that it’s quite easy to reckon who is the killer. It’s just a work of guessing, through the way the characters had been described and the hints the author gave out; but still, the plot twist is weak to my taste. I was expecting more and the ending was a bit disappointing to me.
And there is this character that puts a big question in my mind. The commentaries about him seem irrelevant to the story. It might do a job on distracting me from the true identity of the killer; but in the end, I can’t comprehend what is the purpose of mentioning him at all. This character reminds me of a concept called Chekhov’s gun: "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off”. Or, maybe he would have a bigger role in the next book of the series?
I give it 4 out of 4 stars. I did think about giving it 3.5 stars because of the incomprehensible character and the unsatisfied ending. But, I enjoyed reading this book a lot, so 4 it is.
******
The Dark Web Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Waves Break (on Unknown Shores) by Barry Litherland
