Review by Plebe -- The Dark Web Murders by Brian O'Hare

[Plebe]

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

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Judge Trevor Neeson, a prominent and well-respected pillar of his community, is murdered in his home. His violated corpse is found after a lavish gathering of the creme de la crème of society at his residence - all of who are members of a secret club dedicated to all manner of debauchery. Unbeknownst to Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan assigned to the case, this is merely the start of a rash of violent murders in Northern Ireland perpetrated by a particularly clever individual.

There are no witnesses, no prints or forensic details at the scene and no apparent relationship between the victims. The only thing connecting the murders being the police truncheon brutally shoved into the victims, post-mortem. There's also the blog on the dark web belonging to the killer, describing in gory detail the circumstances of each murder and the murderer's supposed justification for his actions. With the bodies piling up and his suspect pool ever-expanding, Chief Inspector Sheehan and his team of detectives are in a race against the clock to catch this disturbed serial killer who will stop at nothing until he has meted out "Justice" to those who have supposedly wronged him.

The Dark Web Murders is a crime thriller by Brian O'Hare. It's the fourth installment in The Inspector Sheehan Mystery Series, though each book can be read as a standalone piece. I must confess going into this I had reservations. In my experience, the mystery genre is a difficult one to do justice. The writer must leave enough clues so that in hindsight, after the big reveal, the reader can put it all together and wonder how the "obvious" signs were missed. The writer has to achieve this without giving away the identity of the culprit before the reveal. This, quite frankly, is a delicate juggling act very few can manage successfully. Often, I'm able to see the big twist coming a mile away and able to identify the culprit. Imagine my surprise when finally, at the big reveal, I was stunned to find out who the killer was.

Every character in this book was well developed, each with layers to their personality. They were surprisingly fleshed out with information about their personal life that didn't directly affect the story thrown in. Consequently, one can get a feel for the character, as opposed to them being merely two-dimensional tools that exist solely for a throwaway sentence that precludes a Eureka moment for our protagonist. Instead, we have a protagonist who is supported by other characters of varying importance to the story but still manages to feel like they belong and are vital to the team. The book also had a lot of characters, and I worried beforehand about being able to keep them all straight. However, the character development was so well done that I had no problem identifying each character.

Also, I particularly found the arguments by the killer on the concept of justice and the psychology of retribution quite compelling and stimulating. I was led to ponder, long after I had closed the book for the night, on the very premise of justice and satisfaction. These were concepts I had never had cause to examine before carefully. Nevertheless, the killer went on to ruin the effect by gleefully narrating his evident excitement by the kills he's made, proving he takes pleasure in his crimes. This is directly at odds with his entire thesis.

If I absolutely had to find one thing I disliked about this book, it was the introductory information page after the acknowledgements page. I found this page convoluted given I hadn't read a word of the book and discovered it to be superfluous at best the further I got into the story. The author's narrating style brought each character to life, and I had no issues following the stories or the characters. I know I'm reaching just to find one complaint; the book was just that good. Also, for some reason, chapter twenty-nine was missing from the book. Only when I was done did I see it at the end in the indexes, clearly an error of some kind.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The Dark Web Murders is perfectly paced with each chapter ending on a cliff hanger. It is a page-turner that will have you hooked from start to finish. The character development was masterful, the arguments on the true nature of justice insightful and thought-provoking. The book provides compelling glimpses into Ireland's bloody past and insight to a post-IRA Ireland that could only come from someone with first-hand experience.

This book is an excellent read if you're in the mood for a classic "whodunit," or if you're a fan of intrigue, action, and mystery. This book isn't suitable for children. Though there are no sex scenes, the descriptions of the murders, as well as some of the activities of the club, are quite vivid and gory and might be offensive to some people's sensibilities.

It was professionally edited as I couldn't spot any errors. This is a masterful work that left me with one burning question: how is Brian O'Hare not more well-known? I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

******
The Dark Web Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[tristenb]

Awesome review! I love your writing style. I recently finished reading this book. I only rated it 3 out of 4 stars because I found the first 100 pages of the book to be very slow. There was too much focus on who was going to interview each of the suspects. I also found it difficult to keep track of all the characters, especially the police officers, the majority of which weren't important to the storyline. However, I agree that Brian O'Hare did a great job keeping the murderer a secret until the end. Even though, like you said, it seems like it should have been obvious all along.

[Reynaa]

Your review definitely has me wanting to read this book! I am also one who can spot the "whodunnit" quickly so I am intrigued by your description of the authors ability to create an actual mystery.
Thanks for your great review!