The Dark Web Murders by Brian O’Hare.

Description

I AM NEMEIN. I AM EMOTIONALLY DETACHED FROM MY KILLINGS. I AM NOT, THEREFORE, A MURDERER. I AM AN INSTRUMENT OF NEMESIS, A PUNISHER.
This is a theme running through a number of blogs on the Dark Web, written by a serial killer. He is highly intelligent and employs philosophical argument to justify a series of gruesome murders. However, he describes the killings in lurid detail, and with such gloating relish, that he utterly negates his delusion of detachment and reveals himself to be a cold-blooded, narcissistic psychopath.

Sheehan and his team rush headlong down a series of blind alleys in the pursuit of the psychopath, who continues to murder his victims with impunity. He is fiendishly clever, utterly ruthless, and tests Sheehan’s famed intuition to the limit. Indeed, Sheehan only learns the truth during a horrific climax when some members of his team experience a most harrowing ‘laceration of the soul’ that they will never be able to forget. It is unlikely that the reader will either.

I came across this review by HusainNecklace52 and thought it worthy of a share. It sums up the book nicely and why it has a a total of 152 reviews on both Amazon UK and Amazon US.

The Dark Web Murders by Brian O’Hare is a book weaved around a series of gruesome and violent murders committed by a psychotic dark web blogger who enjoys murdering people. He then narrates his own personal account of the fiendish events to his viewers in excruciating detail, backed up with philosophical arguments in order to justify his acts.

Detective Jim Sheehan and his task force are burdened with solving the cases before another body of an elite member of the society drops dead. However, as Sheehan and his task force plunge deeper into the gruesome deaths of the elite, dark and unnerving secrets surface that will shock the entire city to its very core. Will Sheehan and his people be able to stop the dark web murderer before he moves on to his final big kill?

What I immediately liked about the book was that it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it truly is – that is a classic whodunit. The book, while discussing several philosophical notions about justice, revenge, hatred, etc., adhere to this initial and basic concept which allows the readers to explore the story and the characters without being lost in the complicated plot of the book. It provides a safe path for the readers to delve deeper into the characters without having the fear to feel disjointed with the overall plot of the book.

Speaking about the plot, the initial storyline of the book is very basic. It is something that almost every murder mystery novel has portrayed throughout the years. However, the manner in which Brian O’Hare portrays it is unique and enthralling. He uses his character – the psychotic murderer – to explore the mind and psyche of a killer; to comprehend a murderer’s motives and justification for their violent acts. This is where the author steals the show and I absolutely love how well Brian O’Hare pulls this off.

Furthermore, because the book is largely plot-driven, the readers feel more excited about the coming chapters and curious about what to expect as each chapter ends with a small cliff hanger, leaving the readers guessing and craving for more.

Another fascinating aspect of the novel is the author’s rich and powerful writing style. His ability to switch between modern writing and classical writing is particularly impressive. He displays in-depth literature knowledge through the series of blog posts supposed to be written by the killer. To some readers this may seem to be a negative aspect, however, to me personally it felt like an add-on to the spectacular reading experience provided by the author. Needless to say, the language used is eloquent, fresh, and stimulating. It balances very well between the lines of simplicity and extreme convulsion – making it all the more enjoyable and enticing to read.

The characters are similarly well crafted – especially the murderer. The readers do not seem to be bored hearing them debate and discuss and they never seem to be annoying to watch. The way they react and act to certain situations thrown at them throughout the course of the book, likewise, seems very natural and real. At no point do the characters seem sketchy and unreal.

That being said, there is nothing that I didn’t like about the book. I absolutely loved it and recommend it to everyone who indulges in the crime and thriller genre along with those who would want to allow themselves to be sucked into a well-organized and executed book over the weekend.

I give The Dark Web Murders by Brian O’ Hare four out of four stars for its well-executed plot, memorable characters, fantastic use of language, and overall a great reading experience. The book is also professionally edited as I could find no typos or grammatical errors. Moreover, the book does have a minimal amount of profanity along with a few details which may not be suitable for younger readers. Alas, besides that I highly recommend this book to all!

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The Dark Web Murders
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