In this third installment of the Jane Hawk series, this rouge FBI s still on the run. Is she getting closer to revealing the truth behind the outbreak of murder/suicides that is responsible for her husband’s death? Her travels take to Lake Tahoe and beyond in this high intensity drama as she searches for answers.

I am a huge Dean Koontz fan and was excited to read this newest book. It was very well written as I've come to expect of Koontz books. This was an extremely well thought out and intricate story. I loved the characters and the great descriptions and background stories created for each. That said, I did feel like this book was extremely long and then was left hanging at the end. It also seemed to be too desolate and bleak overall even though a theme throughout the book was the hope people felt for a better tomorrow. I would've liked to see more glimmers of hope and triumph sprinkled through the story. I am still intrigued to find out where all this will lead Jane Hawk and her sweet boy, Travis, though I do fear that things may not turn out as well as we all hope. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this book.

I was rolling along, loving this book, remembering why I had enjoyed Dean Koontz in the past when ———- it just stopped. It was more like part one than a whole novel. The last 8% or so was just a preview of what was to come. That is not at all what we expected. (This was the current read aloud selection for my wife and I.) We both agreed that we were very unlikely to read the sequel. We’ll see. Jane Hawk is a great character, and the plot is very pertinent to the real world these days, but you can’t just leave people hanging.

I know every author has the right to try a new genre but after reading the third in the Jane Hawke series I will not be reading the 4th one. While the Hawke books do involve techno-sci elements, each book is basically one long continuation of the original plot - super mom embarks on long journey to keep son safe. Just substitute the morphed killers, etc.

Great story. Can't wait for the next one. Dean Koontz is a master.

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"I thought my war was over years ago."
"It's all one war," she said, "and it's never over."
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This is absolutely the most fascinating, horrifying, deliciously twisty series! I am a long-time fan of Dean Koontz, but with the Jane Hawk books he's really come up with something delightful - the plot lines are eerie and creepy and unbelievably believable. The characters are evil and heroic and broken and battered and unredeemable and terror- and awe-inspiring in equal measure. The action is finely tuned, interwoven with cards held - and revealed - at just the right time to keep the reader on not only the edge of their seat, but the edge of their nerves. I keep thinking that things can't possibly get *that* much worse, and then - lo and behold! - they springboard right past worse and into uncharted territory...

Jane Hawk is perhaps the greatest, strongest, most phenomenal female heroine of all time. She is nearly super-human in her ability to stay one step ahead of the evil she's pursuing, yet at the same time, her motivations and periodic bursts of self-reflection and concern about the configurations her mission is forcing her into keep her altogether human. She never doubts her path - she knows this is the ultimate winner-takes-all - or her love for her son. She has moved so far past self-doubt in her conviction about the destruction that the Techno Arcadians are seeding in their wake that she should, by rights, start seeming inhuman (or at least un-human) in her responses, yet she never does. She remains - odd though this will sound - an utterly humane ultra-violent, whatever-it-takes protagonist. Even when she's forced to turn to some of the methods of her enemies, she manages to do so with just enough humility and calm recognition of the point-of-no-return corners she's been pushed into that she remains not only likeable but unquestioningly, unfailingly, so. Koontz has her walking tightropes and she not only manages to do it with aplomb, but she does it while remaining upright - no small task, considering the forces massed against her. It is this indomitable spirit, as much as the great story-telling, that keeps this series so compelling...

This one ended with more of a cliff-hanger than I like. I love series books and don't mind loose ends when I know more books are coming (particularly when they're coming from someone like Koontz who is prolific, with quick turn-arounds, and who you know will follow through on those ends), but I don't like when a major plot point/twist is introduced right at the end and then everything just stops. It feels too abrupt, a hostage situation forcing the reader to buy the next installment just to finish the story that was already read. There's a sample chapter of the next book in this one, so you know it's coming soon. "Soon" won't be soon enough though - if Jane is the guts of this story, Travis is the heart and soul. And as Jane herself would happily tell you, one cannot live without one's heart and soul. I'll be anxiously waiting to see where this latest test of Jane's legendary endurance takes her - my mind races with possibilities, most of which are horrible - which is a testament to Koontz's wisdom in ending the book exactly where he did, regardless of how I feel about cliff-hanging plot developments... Perhaps that's why he is Dean Koontz, and I'm me. :)

My review will run on my blog (www.Jill-Elizabeth.com) approximately one month prior to the release date.

