For readers who like their protagonists practical, resilient and relentless in the face of daunting obstacles, the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz should be highly satisfying. In this third installment the tension is almost unbearable, and certainly not conducive to falling quickly afterwards into peaceful slumber.

Jane is a former FBI agent and a mother who stands all-but-alone against the entire military-industrial complex of the 21st century. A confederacy of powerful, corrupt people have infiltrated all levels of government and corporate America in a mind-control experiment run amok.

Other reviewers have talked about how dark and hopeless these stories are. I agree they are dark and very, very frightening. But the narrative also features clear-headed Jane Hawk, who trusts her instincts and resists the ubiquitous propaganda, and the few other independent thinkers with long-time loyalties or instant recognition of a kindred soul. These are enough to introduce hope into the mix.

I've liked the seamless structure of this trilogy -- the second novel picks up immediately at the point where the first ended, and the third right on the heels of the second. I'm grateful for this pattern, considering the cliffhanger ending of The Crooked Staircase.

Dark, dark, dark! This is book three of the series and what has gone on before is likely covered in detail in the previous two books (which, I regret, I haven't read), but enough background is presented that one becomes au currant with the story quite rapidly and never feels lost. We are treated to "1984" updated to the modern cyber age, with scary possibilities, and probabilities of nightmare proportion. A modern zombie apocalypse? And to think folks were once frightened of fluoride! What redeems this Stygian gloom is the heroine herself. Jane, despite all the horrors in her life, has relentlessly pursued the light whether in the beauty of music or the night sky or in love of mankind, despite the evil surrounding her and against which she fights.

The action is well-paced and horrors are offset by moments of peace; the writing is riveting and sound; and the story is on the edge; fully deserving of the title "thriller."

I have been hooked on this series from the first book, The Silent Corner. I found this book, The Crooked Staircase, to be the best one yet. This story is just so Fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat from the very first page. I was so disappointed when I got to the end because it ends on such a cliffhanger! I look forward to the next book in this series!

"Machines of flesh"

This is the third book in the Jane Hawk series, after THE SILENT CORNER and THE WHISPERING ROOM. And you should definitely read the first two books before this one to fully enjoy the reading experience.

I enjoyed this story in Jane Hawk's further brushes with death but I did feel it was a bit verbose. I felt author Koontz was padding parts of this book so there could be a fourth book, which there is - THE FORBIDDEN DOOR.

But this book is still definitely worth reading. Lots of action, continuing questions about the deadly conspiracy, further expanding on Jane's character plus new characters added - good guys and bad guys.

As I wrote in another review of this series, it seems that author Koontz has got his writing mojo back, giving us readers a new and vibrant character and series. I just hope he finds a good stopping point and doesn't ruin good books by having the series drag on for too long.

I highly recommend this book and the first two in the Jane Hawk series.

I received this book from Random House through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Published by Bantam on May 8, 2018

The Crooked Staircase is the third novel in a series that pits former FBI agent Jane Hawk against the conspirators who not only caused her husband to commit suicide, but have developed mind-control nanotechnology that lets them kill as many people as they want, which turns out to be a large number. Their goal is to shape the country in their own image by doing away with people whose more tolerant opinions might become influential. This installment, like the first two, has Hawk chasing the bad guys while they are chasing her.

One of the weaknesses in the first two novels involved the bad guys’ failure to go after Jane’s obvious vulnerability, the son she hid with friends. Given the bad guys’ all-encompassing knowledge of everything, thanks to their control of the NSA and every other federal agency’s spy network, it didn’t seem to me it would be all that hard to find her son. Dean Koontz addresses that problem in this novel.

He also throws in a bunch of collateral characters, the most interesting of whom are two young writers from India who are viewed as a threat by the bad guys (or their threat-tabulating computer) because they are writing humanist literature that might catch on and persuade people treat each other decently, thus impeding the bad guys’ cutthroat notion of a utopian society. A less interesting character, who might play a bigger role in the next novel, is a stereotypical genius whose autism makes him social-phobic.

