Der Autor J. D. Barker ist durch seine "The Fourth Monkey"-Thrillerreihe einer breiteren Masse an Leser*innen bekannt geworden, doch wer von seinem Buch mit dem etwas sperrigen Titel "She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be" eine ähnliche Geschichte erwartet, wird schnell überrascht werden - denn dieses Buch ist vor allem eines: anders.

Was schon vom Titel her klingt wie ein düsteres Märchen fängt auch ungefähr so ähnlich an: Jack Thatch wächst bei seiner Tante Jo auf, nachdem seine Eltern bei einem schrecklichen Autounfall ums Leben kamen, als Jack noch ein Kleinkind war. Für den Jungen und seine Tante ist das Leben nicht gerade leicht und Jo muss viele Extra-Schichten in einem Diner schieben, um sich und ihren Neffen halbwegs über die Runden zu bringen und die Miete für ihre kleine Wohnung zahlen zu können - was irgendwie immer gerade so klappt. Tante Jo ist dabei oft streng, aber alles in allem sind beide ein eingespieltes Team, sodass Jack trotz der traurigen Familiengeschichte und finanzieller Sorgen recht behütet aufwächst.

Mit 8 Jahren nimmt Jacks Leben dann eine weitere schicksalhafte Wendung, als er beim jährlichen Besuch der Gräber seiner Eltern - immer an deren Todestag, dem 8. August - auf dem Friedhof ein gleichaltriges Mädchen entdeckt, das ganz allein auf einer Bank sitzt und "Great Expectations" von Charles Dickens liest. Auf Jack wirkt Stella sofort eine seltsame und unerklärliche Faszination aus und auch wenn die Achtjährige nicht besonders freundlich und vielleicht sogar etwas arrogant ist, so lässt diese kurze Begegnung den Jungen einfach nicht los und er versucht in den Tagen und Wochen danach, dieses Mädchen auf dem Friedhof wiederzusehen - doch es dauert genau ein Jahr, bis das Schicksal die beiden wieder zusammenführt...

Zugegeben, auf gewisse Weise mag diese plötzliche Obsession als Grundlage einer Geschichte befremdlich wirken, was sich aus dieser zufälligen Begegnung entwickelt ist jedoch keine verstörende Stalking-Story, sondern eine Geschichte, die sich kaum einem Genre zuordnen lässt und in der alles möglich scheint. Auf der einen Seite liegt "She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be" irgendwo zwischen magisch und morbide und durchbricht auf jeden Fall die Grenzen der Realität, dazu kommen Elemente, die sich anfühlen wie aus einem Superhelden-Comic im Stil von "The Umbrella Academy" entnommen, angereichert mit rätselhaften wissenschaftlichen Experimente und einer offenbar groß angelegten Verschwörung. Dazwischen ist Barkers Roman auch noch eine bewegende Familiengeschichte, lässt Romantik ebenfalls nicht zu kurz kommen und erzählt von besonderen Freundschaften mit Höhen und Tiefen. Und zu all dem gesellt sich auch noch eine Art Thriller-Handlung, in der ein unkonventionelles Ermittlertrio bestehend aus einem Detective, seiner jüngeren Partnerin und einem Mentor im Ruhestand versucht, eine bizarre Mordserie aufzuklären, bei der komplett verbrannte Leichen auftauchen, deren Kleidung und Umgebung jedoch immer komplett unversehrt ist - und diese Todesfälle ereignen sich ausgerechnet stets am 8. August, dem Todestag von Jacks Eltern und den jährlichen Zusammentreffen von Jack und Stella...

Das alles klingt nach einer sehr ungewöhnlichen Mischung, die aber erstaunlich gut funktioniert und in der alle Elemente hervorragend ineinander greifen. Das ist umso bemerkenswerter, da dieser Roman den satten Umfang von fast 800 Seiten hat - davon ist jedoch keine einzige zu viel und es gibt nicht eine auch nur annähernd langweilige Phase. Das Erzähltempo ist zwar eher ruhig, trotzdem passieren auf so vielen unterschiedlichen Ebenen so viele spannende, interessante, berührende, lustige, traurige, ungewöhnliche und faszinierende Dinge, dass man regelrecht durch die Seiten fliegt. Hier sei zudem erwähnt, dass sich die Geschichte über mehrere Jahre und letzten Endes sogar Jahrzehnte erstreckt, sodass man wirklich das Gefühl hat, die Hauptfiguren durch ihr ganzes Leben mit allen Höhe- und Tiefpunkten zu begleiten und ihren Reifeprozess zu verfolgen - der sich auch nicht immer unbedingt nur zum Guten entwickelt.

