I was intrigued as to where this one was going to go and I’m always curious about some sequels. Sometimes, a sequel assumes you read the previous one(s) in the series and tells you absolutely nothing about any of the characters or their back story. That wasn’t the case with The Whispering Room and even though I had read The Silent Corner right before, it was nice to get those little refresher bits.

Honestly, I think this one could almost be read alone, but there would be some confusing elements that would leave a reader asking a lot of questions.

Now, to the nitty-gritty.

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. I had really high expectations going into it because I really enjoyed The Silent Corner. It was quick and exciting and while at times a little unbelievable, entertaining nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the first in the series was better than this one and I am reluctant to read any further Jane Hawk books, at least for a while.

I did appreciate that the story picked up where the prequel left off. There wasn’t a dozen chapters reminding readers who Jane was or what her mission was, it jumped right into the action. The glimpses into Jane’s past were brief but informative and for someone who just recently read the first in the series, it wasn’t boring to read those tidbits. If it had been months (or years) between readings, the bits and pieces would have been just enough to spark a memory.

It was slower compared to The Silent Corner and I think that’s where it lost me. I was ready to dig in and read, but the suspense was built differently.

I also found this one to be a little less believable than the previous one. The level of the mind-control went to an extreme and without giving away a very crucial detail to the story, it didn’t feel right. It felt forced and just like when you watch a sci-fi show that starts throwing in random monsters and cures to incurable diseases, it didn’t seem to fit the bill.

Am I glad I read it?

Eh… yes and no. There was some closure for Jane, which is why I wanted to read it in the first place. Koontz does an amazing job and providing just enough detail to paint and image while leaving enough to my imagination. He is well-researched in weapons and tactics that FBI/police would actually employ and I appreciate that. None of those aspects felt fake, forced, or unbelievable. I think it flopped a bit for me though.

Jane didn’t feel as badass in this one as she did in the first one. She felt more like the cop-gone-renegade and at times, I didn’t really like her. In the first novel, I was rooting for Jane, “Go kick some ass!” This one, I was shaking my head a couple of times, “No. Come on. Just don’t, ugh.”

The first was definitely better (as unfortunately the case for many series) but it wasn’t horrible. I still enjoyed Koontz work and his well-written characters, I was just left wanting a little more out of it.

Jane Hawk is one major bad a$$ woman! We need more women like her in the books we read. Not only is she super smart and an expert at so many things, she is like an UFC cage fighter. I definitely would not want to be caught in a dark alley with her.

On the run, with her picture in every post office in America, Jane is trying to get to the bottom of her husband's death. The charge she is running from.

What Jane uncovers is crazy out there, but made believable. I fell for it, hard. Full of action, plot twists you will NEVER see coming and an ape sh$t crazy way to take over the world through control.

A read that I thoroughly enjoyed, sped right through and could not put down. I am definitely loving this new series by the author.

Thanks to Random House Ballantine and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Eh.

This was okay. The descriptive paragraphs lost me and I started skipping over them to get to the point. Great futuristic theme and super creepy. Koontz is a great writer, but I don’t think his books are for me. This was a little long for the amount of content it covered.

I do have to be annoyed about one thing:
Hooowwww cute that Jane is some badass attractive young woman (of course) and all the old men seem to have a crush and a bond with her. *eyeroll* This happened with literally 3, maybe 4 men in this book. C’mon. Can we not?

Maybe I’ll have to start the series one day and read in consecutive order. Until then, 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

And further down the rabbit hole we go.....

I was so excited to receive an advance copy of this having just finished the first one in the series. The Whispering Room did not disappoint. It was a terrific follow up, faced paced, fly by the seat of your pants thriller. And who doesn't love a fearless, sensitive, intelligent, attractive female protagonist?

Koontz takes the reader deeper into the workings of Jane Hawk's world. We also get insights into Jane's character because we get to know her a bit better. She gets more and more human and she starts, what I like to refer as, "collecting people." You can see she's on a journey and as luck would have it, she encounters people along the way, that not only assist her in some way, but actually steal her heart and vice versa. One of the things that stuck with me and pulled at my heart strings a bit, was the small collection of items that Jane keeps on her...items that were special to people that she met, that they deemed appropriate to give to her (the cameo, the photo, etc).

I had a really hard time putting this book down. There were so many twists and turns, narrow escapes, and some not so narrow escapes. Conspiracies are simultaneously uncovered and then covered up again. As you can see, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions. So much is revealed but it also raises so many additional questions. I can't wait to see what role the new characters that were introduced are going to play in the next installment and I can't contain my excitement to find out what is going to happen in the next book.