The biggest problem with this series (assuming that readers are willing to suspend disbelief of its unconvincing premise) is that Koontz has many more than the story really needs. The words are well chosen — there is no question that Koontz is capable of crafting exquisite sentences, and reading his books is always a linguistic pleasure — but this is the kind of novel that depends on pace, and the pace slackens too much for my taste as, for example, we are lectured about the influence of the Greek Furies upon one of the writers. Koontz also tends to use Hawk and other characters to engage in philosophical discussions about the human condition, usually by lamenting the direction in which humanity is headed. That works well in a different kind of novel (it worked very well in Koontz’s The City), but it doesn’t work in a conspiracy thriller that depends on action and pace to sustain the story. I can’t say that wordiness is a big distraction, but there are too many eloquent philosophical passages in the novel that seem to have been included for the sake of showcasing eloquence or philosophy rather than advancing the plot.

And the plot really does need advancing. My understanding is that Koontz intends to tell this story over at least five books. A standard conspiracy thriller doesn’t merit five books. I don’t know what more is to come, but my suspicion is that the story could easily be compacted into a trilogy. Parts of this novel seems like filler, with extended chase scenes and some collateral stories involving characters who are introduced and thrown away. Some of that content could have been excised with no loss of value.

I give Koontz credit for not contriving a happy ending for every character. And I give him credit for working in several peaks of suspense as the story moves along. Koontz occasionally indulges in a bit of pop psychology of the sort that appeals to thriller writers — a sociopath is trying to punish his mother by serially punishing and killing women who look like his mother — and that I expect to encounter in bad novels about profilers. The evil mother who shaped the key villain in this volume is completely over the top. Other characters are more credible, but again, none of the characters match Koontz’ best work.

The ending isn’t exactly a cliffhanger, but it’s close, as one would expect of each novel in a five novel series. I’ll keep reading because Koontz is a gifted wordsmith and the story isn’t dull. So far, however, the story isn’t particularly original or thrilling, and I fear it’s losing steam.

RECOMMENDED

Well, the ending certainly surprised me. My kindle fooled me! The Crooked Staircase is the 3rd installment in the Jane Hawk series. You definitely need to read the prior 2 books before reading this one. Koontz does a great job giving a brief background but it would be best to start from the beginning of Jane Hawk's journey against the Techno Arcadians.

Like the others, this book is intense. There is a lot of action and suspense. It kept me on the edge-of-my-seat throughout the book. Jane Hawk is indomitable. Love her character.

I definitely recommend this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a copy of Dean Koontz's "The Crooked Staircase" in exchange of an honest review.

This is the third novel in the fast paced Jane Hawk thriller series. Dean Koontz really makes Jane`s character shine in this 3rd book. Every page will having you wanting more. After a bit of a let down at the end of the second book, The whispering room, Koontz brings back the the characteristics of Jane that made you root for her in the first book. This is a must read.

I received this book through Netgalley and the book’s publisher, Bantam Books, and I’m sure glad I did. I couldn’t put the book down!

This is the second Jane Hawk book that I have read. “Crooked Staircase” grabs you from the start and keeps your interest to the end. The book is filled with suspense and has multiple threads going. I can see this made into a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading future Jane Hawk books! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense, thriller books. If you haven’t read Jane Hawk, definitely give it a try!

This third installment in the Jane Hawk series keeps the action amped up as Jane continues to hunt down members of the secret organization that is slowly overtaking the world with its control mechanism that turns even the most willful individuals into slaves. All it takes is a round of three injections and your mind is no longer yours.

These books are frightening because they are realistic. It does not seem that far fetched to imagine a world where corrupt people with a little power have developed a way to control the population. This adds an eerie quality to the story, particularly when you end up in the head of one of these "adjusted" people and are privy to their reactions.

There were a lot of heartbreaking moments within this installment. At this point, it's amazing that Jane can keep going. And the woman is only twenty-seven years old. Her well of hope seems to have an endless spring, and she is going to need it.

One thing that I appreciate is that Koontz has written a strong woman, who is extremely capable, but doesn't make it so that she can take on fully grown men with ease. He shows her struggle to fight against men and women alike and it's often her training that gets her out of situations, which is always a good thing. She is not superhuman, but she is well trained and is fighting for the good of the world and her family.

