The Crooked Staircase
A Jane Hawk Novel
by Dean Koontz
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Bantam

I thought I had already given a review on this excellent fast paced thriller. Koontz at his best with a dedicated heroine trying to fight an illegal cabal with members in high places and stakes through the roof. I now have to read the presending books and then continue. on. this was too riveting to put down until I was ready to lose consciousness then had to start again as soon as i could until I finished. As always much food for thought.

This review is such a hard one for me. This is the third book in the Jane Hawk’s saga and it was so so hard for me to finish it. This book starts very very slow, exactly when I was at 65%, the book picked up in tension a little bit. If you have been following Jane like me you know that she’s on a quest to find her husband’s murderer.... not happening in this book. The plot wasn’t going nowhere and trust me when I say it wasn’t at all like the first two, packed with action and intriguing. I kinda feel like this book was not even necessary for the series. I give this one 2.5/5 but I am committed to finished this series. I am not a quitter! 😂 The 4th is coming up later this year so we will see what Dean Koontz is bringing.

This is a Jane Hawks thriller. She is once again looking for more members of the group of people who killed her husband and are now looking for her son. The suspense will keep you up of night because you cannot put it down. And you will never guess what will happen next. I highly recommend this series to anyone. You don't have to read them all if you want to jump in on the third book, don't deprive yourself of such suspenseful books.

This is the 3rd book in the Jane Hawk series. Now, this is the first one in this series that I have read, however, I will be reading the other 2 before it, and any after it. I loved this book. I like the way Dean Koontz writes and tells the story. Oh, this is also my first Dean Koontz book that I have read. I am sorry it has taken me so long to read any of his books. The characters are well-defined and easy to figure out if you like them or if you don't. The storyline is also well written and really pulls you in. You feel for Jane Hawk, who also has some issues to work out. You want her to succeed in what she is trying to do.I really liked this book. I do recommend it to anyone who likes suspense or thrillers. Great read!

The Crooked Staircase is an extremely well written book that gives you a look into the dark souls of people who have too much money and power that uses it for evil. Jamie Hawk husband has committed suicide. But she knows he would never do this. There is a growing number of murder - suicides and she intends to find out who is behind them. Now a rogue FBI Agent she is on the run from the government and the secret cartel behind this. Will she live the find the truth?

Unfortunately, unless you've read the first two novels in the series, this book is a little difficult to get through. When I started to read this book, I stopped, went to Goodreads and Amazon, read reviews of books 1 and 2, and then came back to this one so I would know a little more about the series. Otherwise, I think I might have had a DNF (did not finish) on my hands.

Back when I actually used to buy hardbound books for my library shelves, I had every Dean Koontz book available. I'm really glad I got this one as an e-book, because I know I wouldn't have kept it on a shelf - his writing has either changed, or my taste in books has changed to the extent that this was not a fun read.

I finished the book, and now, two weeks later, I've forgotten all about it. I won't be reading the next installment.

As a fan of Dean Koontz, a was definitely looking forward to reading this so I'm glad I got a copy. It's definitely worth the read. I found the story entertaining and the characters well written. Definitely worth the read.

The Jane Hawk series, including the audio book, The Bone Farm, is a very dark, chilling series. Having read Koontz's masterpiece Odd Thomas series, I knew he could deliver a fantastic portrayal of good versus evil. The Crooked Staircase advanced Jane's quest with much terror and darkness, tempered by her brilliance, athleticism, courage, and mustard seed of faith. I think of this series as his dark night of the soul. It does not have the same humor as Odd, but the thrilling chase, the demonic evil, and its profound spirituality is astounding.

This was a great installment to the series. While reading The Whispering Room, I started to worry that the series was becoming repetitive, but this one mixed things up a bit. It is still a continuing story, but I am interested in where it is going. There are two additional installments already planned for the series, so hopefully Koontz has a plan to keep it fresh.

