The Crooked Staircase – a #BookReview

Title: The Crooked Staircase: A Jane Hawk Novel (#3) by Dean Koontz

Genre: Currently #90 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery

Publisher: Random House Publishing, Ballantine – Bantam

Publication Date: To be released May 8, 2018

Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title and Cover: The Crooked Staircase – Eerie cover evokes dark evasion

Have you seen that #ForgetSleep hashtag recently? You could easily apply the tag to this book but it wouldn’t completely explain the third book in this series. This is a Koontz suspense meant to keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you hanging there, breathless, until the fourth (and final?) episode is released. That you should have such patience!

Yes, I know the arguments–I’ve seen and read them–Koontz has found a winning formulaic and this installment began to issue just a breath of déja vu. But I love his prose, the bits of information he drops as an aside, revelations new to me, and the $300 words (but will I remember them?). I’ve only recently become a fan with The Whispering Room, and a huge fan at that, of the Dean Koontz style of writing mesmerizing horror, in this case, an injectable nano from the Techno-Arcadians.

I fully appreciate the kick-ass protagonist Jane Hawk–she’s an over-the-top well-trained FBI agent gone rogue–but for a very good reason! I came in on the second in the series and discovered Jane off the charts after the suicide of her hubby; an end not of his choosing, nor of his ability to deny. And now her five-year-old son is at risk of the super-baddies as they ruthlessly track her in their efforts to shut down her efforts to expose them.

EEGODS! Have I just stepped into noir! I’ve been talking about that very genre, then here I am, lapping it up, can’t get it fast enough.

Whaddya mean that’s the end of the book?! 

I keep looking for the good, the happy ever after. This novel knits twin plots in juxtaposition, exchanging chapters, while Jane is in pursuit. I loved the young Hindi siblings. Mr. Koontz–how COULD you! Then there are the two Neanderthals tracking her good friends in whose care she left her son. These guys are comic relief. They break the tension. Or do they? The West Virginian is so savage, “evil” doesn’t describe him. Princeton vs Harvard. Talk about a duo! The problem is–he’s backwoods crazy smart. (Hear them banjos? Princeton trumps Harvard!)

Each antagonist Hawk pursues gets her closer to the top. This guy, did she think he was near the top of the cabal pyramid?  

This story begins with flash-bang and never slows the action. Always just outside the comfort zone, but sure it’ll be alright. However, life isn’t always fairy-tale sweet.

I was given this uncorrected proof download by Random House Ballantine-Bantam and NetGalley (thank you!) and jumped on it soon as I saw the offering. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read and review and recommend it to Koontz fans, those who don’t know they are Koontz fans, and anyone who enjoys a serious thriller, suspense, mystery, sci-fi-cum-psychological horror.

Rosepoint Publishing:  Five of Five Stars 

The Author: (From Amazon Author page) Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

(From Goodreads Author page) Acknowledged as “America’s most popular suspense novelist” (Rolling Stone) and as one of today’s most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human…

©2018 V Williams (Note: We are hosting grandchildren this week. Posts may not keep pace.)