I must say first off I never read any of the previous books from this series. With that said, I was able to catch on very quickly with what had happened previously. This book had my attention from the first sentence. I, of course, love Dean Koontz and have been reading his books since I was very young. The Forbidden Door was something I wasn't use to from reading many of his other books. However, he surprised me with this one, pleasantly surprised me. I was able to relate to the story very much with so many of the different attitudes the people in the story had.
The book is about a rogue FBI agent who has found herself tangled up in a very dangerous situation, and trying to get to her son before anyone else can.

Thank You NetGally for an ARC for an honest review

The Jane Hawk series finally hits its stride with its fourth entry, The Forbidden Room.

The Techno Arcadians are upping their game by accusing Jane on a 60 Minutes-style show of murdering her beloved husband Matt and faking his suicide. The Arcadians set in motion a plan to kidnap or kill everyone dear to Jane. Ancel and Clare Hawk, Jane’s in-laws, must flee their farm. Jane and Matt’s five-year-old son, Travis, must flee across the desert. Even Jane is tracked by one of the Techno Arcadians as the net around Jane and all her loved ones is slowly tightened.

The villain this time is Egon Gottfrey. Egon believes in radical philosophical nihilism. Nothing is real. Only his mind exists guided by an Unknown Playwright. Why is he scarier than most villains? Because he has no fear of death. “Gottfrey has no objection to a shootout. His physical existence is an illusion; he can’t be killed.” Egon is also a vicious killer, who kills total strangers for fun. All without a nanobot implant. He is a world-class antagonist and the perfect foil to Jane’s over-the-top bada$$ery.

It is hard not to see the extremes of good and evil plus Jane’s incredible skills as a superhero tale. Finally, a Joker has been set against Jane’s Batman. This entry in the series is definitely the best so far. I would even recommend just reading this one rather than beginning with the first in the series. It is perfect for thriller fans. However, it would also work for superhero comic fans too. The Forbidden Room would make a great movie. Hopefully, it has already been optioned by someone. 5 stars!

Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an advance copy.

The Forbidden Door is the fourth book in the Jane Hawk series. It is the journey Jane takes to get to her son who may be in trouble. Over all the book was good it just took time to get into it. It also kind of dragged on in the end. Dean Koontz is an amazing writer . This just wasn’t one of my favorites.
I received an ARC of The Forbidden Door from Netgalley for my honest opinion .

I do not usually read this type of book; to my complete surprise, I enjoyed it very much. I am impressed with the high quality of literary prose used to write this George Orwell type of book. Jane, the heroine, an FBI agent, has learned within the Agency are rogue agents, implanting drugs into the top percentile of humans brains! When these people become a problem, they control them into committing suicide. Jane determined to save her little boy, has armed herself, her in-laws, in order to fight back. As I have said, very unusual read for me, it is exceptionally well written.
I highly recommend! Thank you, Netgalley.
Carolintallahassee

I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi type books but I'm absolutely addicted to Dean Koontz's Jane Hawk books. Koontz writes with such meticulous detail that he makes the unthinkable and totally outrageous seem plausible. My only slight irritation with this book was the multitude of characters and time spent on them. I was always anxious to move on from them and back to Jane.

This book, like the three others preceding it, ended with a promise of yet another installment in the Jane Hawk saga. I can't wait!

This is the 4th book in the Jane Hawke series. I have read them all and enjoyed them. This one started off a little slow. I felt that too much time was spent with 3 of the bad guys and frankly, those parts irritated me. I know that they were necessary to provide backstory, motive, etc...but I found myself getting bored with those parts. The one guy kept blathering on about the Unknown Playwright and how nothing was actually real or true. That all was a bit weird to me. However, once the book picked up and focused on Jane's adventure to reunite with her son (whom all the baddies were searching for); it felt much more in rhythm for me.. What I enjoy most is Jane getting to work with characters from prior books. To see the relationships she has formed with them during a fast and stressful time period. I hold my breath for every story hoping that those we have come to know stay safe and survive. This is not always the case. I also enjoyed her little boy's interactions with his "new" caretaker, the gentle giant in this book. It was very sweet and some of my favorite parts to read. All in all, another great addition to this series. Thank you to Net Galley for access to this book!

Jane has already lost her husband but now she’s trying to discover why him and so many others had to die. There are forces that others don’t know about that are trying to change things. Jane is dealing with other issues while her country decides she’s a trader, will she be able to clear name? Will she expose the events that led to her losing her husband and so many others?

Dean Koontz is a master at keeping his audience riveted! Jane’s saga continues in mind blowing detail. His skill in keeping all the different scenes in the story flowing seamlessly is mesmerizing. I totally lose myself when I am reading because you cannot help but get drawn into this mystical world that he has created seemingly just for your reading pleasure. The attention to detail, use of repetitive words and sayings, that drive home that sub human existence just gives you a little shiver of fear and excitement. It is a totally awesome book!