My main criticism of this series is that it seems never ending. There are already at least two more books announced and I don't see how the story can be wrapped up satisfactorily. If anyone can do it, Koontz can, but I'm eager to see the end of this journey. They are emotional rides and the end of this one has me sweating.

Even though I found the overall premise of this series quite compelling, I really struggled to get through this particular book, mainly because I just didn’t feel invested in any of the characters, not even Jane. I also felt that the pacing was slow and that it took forever for anything of substance to really happen. A few other elements of the book just made me feel like this just wasn't the book for me, including the focus on details that I found uninteresting, such as the specific model of gun each character was carrying and the specific brand of pepper spray, etc. I was also not a fan of the language used to describe the female characters in the book- b*tch, skank, sugar, honey, an okay piece of tail, etc. I understand that these were the personalities of the low-life bad guys coming through but it still made for a cringe-worthy reading experience for me. For all of these reasons, I unfortunately just don’t see myself continuing the series.

I am loving this Jane Hawk series. She is one bad a$$ woman. And smart? Wowza! Along the way she gives explanations as to her thought process and how she determines her next step. While ruthless in many ways, she does have a conscience and it is definitely tested numerous times during this book.

The suspenseful action in this book was intense (just like the other ones, but maybe a little more for this one). It kept leading me to say to myself "no, not him"; "no not her"; "no not them" etc many, many times. I could seriously feel the enemy crowding in and my pulse was racing.

This Techno Acadian stuff is super scary! I hope it stays just fiction.

However, it left off at an extremely high point that had me holding my breath while I read "to be continued" (shocked face!!) Why??? Although since then I have read a review that explained that if I read that excerpt, I will have one question answered.

But now, we have to wait. Mr. Koontz you better be writing fast is all I got to say! Ha!

Excellent series, excellent read.

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

Great book. Really enjoyed it. I had to keep reading it to find out what was going to happen to the little boy. Can't wait for the next book when the story continues.

Let me first say that I liked this novel. The problem was that I thought that this would be the last book in the series. The book is very well written and on its own rates a four star review. I just don't think I'll be on board for the rest of this series, I'm so Jane Hwked out for a while.

<b>Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC, which was given in exchange for an honest review.</b>

After the abysmal <i>The Whispering Room</i>, I was hesitant to continue reading Dean Koontz’s Jane Hawk series. While I loved the first book, <i>The Silent Corner</i>, I felt its sequel was unabashedly cheesy and too much of a retread of its successor.

But I was granted access to a review copy of this, and in the end I <i>am</i> a Dean Koontz fan. I decided to give it a shot. I am happy to say this series is back on track, and I eagerly await the fourth volume, due out in October.

This series takes Koontz’s career-long fascination with governmental technological conspiracy and combines it with modern sensibilities; the whole thing is rather Crichton-esque, and a helluva good time. Unlike the previous volume in this series, <i>The Crooked Staircase</i> is satisfyingly tense — don’t start in on the final hundred pages if you are going to be interrupted — and the body count is shockingly high, for Koontz. Despite the usual moments of cheesy dialogue and schlocky sentimentalism (which is just par for the course with this author), this novel is a barrel of fun. The titular character, Jane Hawk — former FBI agent and most wanted person in America — is coming ever closer to succeeding in her mission to take down the governmental agencies that led to the suicide of her husband and many others via mind control in an attempt to create an utopian society. In this age of constantly-evolving technology, this premise could, frighteningly, become a reality one day. Koontz plays up the paranoia here — which made the first volume in the series so successful - and thus, delivers on the tension and scares.

Though I could have done without the Patterson-length chapters (seriously, after a while the pace was so quick I began to feel exhausted) I can’t bear to take off even one star from a read that had me so enthralled. Isn’t that what matters most? This series will never win any literary awards, but that’s okay: Dean Koontz does here what he set out to do, and that’s entertain. My highest recommendation.