Vom Verlag wird dieses Märchen-/Fantasy-/Thriller-/SciFi-/Horror-/Drama-Epos (oder wie auch immer man diese Genre-sprengende Werk bezeichnen möchte) mit den frühen Werken eines Stephen King oder Dean Koontz verglichen. Das sind große Fußstapfen für einen noch vergleichsweise jungen Autor, allerdings wird das Buch diesem Vergleich durchaus gerecht. J. D. Barker hat hier wirklich ein Meisterwerk geschaffen, das eine einzigartige und unvorhersehbare Geschichte erzählt, bei der man von der ersten Seite an immer wissen will, wie es weiter geht und wie die vielen Handlungsstränge irgendwann einmal zusammenpassen - und der Autor liefert eine Auflösung, die keinesfalls enttäuscht, alle Fragen zufriedenstellend beantworten kann und einen mehr als würdigen Abschluss für diese in jeder Hinsicht besondere Erzählung bietet.

Da bleibt eigentlich nur zu hoffen, dass sich auch die deutschen Verlage dieses außergewöhnliche Buch nicht entgehen lassen und sich trotz der gewissen Eigenwilligkeit an das Buch herantrauen. Wenn dann noch irgendwann mal eine Hörbuchversion mit David Nathan produziert wird, bleiben bei mir eigentlich keine Wünsche mehr offen.

I guess if I had ever been a fan of fantasy novels in which children discover that they have super and dangerous psionic powers and they're kept under control by cold and bossy adults, I might have really loved this novel. There's even an underlying romance that could make ladies and damsels cry. But I'm not really a romance reader either, so...

I wouldn't say I didn't like it. It's well written, as usual for all Barker's novels. The suspense is preserved from the beginning to... almost to the end. And the children are more resourceful than just psi-gifted.

So, if you like that kind of story, go ahead, read it. You'll love it. Otherwise, maybe you'll still like it, as I did.

I give this book three stars and a half, rounded up to four.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this good novel.

This book is quite a read. As with all JD Barker books it is very well thought out and written. Not to mention scary!

this had what I was looking for in a horror novel, the characters were great and i enjoyed the plot. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more from the author.

This is a really cool and unique story. It is also the first book I have read by J.D. Barker. The genre goes a little too much in a mythical direction for my liking, but it has some strong horror elements that kept the story grounded and moving for me. It won't be my last book by J.D. Barker.

Thank you Netgalley for my digital copy of this book. I give my review voluntarily.

First - do not let the almost 800 page length deter you from reading this book. I almost did and I am so glad I jumped in.

As apparent from the synopsis, this book follows almost 30 years in the life of Jack. He’s just a kid that finds himself in increasingly hectic circumstances and I loved reading about his life. Definitely a mash-up of Great Expectations and Stranger Things, there was never a boring moment for me. I’m sure some things could’ve been whittled down, but I never felt that way while reading and my experience was amazing.

I’ve never read JD Barker before and this was a heck of an introduction. I’ll be seeking out more of his books to read from now on.

Well... that was not a usual J.D Barker book. But... it was really good. Lengthy, but good. It has the feel of the goldfinch but this one was SO much better.

I've really enjoyed the character development in this book. Nothing like 4MK series. I was still waiting to see what was going to happen and where was this all going? It could be a stand alone or left open for more even thought it was nicely wrapped up.

I sincerely loved this book.

Story telling at its best.... the only way I can describe this book.

You follow Jack through the majority of his life, and some life it is. Growing up with his aunt after his parents died. Or did they? A girl who can kill with her touch, a guy who can control with his voice alone. But what can Jack do?

For a Stephen King fan like me this is a must read. Ice cold story telling with no frills. Loved every page of it!

