This book was just okay for me. I love his 4MK series, This book just didn't have the same style that his others have. This wont stop me from reading his future books, I hope they are more like the 4MK series. I gave this one 3 stars and will recommend to friends.

I wasn’t drawn in and flying through the pages like I normally am with a JD novel. Something felt like it was missing but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I did enjoy the plot and I felt the characters were intriguing. The story had a nice climax towards the end and a satisfying ending.

I couldn’t get into this and I really tried. I’m a huge fan of JD Barker so I thought it was a no brainer that I’d enjoy it. I just didn’t connect with the story. I’m going to continue reading books by him though.

Detective Jena Campbell of Pittsburgh is credited with putting Silas Halvard, known as "the Leviticus killer", behind bars five years previously. Now someone calling himself Azrael has appeared on social media claiming responsibility for the murders of a number of the jurors who found Silas guilty. The methods of death include stoning and also allude to the 10 plagues as prophesized in the bible. The governor's son has also been kidnapped and Azrael is threatening to kill him unless Silas is released.

This book is well written and very descriptive, especially when it comes to depicting the violence involved. However, for some reason, I had trouble concentrating on the story. Maybe it had to do with the number of characters but nearly every time we came back to Jack (the governor's son), I'd be thinking 'Who's Jack?' and it took me a minute or two to place him. I had a wild guess early on as to who the perpetrator, Azreal, really was and darned if I wasn't right but he wasn't as easy to capture as I expected. I don't know a whole lot about the bible so I did some research and I'm still confused. It seems like a number of biblical references were put together to come up with the method and reasons for the killings. There's also a lot to do with virtual gaming which threw me for a bit until I realized what was going on. My rating is a bit on the low side compared to the majority of reviews so be sure to read some of those.

This novel is a collaboration between J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle with whom I'm unfamiliar but I think I prefer Mr. Barker's standalone books.

Thank you to Hampton Creek Press via Netgalley for providing access to an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: November 26, 2024

Ten days to keep a lie.
Ten plagues if you deny.
Ten ways to watch them die.

Few authors do serial killers quite like J. D. Barker and I am HERE FOR IT! This was a fantastic and suspenseful cat and mouse tale which kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. Be warned, this one is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is in fact rather intense, dark and brutal. But you have to admire the creativity of these author.s

Heavy Are the Stones had me hooked immediately and didn't let go the whole way through. It was full of suspense, drama, action, and surprising twists.

J.D. Barker has been a favourite author of mine since I read the 4MK trilogy a couple of years ago. I also loved Behind A Closed Door. This book was no exception. I loved it.
I haven't read any books by Christine before this, but she's definitely on my radar now.

Jena was a great main character. She was strong, determined, and complex.
The authors wrote well together. I'm hopeful they'll bring out a sequel. 🤞

I highly recommend.

4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, Hampton Creek Press, J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle, for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although this held my interest, it's not one of my favorites. That may have more to do with the co-writing though. I had the perp figured out immediately when the character was introduced but that was okay with this story. It's written well enough and while I did like the ending I felt there was something missing. It was good, just not up to the standards expected in a J.D. Barker story.

I finally found my kindle (panic bought a new one the same day I finally found mine) so that I could get back on top of my ARCs.
I found this to be a really good read. It’s twisty and thought provoking. Not quite a police procedural but very much like one but with very good thriller/mystery vibes that I sometimes find lacking in straight police procedural books.
Honestly, very much a horrifying read in that we see so much of what has been happening in society today……religious zeal turned into something twisted and scary.
This is a very quick read. So if you’re looking for a short thrilling police style read this should be a great one for you.
I received an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

I am a huge fan of J D Barker's 4MK Thriller series and I was prepared for all the gore and brutal killings. He has co-authored the book with Christine Daigle and I was looking forward to discovering her writing style.

Detective Jena Campbell is praised for locking up the Leviticus killer 5 years ago but is now taunted by someone who is willing to kill people until the Leviticus killer is released from prison. Detective Campbell wasn't totally honest about his conviction and is struggling with her own moral dilemma.

The premise of this one is quite interesting. The murders have a religious tie-in and the victims are stoned to death. The identity of the killer is known early on but I was curious to know the connection of the infamous killer and the acts committed against the current victims.

