"Jane Hawk--fiction's most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine--continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner. "No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this." These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun--just before she takes her own life, and many others', in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better. In the wake of her husband's inexplicable suicide--and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals--Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America's future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue--and become the nation's most wanted fugitive--in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough. Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them. Acclaim for Dean Koontz's previous Jane Hawk novel,The Silent Corner "Gripping. The paranoia and mystery increase as the story unfolds. Koontz has created [a] wonderful character in Jane Hawk. Koontz rocks it again."--Associated Press "In this era of stingy text-message prose, Mr. Koontz is practically Shakespeare. The Silent Corner brims with both action and emotion."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Silent Corner is vintage Dean Koontz: paranoia-fueled suspense. sleek and highly realized action, developed characters, and more twists and turns than any two ordinary novels combined. As relevant to current events as it is audacious. amongst Dean Koontz's finest contemporary work."--Mystery Scene "A proven specialist in action scenes, Koontz pulls off some doozies here. The book is full of neat touches. And the prose, as always in a Koontz novel, is first-rate. Perhaps Koontz's leanest, meanest thriller, this initial entry in a new series introduces a smart, appealing heroine who can outthink as well as outshoot the baddest of bad dudes."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "The latest page-turner by Dean Koontz introduces readers to Jane Hawk. An inspired choice for a protagonist. action, zippy dialogue and a winning character at the center of the book, part of a new series by Koontz."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Long an A-list bestseller, Koontz has always delivered the goods. [His] varied bibliography now adds a new series and an exciting new heroine."--Booklist "Fantastically written (as always by Mr. Koontz). You are riveted on page one. 5 stars!"--Suspense Magazine"--
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader. Whatever else happens, Dean Koontz can always be relied on to provide a great reading experience. Rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk is back in the sequel to The Silent Corner. The Whispering Room takes up where the first book left off, and Jane is determined to get the whole story out to the public and save the world and herself (and maybe get a little justice for her murdered/programmed suicide husband).
This book managed to trap me within a very few pages and really hold my interest until I'd read it completely. There are not many books which have actually made me miss my bus stop, but this one did. Narrative tension is hard and Koontz makes it look easy. He's a masterful writer and writes well crafted exciting books. This is a solid brick of a book, 528 pages, and I didn't find that it lagged anywhere. Jane encounters a whole host of secondary characters (I 3 Bernie!!!!) but they're described well and mostly introduced serially, so there's no problem with keeping track of who is who.
For fans of thriller/conspiracy/black ops type books (Clive Cussler, Lee Child, Robert Crais & co., I'm lookin' at you!), Jane is pure entertainment. I'm looking forward to seeing how she manages in book #3.
If Amazon were Disneyland, Dean Koontz would be an 'E' ticket ride.
Published 21st November, 2017 by Bantam Format: Kindle, Hardback, Paperback, audio (Audible)
Four stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