In general, I think this is a great thriller series with a scary, yet believable plot line. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys conspiracy theory type thrillers, I strongly suggest starting the series at the beginning and not skipping ahead. The series is really one long story.

4 Stars!



Dean Koontz has another hit leading character in Jane Hawk and The Crooked Staircase take the reader back into her world of intrigue and adventure. Hawk has taken on some of the most powerful men in the world to uncover the secret behind her husband's death but her mission is about to leap to a whole new level. Koontz brings his deft hand to this story as Hawk draws closer to the heart of the dark conspiracy that threatens the world.



Jane Hawk knows that her one-woman war against a worldwide conspiracy is becoming more dangerous. She can almost feel the evil men bearing down on her. This will not stop her, though. Her determination only grew along with the danger and nothing would stop her short of death. She has found her next target and carefully plots his capture and, if necessary, torture to extract the information she needs to move even further up the ladder. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until the man told her about his childhood and the crooked staircase that had shaped his warped mind.



While Jane is unraveling the secret that spawned the Arcadians, the secret group bent on ruling the world, she is unaware that the group is closing in on her from multiple fronts. Her son was staying with friends where she thought he was safe but the Arcadians see him as another way to get her under control. As Hawk is learning of the origins of the conspiracy, the Arcadians are closing in on her son and force him and his guardians on the run. They are closing in on him even as Hawk is agonizing over putting a friend in danger to take a step forward in her war against the conspiracy. Nothing can prepare her for what she will find at the bottom of the crooked staircase.



The first Jane Hawk novel was a thrilling return by Koontz to his thriller roots. The second novel did a good job of moving the story along but was not as intense as the first book. The story ramps back up in The Crooked Staircase and Koontz again returns to prime form. Koontz kicks the story off with a bang to hook the reader from the first page and never relents. The darkness around Hawk grows thicker as the story progresses and seems to reach out of the pages to the reader. This happens while the action continues unabated throughout the story. The novel is more of a sprint than a marathon as the story rockets along but Koontz still puts enough substance in it to help flesh out the larger story. Even though it is a middle novel in a series, the book stands alone as a thrilling read on its own merits and does not bog down as middle novels sometimes do.



The Crooked Staircase gives the reader Koontz at his best once more. All of the elements that one could ask for in a thriller are woven through the story. Jane Hawk is a character that seems to live and breathe on the page so that it is easy for the reader to cheer for her. The cast of characters around her continues to grow and Koontz gives them a life of their own even as they range from the realistic and malicious to the absurd. The book becomes notably darker as it progresses and promised a more sinister plotline to come. The Crooked Staircase is a very strong thriller on its own merits and shows great promise for the larger story to come. Highly recommended for Koontz and thriller fans.



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

Has a cool start. Expected SO MUCH from #3. Not as imaginative or pulsating as the first 2, Underwhelming, pointless, slow, with not much action or growth in story.

What's with the men in this series and violence / torture / humiliation / subjugation of women? It seems all of them are at it in this series. What a strange landscape Koontz's has built. every guy is either thinking of raping women or doing it or dreaming of it (in this particular book, the officer who grabs / converts Tanuja Shukla; Simon Yegg; Booth Hendrickson etc.) Can someone ask Koontz, what is with the men in this trilogy? Why do they feel the need to jump EVERY woman they ensnare / inject?

Travis-in-danger should have been introduced in part 1. of the book, instead of leaving it as a cliff-hanger.

I also did not understand the point of the Shukla story - it would have been cooler if they had been introduced as Jane's co-crime fighters after escaping nano-programmers at the start of the book, instead of the (same-old, been there, read that) converted murderers.."

And the mother of all evils turns out to be a mother! (Anabel, the architect with Scheneck) but there is no support base / coyotes / programmed men at the crooked staircase. And as an evil woman who can control men (U.S. senator, TV network head, S.C. judge, etc.), Anabel does not seek sexual manipulation and subversion of men as the men have in the entire trilogy so far have! She just got her ex-husbands tortured and killed by other men, videotaped the exercises and showed them to her son/s.."If I'm not mistaken, Anabel is the first woman introduced in the entire trilogy so far (other than Mrs. Schenneck) who has the ability to control men for sex, but doesn't.