I've always been on the fence about some of Koontz's works. Nothing ever really stood out to me....until now. This is a fantastic series and I highly, highly recommend that you start with The Silent Corner so you get the full effect. Great thriller, awesome characters!

The second installment in the Jane Hawk series sees Jane continue her mission to find those responsible for the nanotechnology minded group behind the increase in suicides across America, ultimately responsible for the death of her beloved husband Nick. Still on the government's hit list and hunted by the secret monsters behind this dreadfully totalitarian sect, she is in grave danger every day, all the while missing her son who she has hidden with trusted friends to protect him from those who seek to silence her.
Meanwhile another person has been implanted with the nanotechnology which takes over control of their minds and thought processes, leading to death and devastation which comes to the attention of a local police officer who is forced out of the investigation by the delightful Mr Booth. Not content with the explanation given he goes to the house of the suspect who he has known for many years. What he finds there creates more questions than answers.
I don't want to say much more to spoil it for others before they have the chance to read it for themselves. I'll be more than happy to recommend this wholeheartedly to those long term fans of Dean Koontz or even ones just looking for something to get their teeth into! I can't wait to read the next one!

I'm still fairly new to Koontz books. It has a book in the series ahead of it, but this book stood alone just fine. Its weakness are that it's a bit stereotypical, but I don't mind that on occasion. The ending was too open to suit me, but there's another book in the series. It was more interesting than Ashely Bell, which I did read.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and this review was left of my own choosing.

This is an awesome sequel! This is another Jane Hawk Book. If you haven’t read any Jane Hawk books, welcome to the world of nanotechnology! Where humans are controlled by people who think they can make the world better by killing people off, by controlling entire towns, by making women have no memories and be completely compliant to the men who want to use them. There is a “Hamlet” list and anyone on it needs to be eliminated in order for the world to be “a better place”, according to this group. Jane’s husband was on the list. He “committed suicide”. She knows he was controlled by the nanobots. She is out to make sure no one else does by the hand of this group. Welcome to the world of Jane Hawk!

I have been a Dean Koontz fan for a very long time and I was very excited about this new series. The Whispering Room is the 2nd book in the Jane Hawk series and it is just as intense, if not more so than The Silent Corner. Jane Hawk, an FBI agent, now on the run, is a badass fighting a seemingly impossibel battle and I can't wait to read the next book in this series. Highly recommend!

This is the second book in the Jane Hawk series and picks up right where book one has left off. Jane is driven to find out who is killing innocent people and figure out who is doing this to these innocent people . She is also trying to figure out who is using this horrible nano technology for the evil intent. She is spurred on by the love of her dead husband and her son who has gone into hiding to keep him safe .
   I adore the characters in this book They are so complex and so well written . Jane is such a strong woman to become the worlds most wanted just to find out who is behind the murders and why her husband committed suicide .  She does have her break down moments and we do see her softer side but over all she is one kick ass heroine .  She is willing to do whatever it takes to get the bad guy. The evil guys are truly evil and you really want to see them taken down . But the evil is it really evil or is it  technology taking over . Do we have the safety set up for the technology. You never know what the future can hold .
   This is a great book and when I started reading I couldn't put it down . I ended up with a book hangover cause I read well into the night . The author does a great job in bringing the suspense and intrigue . It did take a bit to get into the book but once I day I couldn't put it down . The author is such a great story teller I can't wait to read book three in the series . So if you want a great series check them out . You will not be disappointed .

Review taken from an ARC provided by NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley!

I'm not sure how many books Koontz plans to write for this series, but he is going to be the death of me! I could not put this book down. At over 500 pages, I polished it off in just a couple of days. The action is fairly non-stop. This is the 2nd book in the Jane Hawk series, and I must say, it is even better than the first. The premise of the book is terrifying, but at the same time there is a great of hope in the pages, too. All of the characters are so well developed to the point that you fee like you know them even if they are only in a few scenes of the book.

Koontz exams what makes us human and the value humanity itself as he takes Jane on a cross-country trip that runs from CA to KY, and back to TX. While the central plot of the book deals a malignant, overwhelming conspiracy, Koontz drives home the fact that heroes and goodness can be found in everyday, ordinary people; whether it be a small-town sheriff who becomes a valuable ally or even a retired wig-salesman with a taste for adventure.

I ain't wait for book 3!!!