After all that had gone on in this book, how could the single word “mommy” be so heartbreaking? How could a long-winded book boil down to one word that tugs at your heartstrings and turns this battle between good and evil into a desperate struggle for a mother to protect her child.

Each book in the Jane Hawk series is a literal step in a staircase. You cannot begin in the middle; you have to start with the first step, the first book, “The Silent Corner”, since each book build off the previous uninterrupted. Literally book two, will begin the day after book one ended without the neat little bow that readers look for.

If the idea of nanotechnology has not scared the begeebers out of you yet, then book three will cement the fear. As Jane Hawk continues her one-woman crusade against the likes of Booth Hendrickson, she begins to take him and the Arcadians down one person at a time, and this time, it is through his brother Simon and the woman who created them.

Dean Koontz throws in a side story of fraternal twins, but their story pales in comparison to the tale of the Washington’s and their loyalty to Travis, Jane’s older than his years son, who has been entrusted to them until Jane finishes what she has started.

This is not a book that you can put down and pick up something else, something lighter, this is a book that needs to be read (possibly with a dictionary next to you) start to finish. To absorb the drama and the wit, the reader has to be fully enmeshed in Jane’s world, a world of cataclysmic reality.

This is the third Jane Hawk book that Koontz has written and it leaves one wanting more. It also leaves the reader scared about the possibility of what Koontz describes in the book as a huge possibility in our constantly growing tech-savy world, but also compelled to know if Jane can triumph over the evil that surrounds her. I loved the first two books but found parts of this one contained so much verbage that I became bogged down in it. Dean Koontz is a tremendously talented writer but he can be too focused on the correct use of the massive amount of descriptions and commentary. Sometimes one just needs to tell the story and not let the words or unneccessary descriptions get in the way.

Perfect Dean Koontz style. Characters are layered and plot exciting. It's hard to go wrong with a Koontz novel!

This book is the perfect mixture of mystery, female bad-ass and HOLY WOAH! Do yourself a favor and pick it up! I loved the different perspectives in this novel and loved that at the beginning - we were left guessing as to what was happening. Can the next one come out already?

Dean Koontz continues to thrill and terrify with the next in the Jane Hawk series, The Crooked Staircase. I can't rave enough about how Koontz has created a very scary world that isn't outside the realm of possibility.

With technology more terrifying than some of the magic I read in horror or urban fantasy, and megalomaniacs that any comic book fan would appreciate, the Jane Hawk series will keep you on the edge of your seat and up way past your bedtime. Both to find out what happens next, and afraid that this could actually happen.

Koontz takes you on twists and turns, wondering who's going to come up next on the Hamlet list. You aren't going to believe where The Crooked Staircase will take you.

It is important to note that this is book 3 in a series. Koontz does an excellent job of giving you just enough back story to refresh your memory as to what's going down, but it isn't enough information to make this book a stand alone. These books must be read in order. My opinions on the first two books can be found on goodreads as well.
I felt that book one was a great introduction to the series and book two was more of a Koontz story that we all know and love.
This book....grrrr.... is like a huge mountain of meringue on a lemon pie, the extra bit of not much taste that you don't really need. It's just kind of there. (sorry Dean)
Jane has continued on with her search to eliminate the Arcadians. Somewhere in there lies a mini story about young twin authors. Their story alone is a great little horror in itself, but it feels completely separate from Jane and the ultimate story and mission. Just another page filler. The only relevance is that the bad guys are still the bad guys.
The most redeeming part in this book is the following of her son and his guardians. That whole part was fantastic. Jane meanwhile, is still tracking down the top dogs to the Arcadian society in order to break it. There's a little bit of thriller and adventure there, but not enough to really stay engaged this time.
....and suddenly it ends. Seriously. What the crap? Just when I think, "Now we're starting to get somewhere," it ends.
I will read the next book, because there was finally some movement, and I need some closure here. I've always been under the firm opinion that all great stories can be wrapped up in three books (sans Harry Potter). I still stand firmly by that opinion. I thought that if anyone could change my mind, it would be my number one Koontz, but he failed. :( I really hope that book four is a wrap up. I'm not sure how much more blood you can squeeze out of this story line.