I received a free copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Prior to starting this book, I was only aware of Barker from his work with Dacre Stoker on Dracul, the prequel-cum-biography telling a variation of Bram Stoker's life story. This book is very different, though it also tells someone's full life story.
Jack Thatch has had a tough life already when we meet him, his parents dying in a car crash when he was very young, and he spends his childhood living with his Aunt. A chance meeting with a mysterious girl in the cemetery on the anniversary of his parents' death haunts him and each year he returns looking for her, and the mystery continues. This carries on, with a new chapter telling the events of each subsequent year, and the "burned but not burned" bodies that appear on the same day.
There is a little of a Stephen King feel about the book - telling of a young boy growing up and telling every detail of his life and his friendships and gradually letting the paranormal elements of the story build up.
The first third of the book is excellent, setting the scene and sewing the seeds of the mystery to follow and introducing the cast of characters and their interactions and conflicts. This part of the story rattles along with decent pace and the reader can get a good feeling of momentum.
The middle third ground to a halt for me. The chapters became longer, the story being told felt less important and the reduction in pace was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
But the final third this book gets going again in superb style. This could well have been an excellent story in its own right, but definitely benefits from the lengthy build-up. We gradually have one group of characters grow and come into conflict with another, all building up to an inevitable meeting.
This is a great, but long, story of special abilities, how they could impact someone's life and be abused by those in power, and how they will eventually become out of control.

This is a very strange story and very good. There are many elements present: mystery, suspense, horror, but also love. The elements are woven together in this cleverly crafted story. I will be seeking more of this author’s work.
Many thanks to Hampton Creek Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was a little hesitant to start this one, intimidated by it's length, but it was such an excellent story with fantastic writing and it really flew by.
Eight year old Jack Thatch lives with his Aunt Jo after the deaths of his parents in a car crash.
Every August 8th, the anniversary of their deaths, they visit their graves at the cemetery.
Jake meets Stella there one day, reading Great Expectations while sitting on a bench. He grows enchanted by her and looks forward to their yearly visits.
When Jack comes across a body in an alley near his house, he becomes involved in the strange case of Detective Faustino Brier. Every August 9th, a shockingly burned body is found, but the clothing remains untouched.
In an inaccessible lab, a boy known as Subject D is kept sequestered, unable to speak to anyone because of a terrifying power he has.
As we find out the connections between them, the excitement builds and the mystery unravels.
This wonderfully spooky thriller is full of heart. An amazing and compelling tale.
Thank you IBA for the e-ARC via NetGalley.
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars.

Mr. Barker is one of my absolute favorite authors. His books draw you right in and do not let you go. She Has a Broken Thing is no different. The title is a bit long and clumsy, and the story is long, but clumsy it is not. .

This is a bit of a love story, with twists, and supernatural forces. You will enjoy the characters, and receive full satisfaction of seeing them fully develop. The book does feel Stephen King-ish, but I will say Barker does creepy romance better than King. It's just an amazing book that you need to make time to read and absorb.

I am going to be fully honest here: I received an ARC and for the first time in my life, I missed the deadline.
I read Barker’s 4MK series and devoured each one. I barely slept when they came out.
I was super excited about this book, but then the world as we knew it kind of blew up. I’m sure that’s why I cannot fall in love with it.
The element of mystery is alive and well with the book. The characters are enchanting- you always want to know more. It probably could’ve been divided into more than one book because it was LONG, but it was doable.
If you, like I, are having trouble concentrating and just looking for an easy escape, this is not it. If you want a book that really makes you think, this could be the one.

Holy Hell! 5 stars! This was my favorite read so far of 2020! It's a long one. I rarely undertake long books (like almost 800 pages) during the school year. That's a pretty big commitment for this teacher, but when I got offered this one I HAD TO READ IT. Fortunately, some other cool peeps in The Traveling Sisters Group got it too and we did a buddy read. That was so much fun and made for the best discussion. We all loved Jack right off the bat! He is a great main character. Stella brought more of a challenge. That's a gorgeous cover, isn't it? And she is quite beautiful and sought after for her beauty but also for things she can do.

The book, Great Expectations, plays a big part in this thriller. It has always been a favorite of mine and is Stella's favorite book too. The boy and girl here meet when they are quite young in a cemetery. Jack has a lot of things he is trying to figure out about his past...things about his parents, an accident they were in, why he dreams about them and what those dreams mean. Stella has her own demons. He falls in love with her from the moment he meets her but they don't get to see each other but once a year. When people dressed in white bring her to the cemetery, which Jack has figured out; he plans to visit at the same time. They get a few stolen moments on a bench once a year. She always has her book with her.

Meanwhile, the mystery develops as they grow into teenagers and we get to become closely acquainted with Jack's aunt, Jo, who is raising him, some of his friends, and other confused characters in his life. We become knowledgeable about murders going on all around, who is behind those murders, drug use, and some really evil people who want control.