The main character Jena was well fleshed out and I loved how the authors not only made the reader privy to her thought process but also to how she carried out the investigation and how her past decisions weighed on her.

There is a right amount of tension, dread and danger. It took me a while to get into but once it had me in it's grasp I just could not stop reading.

I recommend this to anyone who loves a slow paced thriller and are not faint-hearted. Thank you @netgalley and Hampton Creek Press for the ARC to read and review.

What a great cat and mouse game. Full of suspense that had me on the edge of my seat. Interesting reveal towards the end helps wrap it all up. I liked the use of the biblical references.

J.D. Barker how I can I say this? Is a brilliant writer that will keep you on the edge of your seat and waiting more!! His books are page turners. This book
Just like his others are written well. Unpredictable and just ask around amazing read. Can’t wait for more from him.

HEAVY ARE THE STONES is a mystery thriller novel by New York Times and international best-selling author of numerous novels, J.D. Barker, including DRACUL and the wildly popular 4MK series, and FORSAKEN. Heavy Are the Stones is by J.D. Barker with co-writer Christine Daigle.

His Standalone Novels Include:
Forsaken (2014)
Dracul (2018) (with Dacre Stoker)
She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be (2020)
The Coast-to-Coast Murders (2020) (with James Patterson)
A Caller's Game (2020)
The Noise (2021) (with James Patterson)
Death of the Black Widow (2021) (with James Patterson)
Behind A Closed Door (2024)
Confessions of the Dead (2024) (with James Patterson)
Heavy Are The Stones (2024) (with Christine Daigle)
We Don't Talk About Emma (2025) (with E J Findorff)
The Writer (2025) (with James Patterson)
aka The Imperfect Murder
Something I Keep Upstairs (2025)
The Lies We Tell (2025) (with Richard Bailey)

This is my review of Heavy Are the Stones.

Ten days to keep a lie.
Ten plagues if you deny.
Ten ways to watch them die.

Five years ago, Pittsburgh Detective, Jena Campbell arrested the Leviticus killer and was responsible for putting him behind bars. But there is now a new killer, a strange man on social media called Azrael, who wants Leviticus released from prison or people will die and Jena must confess to the lie she has kept secret.

This forces Jena to come to terms with her past. She must now turn to Leviticus for help to identity Azrael, before this madman murders the Governor’s 17-year- old son, Jack or any more of the Jury members from Leviticus’s trial that convicted him.

Thus begins a cat and mouse game with suspense building.

As this book deals with violence and brutal scenes, it is not for the squeamish. I found this book slow to get into but then the tempo changed.

Many thanks to the authors, Hampton Creek Press and NetGalley, for my digital copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s fast-paced, which I love in thrillers, and has a couple of interesting open endings which I hope lead to more stories featuring these characters. What I found really interesting was the VR affecting RL; and how video games were used to perpetrate a spree of hair raising crimes. Very interesting!

Really good, fast-paced, keeping-you-on-your-toes story -- murder, dark and twisty characters, and a splash of science fiction. I was sucked in from the beginning partly, I think, because I was raised in an evangelical community and I'm always fascinated with the portrayal of how those teachings play out in people's lives, and Barker & Daigle do interesting things here with that. There were great twists as well that I wasn't able to predict at all. If I have one gripe, it's that I feel like there was a lack of real accountability for the MC's actions in the investigation of the suspect of the "flashback" crimes, but it did work insofar as it helped develop her character. All in all, a solid read.

As a fan of JD Barker's work, especially She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be, I can't help but have certain expectations and unfortunately those were not at all met in Heavy Are The Stones. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I very much doubt he wrote much, if any, of it. And so that that doesn't only leave me feeling disappointed but also cheated.

The pace is all over the place. There are parts that are incredibly repetitive and tedious. Despite the angle of having two serial killers, which should be massively exciting, Heavy Are The Stones completely failed to grab me. This turned out to be quite the struggle for me and I must admit there was quite a bit of skimming going on from my end.

I won't be reading anymore Barker collaborations. But I do hope that at some point he will come up with something as brilliant as the 4K series again.