This novel is the second offering in the Jane Hawk series following "The Silent Corner". When the death of her husband was determined a suicide, Jane was sure that it was not. After placing her 5 year old son in hiding with friends, she embarks on a search for the truth. Jane is on the run from her former employer, the FBI, as she frees several children from mind controlling nanotechnology at the Iron Furnace school. Partnering with Sheriff Luther Tillman, Jane secures a hiding place for the children. In Sheriff Tillman's town, a popular elderly Minnesota teacher, Cora Gunderson created an act of terrorism by blowing up a hotel with her SUV filled with gasoline containers. Cora killed 42 people along with a congressman in the resulting inferno. The FBI starts to investigate the bizarre crime, but seemingly abandons it after only a short time. Sheriff Tillman finds Cora's diaries which send him to the Iron Furnace school where he teams up with Jane in time to help rescue a few of the children held against their will at the school.
I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for fans of Dean Koontz. I am looking forward to the third installment in the series, The Crooked Staircase", in June 2018.
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Another spellbinding winner from Koontz. I am LOVING this Jane Hawk series. Koontz really knows how to bring horror into the modern age!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Scary as only this author can do. Intense, nail biting, thrilling read. Loved it. This is my first Jane story and I’m going to have to read the first one. Great character and so are the others in this story. Worth the read.

Book Talk 12/22/17
Traci Kenworth

The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz. Nov. 21, 2017. Bantam. Netgalley.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Jane Hawk—fiction’s most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine—continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner.

“No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this.”

These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun—just before she takes her own life, and many others’, in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.

In the wake of her husband’s inexplicable suicide—and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals—Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America’s future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue—and become the nation’s most wanted fugitive—in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough.

Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them.

Jane Hawk’s story continues in The Crooked Staircase.

Praise for The Whispering Room

“Koontz has never exactly shied away from complex characters or situations. And this situation gets very complex indeed, as Jane pursues the people behind the conspiracy with the kind of single-minded relentlessness that makes the book absolutely spellbinding. As good as The Silent Corner was, this one’s even better. . . . Koontz is on another roll with a new series that boasts a juicy premise and a compelling star. . . . Pure gold.”—Booklist (starred review)

“A deeply layered, satisfying thriller that is character-driven and nearly impossible to put down . . . grounded in many real-world, current issues . . . [The Whispering Room] never loses sight of the classic political/sci-fi/thriller elements that make it so much fun to read.”—Bookreporter

Jane Hawk is an ex-FBI agent whose been framed to cover up big business corporations that are targeting the human population for control of their lives. These men are implanting little chips in people’s brains and using them as slaves most of the time. Jane’s husband committed suicide thanks to this programming. Most of the victims are not even aware that they are being programmed. Anyone seen as a “threat” to their future empire is sent on a suicide mission that works nicely into the terrorist image of today.
Leo, is the sheriff of a small town, who gets suspicious when one of his friends go all postal. His investigation leads him to Jane and a small community that is the foundation of the rich men’s plans. Together, they team up to rescue kids whose parents are under control of the men. But is anyone ever really untouchable? Can they reach safety? Will Jane bring down the head of the corporations?

As with any Dean Koontz novel, there’s just something that drags me in. I start slow reading it but by the time I hit say a couple chapters, I’m yanked in more and more. He has a way of telling a story that just awes me. Now granted, there are a few instances during the story when I thought, “No way,” but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of the book. Jane is a compelling protagonist as is Leo. I think this is the second book in the series. I’ve been offered the third, so I’ll be getting to that in the future as soon as I get a chance to download it.

This sequel picks up pretty much where Silent Corner left off. I thought Odd Thomas was my favorite Dean Koontz character but Jane Hawk has quickly stolen the crown. I absolutely love this series and highly recommend it!

4 Stars!



Dean Koontz introduced readers to his most intense character in a long time in The Silent Corner. Jane Hawk returns in The Whispering Room to a world that is even more dangerous and a conspiracy that continues to grow darker with every passing minute.



Once she uncovered the global conspiracy that led to the death of her husband, Jane Hawk knew she was the only one that had a chance at stopping the evil men striving to rule the world. It was her duty to honor her husband and try to save the world. The only way to do this was to become what she once hunted with the FBI: a relentless predator. Her world became one of the shadows in which she moved as she stalked her prey and worked toward the top of the conspiracy pyramid. The stakes were raised as she moved her way up the ladder into a deeper world of darkness.



