Wow! I pretty much inhaled this 3rd installment in the Jane Hawk novels.

I've been a huge fan of Dean Koontz ever since I read Watchers decades ago. One of the things I love most about his books is that no matter how inherently evil his villains are, there is always someone that is good and honorable and full of love. His books are always filled with light and dark, hope and hopelessness... But usually, light, hope, and love conquers.

Jane Hawk is not his usual protaganist, and is not always full of light, but the love she has for her 5 year old son, and for her friends, makes everything that she has to do to try to combat the evil Techno Arcadians worth it. She unerringly finds the pure hearted for help when needed.

In The Crooked Staircase, ex-FBI agent Jane Hawk continues her quest to protect her son while trying to stop the heinous evil threatening to change the world. This 3rd book was my favorite so far and I could barely put it down.

Although it ended quite abruptly with a cliffhanger, I still loved it. Jane is a serious kickass heroine and I can't get enough! The Forbidden Door can't get here soon enough!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Publishing for an advanced copy!*

Another nail biter in the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz! I love Jane's spirit and search for justice in the death of her husband Nick. This third book in the series was not my favorite and I would give it a 3.5 is possible where I think the others were 4.2-4.5. While I was holding my breath to see what was going to happen with each turn of the page, I was also quite sure I could guess some of the outcomes. The premise of the books is frightening and so believable in many ways. I also love that it takes place in California!

Not my favorite Jane Hawk, but oh so riveting. Jane continues to keep looking for the evil and tries to get back to her son before it’s too late.

When requesting this, I was unaware it was the third in a series. As such, it was a little bit confusing because it just picks up where the previous book leaves off.
I had difficultly finishing this book due to some of the more traumatic themes contained. However, I think that is a testament to the author’s writing ability.

I really enjoyed this thrilling book and didn't want to put it down! Koontz does a great job with a conspiracy plot without making it seem absurd, unlike others I've read. I somehow missed the first book in this series but will definitely be reading it, as well as the next sequel.

I'll be posting on kindle and Goodreads as excelrn.

Not my favorite title of this author's, still entertaining, just missing something. Just okay.

Normally I'm a Dean Koontz fan, but this book was just not for me. I like dark and intense books, but this one was just too dark and too intense for my liking. I have to give it to him, Jane Hawk is an amazing, kick-ass female character (which I love!) but the overall story was just too much. Plus, has there ever been a bigger cliff-hanger???

This is book 3 in the series and for me the best book yet.
Solid writing and story

In this next entry in his successful Jane Hawk series, Jane is not only on leave from the FBI, she is on the top of their most wanted list. As a matter of fact, she is wanted by every government agency out there, as well as some nefarious and critically dangerous people. Jane is driven to believe that her husband's suicide has much more to the story. She has come very close to figuring out what is going on, and who is behind the death of her husband, as well as the threats to her young son, whom she has put in hiding.

Let’s root for Jane to get to the bottom of this tragic drama. Who are the key players in this deadly game of cat and mouse? How much longer can this go on? As Jane is on an unrelenting search for the truth, no matter what the cost, I found myself saying “Wow” many times while reading this thrilling story! To see the whole account, be sure to read the first two novels in the series. Readers will be glad to know that Dean Koontz has at least two more books planned.

I have read the two previous books in this series, which I think is a necessity to fully appreciate this one.

Right off the bat, I have to say I love the Jane Hawk character in these books. She has a kick-ass mentality, and is always cool under pressure. I want to be Jane Hawk when I grow up!!

The basic premise of this series is that Jane is trying to save the world from a group of power hungry government types who are implanting people with nano machines in their brains to exert control over them and eventually take over, well, everything. I think the storyline is just out there enough to be interesting, and this book, like the others in the series, was definitely a page turner. I like how the story is told from Jane’s perspective, but also from the perspective of the bad guys.

However, I do have to admit the storyline on this one meandered a bit more than the previous ones, and I also agree with another reviewer that while the portion of the text pertaining to the twins was quite compelling and even beautiful at times, the fact is it never tied back in to the main storyline and therefore left me a bit confused as to the point. Considering how long this book was, it could have been left out entirely.

A copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review

Review of The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz

I found the bulk of the writing to be solid.
I was left feeling this should have been a novella.
Why?
First off, the secondary plot about writer twins has nothing to do with Jane Hawk. To me it was filler.
Next, the occasional lapses into purple prose.
“… and chattered like an infinite number of tumbling die against the blacktop, and on a nearby hundred-year-old live oak, each of the thousands of stiff oval-shaper leaves was a tongue that gave voice to the rain, raising a chorus of whispers…”
They left me wondering if the author needed more filler or if he forgot he was writing a thriller.
I could have overlooked the above until I had to reread the ending several times searching for answers that are not there. I was left hanging and unsatisfied.
Now it’s a series, so I wasn’t totally upset but I was expecting more.
I give it a four out of five.