This is the third Jane Hawk novel. I have loved them all. Jane is on a mission, and nothing will stop her, or so she hopes. She has put friends Gavin and Jessie in grave danger by having them take care of her son, Travis. Will they survive and what will happen to Travis if they don't. Can't wait for next installment.

Oh, this book is torture!!!! I love the beginning with Booth and Jane, then after what happens with Anabel I’m in shock. And the loss of two of my FAVORITE characters breaks my heart and has me anxious as to what’s going to happen next in that part of the story. Jergen and Dubose really REALLY need to get exterminated and I truly hope Jane gives them exactly what they deserve. The glimpse at the next book has me very worried for Jane, I hope her situation isn’t as bad as it appears. This story is so complex, I just don’t see how our heroine and her family (son and in-laws included) will escape unscathed. Koontz never lets me down, this story is a definite page turner!

The Crooked Staircase (Jane Hawk #3) is action-filled suspense from beginning to end. Jane continues her battle against the conspiracy that plans to "adjust" individuals to eliminate free will and dispose of those who may cause the cabal trouble.

Jane Hawk is one of those kick-ass protagonists that fights the good fight against the evil Techno Arcadians. You can't help but cheer her on.

I like: that Jane Hawk is such a clever and relentless protagonist; that Koontz makes secondary characters interesting and well-rounded.

Wasn't crazy about: losing characters I like; the weirdness of the crooked staircase toward the end.


Fast-paced and difficult to put down. You will be up late with this one.

Read in January; review scheduled for February 22.

NetGalley/Random House

Thriller/Suspense. May 8, 2018. Print length: 512 pages.

Another thrilling installment in the Jane Hawk series. Jane is back kicking ass and taking names. So much was happening in this book that kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t read it fast enough! The plot thickens with some major developments and new (evil) characters. Can’t wait for what happens next!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I am really digging this series. Love Jane Hawk...what a badass. But I give this 4 stars instead of 5 because I feel like the story may be dragging on too long at this point. I would have liked to see it wrapped up at the end of this book. I will be sticking with it though because I need to know how it ends!

I liked this better than the one before. This was a really good story as we get into the meat of this adventure. I still have to wish that Koontz would spend more time on each character rather than jumping so quickly as it causes my attention to slip. I really prefer being absorbed and riveted in a book and with the constant switches it’s too distracting and way to put down.

I should start by saying I am not a fan of serial books. Too many writers use the genre to pad pages of recap from pervious books. If a book is well written only minimal review is needed.
And then we come to the Jane Hawk series. I have found myself totally engrossed in this series. We don’t spend page after page rehashing the past. We get fresh new page turning story.

Jane Hawk is trying to stop a group that is using injectable nano particles as a form of mind control. They say it will bring about a better world. The reality is that it produces pliable people who will do their will, even when that will includes murdering innocents. Anyone who doesn’t fit with their plan must be eliminated and former FBI agent Jane Hawk has found herself on the run charged with multiple murders and treason.

Beware. The Jane Hawk books are hard to put down. But know you are in for a great ride.

A great example of Dean Koontz writing. Tense, good vs. evil, and just the right amounts of bravado and conscience. Koontz' protagonists are just flawed enough to be believable but still manage to do what they need to do. Very much looking forward to the next Jane Hawk installment.

This author makes every situation come alive, all his characters clearly defined. Although this is true once again, for the first time I wasn’t satisfied feeling as if 1/2 the story is missing. We now wait for the sequel but not with an ending to this one that finishes any part of the ongoing saga

Koontz is always a fun read. Lots of intrigue and excellent vocabulary. A great writing style.