Booth Hendrickson is caught and taken to the Tahoe basin without handcuff!.

And it went from one lame part to the next. Sorry, did not like this one, but thanks to the publisher for the ARC - because I HAD waited for this book to see what would happen next - unfortunately, not much happened in this one!

I was liking this until, what is the deal with this book? I haven't read many of Koontz's books, but this one seems to be stuck on telling and not showing. I felt like I was reading a tech manual part of the time. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I didn't like the ending and I'm rather disappointed. It's got so much stuff repeated that I can't imagine how the editor didn't say, here, work on this part, and this part, and this one. I've heard so much about this author over the years. I need some recommendations for his good books because this series isn't working well for me.

My copy came from Net Galley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own, left of my own free will.

A definite 3rd in a series. This is not a series that you should start in the middle. As with the first two, Koontz packed this thriller with lots of action, most of which was predictable and expected at this point. The book ends without finality, hinting to another to come in the series. It was an enjoyable read, as were the first two, but I am ready to move on.

There was a time I loved Dean Koontz and maybe I need to step away from his books for a bit but I found this book to be repetitive and it was hard to get through it.

Excerpt from Review: ",,,When I began reading The Crooked Staircase, I noticed a difference right away. This was not the sort of supernatural Dean Koontz fare I was used to reading. This was a science fiction thriller, something I have never read by Koontz. One thing remains the same about Dean Koontz is his captivating writing and, just as when I first fell in love with his works in the early 1990s, I found myself mesmerized by the storyline and captivated by the main character of the novel....This book takes Big Brother to a whole new and scarily realistic level. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Wow. This book was a total page-turner. I couldn't wait until the end to find out what happened. Unfortunately for me, the book has a non-ending, a cliffhanger that made me a little frustrated. A great installment in the Jane Hawk series. Looking forward to the The Forbidden Door.

Dean Koontz is going to be the death of me. I'm not sure how much more my nerves can handle of this series. Like the other books in the series, this one starts out fast and stays that way. It's a suspenseful, adrenaline ride all the way to the cliff-hanger ending.

The net is starting to close in around Jane, and we loose a few friends in this one. But you also get the feeling that there is an undercurrent in society that is starting to suspect that there is something going on that is not right. Perhaps our evil conspirators are starting to push their hand a little too far and the public is starting to wake up. I hope so, anyway.

While I have enjoyed this series, I do hope Koontz does and an endgame for it and doesn't drag things out too long. At the very least, I don't think my nerves can handle much more.

Review: THE CROOKED STAIRCASE by Dean Koontz
(Jane Hawk Series Book 3)

The third novel in Dean Koontz' s electrifying series with its relentless implacability of evil ramps up the tension and intensifies the suspense as both good persons and bad fall prey. Revelations occur which chill the spine and cause the reader to ponder to what depths the evil conspiracy extends, is it an unstoppable Juggernaut or can it ever be stopped? Can Jane Hawk succeed, and if so, at what cost, to loved ones, to her soul and sanity? I eagerly await the upcoming fourth novel in the series, THE FORBIDDEN DOOR.

I love books by Dean Koontz. I have not been disappointed yet by this series. Though I had no idea it was a series until I started I love it and can’t wait for the next book. He’s right up there with Stephen King. This series will hook you if you like this type. If not then you may not feel the same as I do. I just know it’s one I could not put down.

Thank you #NetGalley #Dean Koontz #The Crooked Staircase and #Random House

I love this series. Jane Hawk is super intelligent and fearless hero fighting a conspiracy that is bone-chilling. From the first page of the first book I was captivated. The level of writing holds up from story to story and I can hardly wait until the next book. Great work!