Note: The Crooked Staircase is book three in the Jane Hawk series. Despite that, I found it easy to follow and didn’t feel like I had missed out on anything (although I will be going back and reading the first two!). Also, trigger warnings – violence against woman, including rape, are subjects The Crooked Staircase tackles.

I have long been a fan of Dean Koontz and his genre-bending ways, and techno-thriller The Crooked Staircase is no exception. Our unwitting heroine, Jane Hawk, is one badass Mama bear, embarking on a one-woman mission to save the world. At times, she’s too good to be true – is there nothing she can’t do?

The story is told in three different timelines – we have Jane, rogue ex FBI agent going after a secret organisation known as The Arcadians. Then we have twin brother and sister, both authors, who have been targetted by the organisation and while initially escaping their fate, they are eventually forced to commit an atrocity at the command. Finally, we have the Washingtons, a married couple who have charge of Jane’s young son.

To say this is a wild ride would be an understatement. The Crooked Staircase is fast-paced, often violent, sometimes heartbreaking, always dark and terrifying. We’re swept from one scenario to another, always with Koontz’ masterful story-telling to both immerse and guide us, and I had trouble putting it down … until the end, when I came very close to firing my Kindle Oasis across the room in frustration at the cliffhanger! Ugh! I had to convince myself that Mr Koontz hasn’t become one of “those” authors who spread a story over three or four short books instead of the one it should’ve been. Even the included excerpt from the next in the series didn’t help too much, though it did allow me to breathe again by at least offering some hope for certain characters.

If you’re into strong female leads and government conspiracies, then The Crooked Staircase is one you should definitely pick up.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be out back digging a bunker. Y’know. Just in case.

Thank you to Bantam Random House and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

First, as evidenced by past success, Dean Koontz is a talented writer. And while I really got into this book, part of a Jane Hawk series, it is the "part" aspect that annoys me. 400 plus pages with no satisfactory conclusion, no resolvement of issues...the novel just ended, making me feel like I had just wasted my time. I can deal with abrupt conclusions with tv sagas, but not with books. This seemed like a long lead-in to the nexy book in the seriies. Disappointed.

#NetGalley #TheCrookedStaircase Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

Exciting with many twists and turns. Can not wait to see what happens in the next book in the series. It is scary to think about what would happen if there were really Arcadians making adjusted people in the real world.

This is the best book yet in this series and I am on pins and needles waiting for the next one!! I have been reading Dean Koontz since the 80's. He is a great author!

Dean Koontz continues to entertain in his suspenseful way--always leaving the reader hanging at the end--waiting for the next installment.

Great read! Well written and easy to follow the storyline. While this is definately not my usual genre, I have read this author before and was so glad I picked this book as It kept me wanting to read more, Mystery, Intrigue and a bit of Science fiction all rolled into one! . A woman who will stop at nothing to get revenge and also to keep her child safe!

The Crooked Staircase, book three in Koontz's Jane Hawk series, has all the action, intrigue and delightfully sinister psychopaths as the first two but this one ramps up the intensity of the drama even more as Jane's young son and his caretakers are forced to go on the run when the secret organization working to enslave all of society finally locates his whereabouts. Koontz continues to do a masterful job of introducing new and interesting characters that add depth and richness to the series even as you mentally cringe at some of their actions. I've always been a Koontz fan but this series is some of his finest work as he taps into all our fears about the invasiveness of modern technology in our everyday lives.

The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz is by far the darkest thriller I've read in awhile. That's a good thing...however, there was not a ray of sunshine in this book. I felt like any hope for the main protagonist and her son were none to slim. There should have been a feeling of a fifty-fifty chance that Hope was possible for them. The bad guys were looming over them like giants. It felt as though they had already lost way before I got too deep into the plot.

The protagonist, Jane, has potential as being well-liked. I liked her personality and determination to win even if there was not any chance of coming out alive. She made me want to believe that there was a rainbow at the end...yet, I got more danger than I bargained for instead. Dark, intense, and deadly...just one wrong move and it felt that the whole book could have ended a lot sooner than it did.

The suspense was great. Dean Koontz definitely knew how to wield power of intrigue and fear into his readers. I was frightened enough that I wouldn't want to read this novel twice. But it was good. Those who are always searching for that darker, more powerful thriller...this is it!

3.5-stars

What if there was a vast conspiracy aimed at keeping humanity enslaved by killing off the best and the brightest? What if your husband, a decorated Marine combat veteran killed himself for no reason? What if you are an FBI agent, trained to notice anomalies? And you are determined to bring down the cabal directing this conspiracy? You would be Jane Hawk, former FBI agent and now America's most wanted. She has killed her way through the top ranks of the Techno Arcadians, who conspire to keep mankind subjugated. But like the Hydra, new heads keep popping up. This installment of the saga features a brother and sister Indian-American writing team who are brought under the cruel control of the Techno Arcadians and perform a spectacular murder-suicide and Jane kidnaps one of the prime directors of the movement in an attempt to find out more about the conspiracy. But, Jane's son's life may be jeopardy as the friends who are keeping him have to go on the run. Breath-taking pacing keeps the reader turning pages long into the night.