If Koontz existed in a previous life, he must have been a watch maker, for that is the meticulous care and painstaking precision with which his current work is crafted. Due to his mastery of the written word, rather than dispel a reader’s interest, as may be the case in the hands of any other writer, these details infuse the reader with vivid imagery that brings the story alive. One of his trademarks is crafting several storylines simultaneously that seamlessly coalesce in a dramatic conclusion. This continues to astound, always amazes, and never disappoints the reader.

In this fourth book about rogue FBI agent, Jane Hawk, Jane is avoiding and escaping the foot soldiers of the Arcadian group responsible for Jane's husband's death and collecting evidence to expose their plan for world domination. Shortly into the story, Jane's son, Travis, calls Jane's burner phone telling her the guardians who have been sheltering him left to get groceries and never returned. With Travis now in the care of a gentle autistic savant named Cornell, Jane rushes to intercept her son before the Arcadian agents can find him. With danger at every turn and a little help from friends collected along the way, brilliance, cleverness and a lot of luck aid her along her journey.

If your familiar with Koontz, you’ll be happy to know that all of his trademark components are alive and well in this book – search for meaning, good versus evil, community/family, higher power, and always the perfectly placed humor. And one thing is certain – he gives a bang for the buck with one of his books equaling four or more books of many other authors. I always know I’m guaranteed hours, even days of delicious escape when I read a Koontz work. This story is everything I’ve come to expect from this author – intense, insightful, poetic and adrenaline fueled – and I can’t wait to read the next installment of this amazing heroines adventures!

*I reviewed this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.

I have stuck with this series and I’m glad I did. The previous book was a little slower and the story didn’t move along as quickly but I enjoyed this installment much more. Definitely looking forward to the next one,

If you like action, this is a good book for you. This is the fourth book in the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz and if anything, it is more action packed with thrills than the first three. I literally could not put down the book for the first half of the story, compelled as I was by the action.

Jane Hawk is trying to expose a conspiracy by a group called the Arcadians, who want to rule the world by injecting nanobot devices into people to control their minds. The story in this installment revolves around Jane's son, whose hiding place in Borrego Springs, CA is suddenly exposed. She must retrieve him; but he surrounded by Arcadians posing as FBI and Homeland security agents. How can Jane get to her son without being exposed as the fugitive as she is?

The action begins when Jane is spotted by an Arcadian who wants to take her in by himself. When she shakes him there is the thornier problem of getting her son out of Borrego Springs. Also, the Arcadians go after Jane's parents in Texas, hoping to inject them with mind control devices so they can reveal his hiding spot. In a two-tracked plot, the chase is on for Jane and for her parents.

Although I enjoyed this book, there came a point about three-quarters in where the plot devolved into a frenzied free-for-all. There seemed, to me at least, an overuse of gore and gratuitous sex that made me wince. I made it through this rough patch, but I have to admit, it turned me off the book. As the story ends, there is more excitement, but by this time, there is no question that the book will have a happy ending and the bad guys will all be punished. So, for me, the end was anticlimactic. Also, it seemed to me that the Jane Hawk Series was being drawn out deliberately so more books could be sold.

If you enjoy Koontz, this book is for you, especially if you read the first three Jane Hawk novels, but if not, I suggest you start at the beginning with the first Jane Hawk novel, "The Silent Corner,' which was a great book. 3/5 stars. Read this and other book reviews on upcoming books at bookgeist.blogspot.com.

Jane Hawk is one of my favorite Dean Koontz characters and I love this series. Jane was one of the FBI’s top agents, but after her husband, mysteriously commits suicide, goes on the search for the truth behind his death and the death of many others in the same way. What Jane discovers is a terrifying mind-control technology owned by a very powerful secret society and she is determined to bring it down. As Jane continues to strike at this powerful group, she looses friends and those for whom she cares. Her enemies want to use her five-year-old son as bait, but they have to find him first. As Jane races to find her son, a new threat has emerged. There is a a increased number of brain-altered victims driven violently insane and the number is growing every minute. The Forbidden Door keeps you on the edge of your seat and of course keeps you wanting more. It is a great read and another triumph for Dean Koontz.

In an effort to avoid spoilers for this and the previous three installments in the series, this review is going to be short and sweet.

This latest installment in the Jane Hawk series picks up where the previous book The Crooked Staircase left off. Jane is, once again, under a time crunch to get somewhere fast. Some old favorites show up and others become favorites. Koontz knows how to write compelling characters and they shine in this series.

A majority of this novel is told from the perspective of the bad guys, giving us insight into their mental state and the lengths they are willing to go to bring Jane down. At first this seemed odd and could be off putting to some readers, but it worked and was needed for this portion of the story.

This series can be frightening because it often seems like it could be real. And while there are many many good people in the world, there are also many horrible people. It's not too far fetched to believe that something like this could happen.

If you haven't started this series and are at all inclined to do so, I highly recommend it.

“The Forbidden Door” by Dean Koontz is part of the continuing Jane Hawk series. Every few pages, as part of the continuing storyline, paragraphs give new readers clues about the trauma that had befallen Jane and the entire Hawk family in the preceding months of chaos. Koontz opens in Texas, home of Ancel and Clare Hawk, and establishes an intense sense of place and atmosphere starting with the opening line.