Cora Gunderson was a great teacher who was revered for her dedication to her students. That is what made her murderous rampage through the small Minnesota town she lived in so mysterious. The local sheriff is determined to uncover what turned the kind woman into a murderer and he may have found the clues in a disjointed journal the woman had kept. Many may have just considered the writing nothing more than the ramblings of a disturbed mind. When Jane Hawk sees this, however, she recognized the cause of the woman’s violent insanity. The journal leads Jane to a town that has already come under control of the conspiracies leaders (and serves as a harbinger of a dark future) and then back across the country for a showdown against another major player. Jane must venture further into the shadows than she has ever gone before with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.



Koontz introduced us to a dark world on intrigue in The Silent Corner that had as much potential as any thriller I have read in a long time. The Whispering Room does nothing to lessen the potential of that world. In fact, it only made it stronger by introducing more evidence of just what the world could look like if Hawk fails as well as to what lengths the men will go to achieve their perfect world. The town of Iron Furnace shows just what the world would become if the conspiracy were to succeed and it is a bleak glimpse of the future where everyone is either mindless or a prisoner. This prompts Jane to make her next against one of the men behind her husband’s death and plan an attack against him in his seemingly impenetrable residence. There is also a sense of hope introduced in the story, though, as Koontz gives a hint about a possible seed of resistance that may have been started without knowledge from those involved.



While the world building continues in The Whispering Room and there is a glimpse at what lies in future books, this novel was not able to keep the urgency from the first book. It is still a strong novel but it did seem to lag at times. Koontz brings in a lot of different characters to the point that they sometimes feel more like filler than real characters. I also thought the truck stop encounter and the adventure that follows just did not seem to fit that smoothly into the story and got it off track for a little while. It also started to bother me how everyone who meets Jane accepts what she says as gospel truth. She comes into contact with numerous strangers in this novel and they all just seem to fall in line with her story making things a little too smooth (although helping to move the story along). Overall, the story seemed a little longer than it really is but was still an overall satisfying read and left me eagerly anticipating the next book. I would recommend for any fans of thriller or suspense novels as well as Koontz fans.





I would like to thank Random House and NetGalley for this review copy. The Whispering Room is available now.

This is a true Dean Koontz style book. Weird but suspenseful and well written.

I don't want to write this review. I wanted to love this book as much as I liked the first installment of the new Jane Hawk, The Silent Corner. But this one did not do it's predecessor justice. It was a good book, don't get me wrong, but it didn't have that same Dean Koontz flare that I so love. The Whispering Room seemed to me to have too much 'filler' and coming in at over 500 pages, this story definitely did not need extra words. I don't think that cutting out some of these pages would have taken away from the story as it's not one that you need to feel drawn into a scene; it's more of an action type novel. A solid 4 stars but not the Koontz that I'd stay up all night reading.

If you read my review of "The Silent Corner," you know how much I liked it. You also know how much I was looking forward to this sequel. I can only say now that must be part of why "Jane Hawk #2" feels like a let down. To be sure, there are large sections of this book where I was as absolutely riveted as I was the first time around. Jane Hawk is one of Koontz's greatest creations. But some of the other characters and their stories simply didn't work for me. Somewhere in the middle of the novel, I realized I was in the middle of a series and that this book wouldn't really have a resolution because there's a "Jane Hawk #3" on the horizon. I understand this. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm still looking forward to the next one. But with a bit more reluctance than before.

In THE WHISPERING ROOM, Dean Koontz continues the saga of Jane Hawk, rogue F.B.I agent. When we last saw Jane, she had just killed a key member of a diabolical conspiracy to purity the human race. The conspiracy had developed organic technology to spread in the brain, making the host obey commands. Oftentimes, the command is to commit suicide. That's the method being used to purity the race.

Jane had taken out a few members of the group, but the #1 guy--and the financier, was still out there. In the recent fire fight, Jane also had to kill a colleague, who had been taken over by the network.

Jane Hawk is tough, and she knows what she has to do. First, however, she needs help. She breaks into the home of a respected journalist to ask for help. But will he give it?

She was now a rogue agent, and she’d had enough of killing.


I found THE WHISPERING ROOM to be a little more captivating than the first book in the series. Of course, book #2 does not need to spend any time setting up the plot. We can get down to those evil "bots" spreading through the brains of the victims.

When reading any Dean Koontz book, get ready to learn some new words. I found that reading the Kindle version had one big plus: When I come to a new word, I just highlight it, and Kindle brings up the definition.

See also https://www.bassocantor.com/blog/whispering-room