This is the third book in Dean Koontz’s Jane Hawk series. Again, Jane, the rogue FBI agent, is out to save the world, but it’s a pretty monumental task being as how she’s America’s Most Wanted criminal and all over the news. The dystopian aspect of the story is an injection that sends little nanorobots into the brains of people where they take over the people’s bodies. I’m eating this book up because I don’t see that part of the story as total fiction. I think that if not now, then in the very near future that this could be a real possibility. Anyway, back to the story of The Crooked Staircase…I don’t often write reviews before I finish a book, but I feel I need to write a little bit right now (at 68%)…in case my heart explodes!! This definitely has to be the most exciting of the three books…and it raises my pulse rate as I read it, which is crazy in itself. Jane’s son and the people who have been hiding him are under pursuit. And I can’t read the book fast enough!!! I will come back and add additional comments when I finish. Definitely read the books in order. The Silent Corner, The Whispering Room, and now, The Crooked Staircase. I’m not finished yet, but I certainly hope there will be a number 4 book………………………………………….Well, now I am at 86% and I cannot for the life of me figure out where this can go…what kind of a happy conclusion it could possibly have. And now that I’ve finished reading, I find that this one is a gigantic cliffhanger…with a gigantic promise of a 4th book in the series. I couldn’t be happier! 😊 The writing is superb, and it completely surpasses the retired teacher disposition in me to find and correct errors…I found NO errors of any type. It seems the reoccurring people have been fleshed out even more and the new ones I could recognize on the street. This is such an exciting series, I wish I could give it a 6 star rating.

Jane Hawk is back in this third novel evolving to a remarkable series. The rogue FBI agent is tested to the limit attempting to discover the roots of the secret cabal Arcadians. The path to the crooked staircase and Brook Hendrickson, the sociopath in the Justice Department is dark and twisted. Jane's allies are being picked off slowly but surely. There are new innocents on the "Hamlet" list and I enjoyed the introduction of the twins. I expect alot when I read a anything by Dean Koontz and once again he has hit it out of the park!! Eagerly awaiting the next book.

More good stuff with Jane vs. the Techno Arcadians. I hope #4 has more material and less review though from D.K!!!

Dean Koontz continues the saga of Jane Hawk, rogue former-FBI agent who has uncovered the dastardly plot to overtake the world by a group of power hungry villains known as the Techno Arcadians. With implanted nanotechnology, they have taken control of a vast number of people that they deemed either a threat to their power grab, or else individuals that were not contributing sufficiently, in their estimation, to society. Their goal is a Utopian society that they control.
Jane’s husband Nick had become one of the adjusted people and had committed suicide as the Arcadians controlled his mind. That is their method of eliminating those who they fear will impede their growth. Now Jane is bent on destroying this cabal, both to stop their insidious encroachment and to save her 5-year old son Travis, who has been threatened. In the earlier book, The Whispering Room, Jane has killed David James Michael, who was one of the founders of this evil organization. Next on her list is Booth Hendrickson, a supercilious attorney high-up in the Department of Justice.
As Jane plots to destroy Hendrickson, she discovers that the Arcadians have many hydra-like cells. She also discovers that Booth’s mother, Anabel, is the only other person that he knows of in the structure—she was an original investor. And Anabel is Cruella Deville personified. She has molded Booth to be like Nietzsche’s race of supermen. Anabel’s cruelty to a younger Booth has deep psychological effects on the imperfect adult Booth.
I found Tanuja Skula to be an interesting character in this book. We meet Tanuja, a writer of magical realism, standing in the yard during a severe rainstorm. She is trying to experience what her lead character would feel during a long journey in a storm, on foot. I wonder if this immersion is a glimpse into Dean Koontz’s method of creating atmosphere. His ability to observe enhances his descriptions of weather, topography and nature. He visualizes scenes in such detail that I feel as though I’m in the setting. He makes the surroundings become minor characters in his books.
I felt that the operative word in The Crooked Staircase was “dark”. A Kindle search shows 29 pages of excerpts with that word. And this is a dark story. Decidely dark. And as Jane meets Anabel at the bottom of the crooked staircase, the world begins to darkle. As Jane says, “Anabel in distant La Jolla was a threat for another day.” And another book. I can hardly wait, Dean Koontz.