“At first, the breeze was no more than a long sigh, breathing through the Texas high country as though expressing some sadness attendant to Nature herself.”

Reality sinks in for Ancel and Clare Hawk. Only a few months had passed since their son had died, and in that short time, their world has turned upside down. Their daughter-in-law Jane Hawk is in trouble. She had recently been indicted for crimes that she did not commit, and their grandson Travis, in danger as well, is in a place where he is not likely to be found. Ancel and Clare have something important to discuss, so they retreat to the redwood lawn chairs under the massive oak tree in the backyard.

Jane Hawk and her family have become embroiled in a complex, intricate, life threatening game. News reports are filled with lies about Jane, fake news at its most treacherous level. Jane is desperately trying to balance her life and her situation, “Maybe I’ve always belonged on the dark side of the law.”

Jane answers her disposable phone when it rings; it is Travis. “Mommy? Uncle Gavin and Aunt Jessie went for groceries, and they never came back.” Travis is alone, five years old and alone.

The plot continues with simultaneous events, described from alternating points of view to give readers insights into the events, conspiracy, determination, and evil of the various players. The complex scenarios are expertly intertwined, and the action happens almost simultaneously. The pace is nonstop, and proceeds at a dizzying, mind-numbing pace.

A surprising mutual friendship develops between Cornell Jasperson, and Travis Hawk. In addition, there is a new hero on the block, Laurie Longrin, a girl of about twelve. She knows good does not always triumph, not at first anyway. Bad people are clever because they spend their entire rotten lives scheming and conniving. She is not going to let “them” win.

Descriptions are colorful, and precise, a tribute to Koontz’s skill as a writer and storyteller. Every word filled with tension, promise, duplicity, and hope. There is not a wasted word, not an ambiguous sentence.

“The room is in darkness but for the drapery-filtered light from the window opposite the foot of the bed, a soft and spectral glow ribbed with thin shadows marking the folds of fabric, like an X-ray of some alien species with strange bone structure.”

I received a copy of “The Forbidden Door” from Dean Koontz, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley. Well-researched details make the story compelling: guns, geography, GPS tracking, Google Earth maps, cell phone monitoring, supercharged cars; every detail is authentic. Koontz is a writer with few equals, and this whole series is one of his best. I give it my highest recommendation.

What a real page-turner! I read it in two days and couldn’t stop, stayed up till 3 to finish it. There were twists upon twists upon twists. Really sensational - also original and heartfelt. Just sensational - don't miss it, 5 stars!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for review.
I am addicted to this series! I love Jane Hawk. It's about time we got a great series with a badass woman as the main character!
I keep thinking this series cannot get any better, then I read the next book and think to myself, this one is better than the last!! The just keep getting better!

So, WOW! A very intense action packed sequel that has Jane Hawk trying to save her son. Author Dean Koontz has as always taken the reader on a mental trip trough time where the human race is capable of taking control over one another mentally. The story is well written and the detail is thorough, however I was disappointed that the main characters, Jane and her son, in my opion, played a minimal role in the book. There was more detail in story about the men and how they were able to control who they wanted.

Jane Hawk is back with a vengeance in the 4th book in the series. Things are still very bad for Jane, but in this story she focuses on getting to and rescuing her son Travis. Many obstacles are in her path, but, as usual, she doesn't let anything get in her way. It's hard to believe that Jane is only 28 years old, as she feels like an old soul. New characters are introduced here, the best of which is Cornell, a socially-inept man-child who is protecting Travis until his mother arrives. I was rooting for Cornell to stay alive and to continue into future books, and I wasn't disappointed. The story line remains quite disturbing, and the writing is always first-rate with Mr. Koontz. I still enjoy spending time with Jane, although sooner or later, her saga must end.

As usual, Mr. Koontz is very wordy! It took me around 50 pages or so to get over my exasperation with him. But, I ended up truly loving this book. The characters are all indeed characters. Lovable, funny, intelligent and caring. I even enjoyed the bad guys, mostly. The nihilist was an odd duck. Very odd. The Princeton hillbilly is definitely one of my favorite bad guys ever. I was never rooting for him, but he sure made me laugh! This book didn't advance the storyline much, but I think it may be my favorite out of the 4 books. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the e-arc. Recommended.

ulse-pounding excitement continues in the next installment of the Jane Hawk series! While I started with the second book, and didn’t feel that I was at all in the dark, I recommend that you start at the beginning with book 1. So much has happened that you won’t want to miss a thing.

The characters are so carefully described that I feel as if I know them. I can’t say that I like them all, but that is what makes a good book. There is the good side, that I hope will eventually triumph, along with the bad guys that I hope will fail. At times, it seems as if there are so many people who have been “taken over” that the world will become a really bad dictatorship with no one left to fight against the powers that be. Children’s cartoons are full of people who want to take over the world—and that’s what you have here—except the story is made for adults. The plot is so carefully crafted that I could actually see something like this happening in real life, and that makes it even more frightening.

People I have come to care about in this book have been killed along the way, so have some of the bad guys. This is a book that will keep the reader on their seat, as they hope nothing like it ever comes to pass, and that Jane will save the day.