A strong thriller which presents the plot in an interesting way, with different points of view and “sources.” At times, it seemed a little less smooth and almost disjointed, which may be part and parcel of multiple authorship. But the story is a genuine thriller and I really enjoyed it.

EXCERPT: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Monday, April 10
Actor Michael O'Neill, 46, Found Dead
by Matt Burkhart
A body found on Saturday in a field behind the Carrie Blast Furnaces was identified today by the city medical examiner as that of Michael O'Neill, Emmy Award winning actor and star of the hit show Werewolves of Paris. The cause of death was reported as blunt force trauma to the skull. Michael kept a home in Mt Lebanon. He was 46.
Mr O'Neill was initially found by a source who wished to remain anonymous. The source shared that, upon discovery, Mr O'Neill was buried in the field up to the middle of his chest, with his arms below ground. Multiple rocks about the size of a large fist were found at the scene and appeared to have been thrown at the body . . .

ABOUT 'HEAVY ARE THE STONES': Facing the truth can be deadlier than facing the killer.

Ten days to keep a lie.
Ten plagues if you deny.
Ten ways to watch them die.

Five years ago, when Detective Jena Campbell put the Leviticus Killer behind bars, she locked her darkest secret away with him. Something never meant to surface. Something better left to rot with the madman who had destroyed so many lives.

When a strange man calling himself Azrael appears on social media with threats to unleash ten plagues, ten deaths, in ten days, unless Leviticus is released, Jena is forced to reopen that door and face her past.

Unable to share what she knows, she turns to the only man who can help her find Azrael before he kills again, the man she condemned. Jena quickly learns the only thing more terrifying than facing him, is facing herself.

MY THOUGHTS: I gobbled up the first half of this book greedily, but then . . . the wheels fell off the wagon and I found myself struggling to read on. The narrative changes from one of thrilling, chilling and tense action overflowing with possibilities to court reports, juror lists and biblical quotes. I mean, come on, just how many times can we read the same juror list? I succumbed to skimming these as they added little or nothing to the narrative and, imho, killed the momentum.

The book does pick up again towards the end, but it just didn't grip me to the same extent.

I thought the plagues were an interesting and innovative touch, but the exploration of the killings could have done with a lot more depth.

I love Barker's writing but much of this book just doesn't have the subtlety and nuances I have come to associate with his writing. I don't know quite how books are cowritten, or how much of this book each author wrote, but I would be interested to find out more about the process. I would also like to know why. . . why the need for a coauthor?

I would think carefully before reading another book coauthored by this particular combination of authors.

⭐⭐⭐

#HeavyAreTheStones #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHORS: A note from J.D.
As a child I was always told the dark could not hurt me, that the shadows creeping in the corners of my room were nothing more than just that, shadows. The sounds nothing more than the settling of our old home, creaking as it found comfort in the earth only to move again when it became restless, if ever so slightly. I would never sleep without closing the closet door, oh no; the door had to be shut tight. The darkness lurking inside needed to be held at bay, the whispers silenced. Rest would only come after I checked under the bed at least twice and quickly wrapped myself in the safety of the sheets (which no monster could penetrate), pulling them tight over my head.

I would never go down to the basement.

Never.

I had seen enough movies to know better, I had read enough stories to know what happens to little boys who wandered off into dark, dismal places alone. And there were stories, so many stories.

Reading was my sanctuary, a place where I could disappear for hours at a time, lost in the pages of a good book. It didn’t take long before I felt the urge to create my own.

I first began to write as a child, spinning tales of ghosts and gremlins, mystical places and people. For most of us, that’s where it begins—as children we have such wonderful imaginations, some of us have simply found it hard to grow up. I’ve spent countless hours trying to explain to friends and family why I enjoy it, why I would rather lock myself in a quiet little room and put pen to paper for hours at a time than throw around a baseball or simply watch television. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I want to do just that, sometimes I wish for it, but even then the need to write is always there in the back of my mind, the characters are impatiently tapping their feet, waiting their turn, wanting to be heard. I wake in the middle of the night and reach for the pad beside my bed, sometimes scrawling page after page of their words, their lives. Then they’re quiet, if only for a little while. To stop would mean madness, or even worse—the calm, numbing sanity I see in others as they slip through the day without purpose. They don’t know what it’s like, they don’t understand. Something as simple as a pencil can open the door to a new world, can create life or experience death. Writing can take you to places you’ve never been, introduce you to people you’ve never met, take you back to when you first saw those shadows in your room, when you first heard the sounds mumbling ever so softly from your closet, and it can show you what uttered them. It can scare the hell out of you, and that’s when you know it’s good.

