Review by bespectacledpetal -- The Dark Web Murders

[bespectacledpetal]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Dark Web Murders" by Brian O'Hare.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Dark Web Murders is a superb mystery. This is the fourth book in the series but only the first one I read. I can safely say after reading this I am definitely going to start this series from the beginning.

Brian O'Hare is an excellent writer and so he was able to expertly weave a tale that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. The twist at the end was exquisite. I love when every unanswered question is answered in the big reveal at the end.

So down to the nitty-gritty: What is it about. The book is about a series of gruesome murders which are being investigated by DCI Sheehan and his team of detectives. The killer is slowly killing off members of a secret club known as the 'Fulfilment for the Enlightened Club' in the most horrifying way. Due to the horrific deeds the club is responsible for, the team thinks it may be the epicenter of the murders. To make things worse, he/she is writing every gory detail of the slayings in a blog on the Dark Web, a seedy part of the internet world in which any form of sick desire can be satisfied. The team is desperately trying to find the killer before his/her end game. However, they are confused when he kills two people who are not connected to the club at all. Are they on the right track or are they completely wrong about the killer and his/her motives?

I should make one thing very clear here. This book is for adults and adults only. The book starts with a prologue with a scene of sexual violence which seems disconnected to the rest of the story until the very end. It set the tone for the rest of the book with many awful descriptions of crime peppered throughout.

I liked the fact that the author did a glossary defining the acronyms of the police service of Northern Ireland. That is how I was able to understand that DCI stood for Detective Chief Inspector. He was also kind enough to list the characters of the book with a short description. He even went so far as to explain that because he is British, the spelling and common terms are UK. The character list was particularly useful because at first, I found myself being a bit overwhelmed by the number of names, especially in the detectives' meetings.

The character development was well done. I liked the fact that I felt as if I was able to actually hear Kane's monotone or Dr. Jones' deep voice. I was also able to feel Kevin Lane's fear in the prologue which was an integral part of the story. DCI Sheehan is shown to be incredibly astute with his team depending heavily on his instincts to solve cases. The rest of the detectives are quite intelligent with the exception of Sergeant McCullough who is shown to be a bit slow.

There was one scene which confused me until I realized the author used the wrong name accidentally. He mixed up the names of two murder victims which led to me rereading it quite a bit before realizing what was wrong. That was my only issue with this book. I thought about taking a star off my rating for it but it only happened once and it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, this was a well-written story. The element of suspense was well used by the writer with the big reveal at the end being well placed. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars

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The Dark Web Murders
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[rumik]

I've read this book as well, I especially agree with you on the characters! Each of them had their own personality that felt so real. Thanks for the review!

[Erin Painter Baker]

I don't read mysteries/thrillers in general, but I think it's great that the book was good enough that you now want to go back and read the previous books in the series.

[bespectacledpetal]

I've read this book as well, I especially agree with you on the characters! Each of them had their own personality that felt so real. Thanks for the review!

Thank you for your thoughts

[bespectacledpetal]

I don't read mysteries/thrillers in general, but I think it's great that the book was good enough that you now want to go back and read the previous books in the series.

That's the sign of a good book. Lol. Thank you for your comment