There are some pretty scary people in this book. One is a kid locked up in a room where no one can hear him speak or great harm will come to them. There are characters with powers. They can do some horrible things. There is death, violence, love, fear, compassion, longing. So many emotions come to the surface while reading this. I think that makes for a really great read.

So, what kind of power to some of these characters have? How did they get it? How are they connected? Will Jack and Stella ever get to experience their love for one another? Who is the boy locked up? Who are the people in the white coats? Is Stella even capable of feeling and showing real love?

This book is haunting and beautiful. I am very thankful to the author, J.D. Barker, and the publisher via NetGalley for a digital copy to read for review. I can't recommend it enough. As I write this review (I am late as I read it before it was released), I notice that is is available to read for free if you have Kindle Unlimited. For those who enjoy horror, thrillers, memorable characters, and beauty, I say go download it right now. Barker has become a favorite author I can rely on for a very satisfying escape. You even love the very bad characters in this book. Well, some of them. That just never happens (for me).

Hot Diggity Dang! If I were to describe this one in one word, it would be MASTERFUL. But of course, I have many words, and so much I want to say about this one. I just had to ask J.D. Barker about his books and he joined us in The Behind the Pages group for a Q & A.

I am always intimidated by longer books, and J.D. has intimidated me a few times with the length of his books. Even the title is long for this one! Lol, I am slow to start, but once I do, I can't wait to finish but don't want them to end.

She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be is one of a kind here and there are a few things going in the story that is weaved together so brilliantly. A twisty romance, mystery, unquie characters, a little horror to the story and enough suspense that will have you asking many questions. Making this one a great for a group discussion. I read this one in The Traveling sister group and we had a lot to talk about.

Things start a little strange, and I had no idea what was going on here with the characters, and the suspense that created had me turning the pages as fast as I could. It's all about the characters here for me, and J.D creates a wide variety of characters here with conflicts that all come together so well. The characters are multidimensional, and through their actions and decisions under pressure, I changed how I felt about some characters as they developed. They were characters we wanted to talk about.

The story reaches an exciting, dramatic climax that had me at the edge of my seat, flipping the pages as if my fingers were on fire. After finishing, I was left wanting more from the characters, and I thought about them long after finishing the book. We did ask J.D. if he has plans for a sequel with these characters, and this is what he said "I have no plans to revisit them in a sequel at this time. Too many other books to write!" I am looking forward to those many other books he has in store for us!

Do not read this book if you have a job, or a family, or basically any responsibilities. This book is so engrossing I found myself holding it under Zoom calls so I could keep reading, I hid in my room "working" so I could get through it. I stayed up late at night, then woke up early to pick it up again.
I'm not sure what I can say about this book not to give away anything. It starts with a young boy meeting a young girl in a cemetary. They meet and interact throughout their lives, but always on the same day, and the story gets more interesting with every page. I've heard it is a long book (I had a digital copy) but don't let that intimidate you into not reading it. I wished it had been longer! But now I really have to get back to work.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review. Thank you Netgalley- this one rocks!

If you like reading coming-of-age supernatural unfolding love stories, then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading this book!!!

To say I loved SHE HAS A BROKEN THING WHERE HER HEART SHOULD BE would be an understatement, and I can’t wait to read more books by J.D. Barker!!

My next Barker book is, THE COAST-TO-COAST MURDERS, co-written with James Patterson and scheduled for release in September 2020.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press, for loaning me an eBook of SHE HAS A BROKEN THING WHERE HER HEART SHOULD BE in exchange for an honest review.

She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be is one of those books that I had to think about for a while when I was finished because while it was not necessarily that complex, it did have a lot of layers and nuances to it that were quite captivating and a lot of genres all mixed in together. It's a long book, but definitely worth the ride as everything comes together at the end. If you are familiar with Great Expectations and Stephen King, the nuances will make a lot more sense as well; if you aren't, you will still have fun with this novel, just not at the same level, I think.

First of all, I didn't really know what to think of the main character, Jack, at the beginning. He was loyal, courageous, and good to his Aunt Jo who was looking after him when his parents were killed in a car accident, I just couldn't understand his obsession with Stella over the years. Anyone who has followed my reviews knows I am not a fan of insta-love or anything of that sort, and I was sort of put off by that at the beginning (and probably through the middle sections) as well. As he followed her through the years, believing himself to be in love with someone he has spoken to on a handful of occasions, I just couldn't buy into it, but decided to go along for the ride. I'm glad I did as the other events surrounding the mysterious Stella and the search for the truth about Jack's parents was really fascinating and intriguing.