Barker resides in coastal New Hampshire with his wife, Dayna, and their daughter, Ember.

Christine Daigle is a multi-genre author. Besides writing, she co-hosts the Writers, Ink podcast. By day, Christine is a clinical neuropsychologist whose work includes brain-computer interfaces, translating brain signals into commands to control technology. She lives in Ontario with her husband, son, and a mercurial cat.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hampton Creek Press via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Heavy Are the Stones by J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle for review. All opinions expressed in this revie are entirely my own personal opinions.

Instead of jumping right into my review, let’s talk about expectations for a second or two. First, I love all of J.D. Barker’s books—even the ones where he is a coauthor with James Patterson. However, I think associating with Mr. Patterson gave Mr. Barker ideas. He thought that he too could just write a book plot and get an “unknown” author to write the rest of the book. It’s a win for both authors. The plotter gets to publish a book without the time consuming writing. The other author gets a ready made audience of fans of the more famous author. It seems like a win-win situation, right? However, what about the public, who is kind of sucked in by the bait-and-switch? Can Heavy Are The Stones live up to the expectations of the famous author’s fans?

Short answer? Unfortunately, no. While reading, I kept thinking about how much better the book would have been if it had written completely by Mr. Barker. It is hard to imagine how such a compelling plot could be such a slog, but somehow this book manages it. Part of it is set in a virtual reality game that is life or death to its participant. Yet the sequences are surprisingly not compelling and, dare I say it, boring. The conclusion gets back on track but it is like walking through quicksand to get there.

Overall, the plot here is great and the ending is good. If it was just written solely by the coauthor, it would rate 3.5 stars. However, my expectations, and my heartfelt desire for no more Barker collaborations, forces me to give Heavy Are The Stones a disappointed 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Five years ago, Silas Halvard, a brutal serial killer nicknamed the Leviticus Killer who uses religion to validate his actions, was caught and sentenced to life following evidence found by Detective Jena Campbell. Now a new killer calling himself Azrael, has emerged, who has kidnapped the Governor’s son Jack and is threatening to take lives until Silas is given a pardon. Jena is determined not to give in to his demands and find Jack before he too is killed.

This is a fast paced thriller with social media, gaming and VR technology play an important role as Azrael shows no mercy killing off his targets one by one. The plot is based on a very original premise, but I found it just a tad unbelievable that one person could be setting up and doing everything described by himself as well as finding out where his victims were moved to. He seemed too all-seeing, all-knowing to be true! His character was never really fleshed out to the point where I understood why he was doing what he was doing. However, if you can overlook that, it’s still a gripping read with a very suspenseful ending.

"It's simple. Nine days. Nine games."

These are the chilling words Jack Taylor hears from the person who kidnapped him:
When he wins, his dad will get a message. If his dad plays ball and does what is asked of him, Jack will go free. If he doesn’t...the game ends...

Jenna Campbell gets a call early on a Sunday morning. Governor Ted Taylor's son has gone missing, and she and her partner, Mary Sarkis, must look into his disappearance discreetly.

Jenna had been responsible for apprehending Silas Halvard, who was believed to be the Leviticus Killer, nearly five years prior. Eleven male victims were found over a span of eleven months, all buried to their chests and stoned to death. They were all buried with a gemstone in their hands and believed to be involved in sex crimes or adultery. Silas, a professor of Biblical Studies, was convicted of only one murder, and many people believe he is either a copycat or innocent..

There appears to be a concerning situation unfolding, where someone is targeting the jurors who found Silas guilty. This person is making demands for Silas's release and for Jenna to confess to events that transpired five years ago. How are these two cases connected? And how is it possible that this person is always one step ahead of the police?

When the name J.D. Barker graces a book, one can anticipate a remarkable storytelling experience. This particular book stands out as another exceptionally thrilling psychological thriller that held me captivated throughout. I am curious to know if there will be a sequel, as the narrative leaves room for further exploration.