Which brings me to the plot. Despite the amorous nature of Jack towards Stella, I decided to focus more on the search for answers rather than the romance, and this is where the story really got interesting and I wish there had been more of it, rather than 'romance'. We now have detectives running around the country looking for clues as to what is going on with Stella and Jack, over a time period of 30 years, and while the time period would seem like a daunting task for any author to take on, it works in this novel. We got to see Jack grow up and discover new things about himself, his aunt, his parents, his friends, and I loved how everything came together in the end. It all wrapped up so nicely in the end. And I have to say, I actually missed an important element that caught me off guard so I was happy about that. Happy you say? I love it when an author can surprise me and shake up my thinking. Kudos to him for doing that.

She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be delves into some interesting and intriguing topics in this book: should scientists be tampering with the natural progression of things, and what happens to the children when their 'experiments' go badly? This is a book where some people live in the shadows, through secret experiments and laboratories, where children are locked up because they are too dangerous to be out in the real world, and what happens when they escape. Over thirty years, Barker develops some pretty interesting characters, but also asks some pretty brutal questions. There is a lot of suspense, interesting characters, great development in both character and plot, fascinating twists and turns, and some creepy elements that lend themselves to a more Gothic / horror style of writing as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interesting in something a bit different.

J.D. Barker has taken Great Expectations and twisted it into a scifi-fantasy-horror-mystery-love story that had me enthralled from beginning to end.

There is a bitter older woman, a remote and beautifully mysterious young girl, a hopeful young boy and a jaded older man with a dark past. There’s even a Jo Gargery. Whilst it was fun to spot the Pip and Stella similarities between the two however, it quickly became clear that this story stands alone, and that I couldn’t expect the plot to mirror the old familiar tale. For one thing, I don’t remember mutilated dead bodies cropping up regularly in Dickens’ version!

The story begins with one of unrequited love, longing and loneliness. We follow young orphan Jack to the cemetery to remember his parents and see him instantly smitten with obsession for the young girl he meets there. A girl who proceeds to turn up once a year – same date, same place – and is hiding some very strange secrets. Secrets that people might kill to keep. As Jack grows up, through his teens to adulthood, we see his struggles with addiction, unhealthy friendships, his worries about money and his growing interest in a series of gruesome murders. And he isn’t the only one. Detective Faustino Brier has also noticed an unusual pattern and is hot on the trail of the serial killer too, with his own obsessive interest.

There is definitely a big screen feel to this story, and I was reminded of X-Men and Heroes in many places, as we find out more about Stella and the mysterious boy ‘D’, and what they can do. There is plenty of thriller action – with guns and explosions, and also lots of intrigue, deceit and betrayals – balanced with quieter, more introspective moments, where Jack ponders his relationships and the purpose of his life to attempt to decide where his loyalties should lie and who he can trust.

It is Jack, more than anything, that kept me reading. We see him grow and slide slowly into darker habits and dangerous situations, and I just had to keep turning those pages to find out what was going on and whether he was going to survive it.

I honestly don’t feel that I can do this book as much justice as I would like to. It was one of those reads that gave me a book hangover for days, leaving me unable to think about picking up my next read until these characters released their hold on me. I will definitely be reading more from J.D. Barker in the future!





I expected the girl to be sitting on the bench, but she wasn’t. The bench was empty, save for a few red maple leaves caught in the metalwork. Clearing off a spot, I took a seat and opened my comic to the center, to the bulky paperback I hid within the pages, the book with the smiling boy and unsmiling girl on the cover. I turned to the first page and began to read.
Two days later, I returned to the cemetery. The day after that, too. The bench was always empty. I went back every day for the rest of that summer and long into the school year, but I wouldn’t see the girl again for nearly another year.
I never noticed the man watching me from the trees, sometimes there, sometimes not.

– J.D. Barker, She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Loved everything about this excellent book,the characters were amazing especially jack,and stella and I had a soft spot for dunk.
Honestly do yourself a big favour and get a copy of this brilliant book,you wont be disappointed.
Many thanks to the publisher,Hampton creek press,for allowing me to read this novel.
Also many thanks to J.D.Barker for yet another fantastic read.
I have reviewed and posted and rated on goodreads.