In the latest in Koontz's Jane Hawk series, the eponymous heroine continues her struggle to dodge the FBI and government forces trying to take her down, finding herself on the edge of losing it all at Lake Tahoe.
Koontz has written another stellar tale with Hawk. She’s easy to root for, and The Crooked Staircase is a gripping read for almost 500 pages, though in retrospect, not much really happens to propel the story too far forward. With at least two more novels coming with Hawk, hopefully Koontz will give this saga closure soon while pursuing other potential opportunities for her to shine under different circumstances. The story line does veer a bit into the torture realm this time around, bringing up some disturbing images to go with her crusade. Even with all of this in mind, The Crooked Staircase is a page-turner to dive into this summer.
For those who’ve played the Splinter Cell games, Jane Hawke is sort of like a female version of Sam Fisher. She’s great at a lot of things, and very good at everything else. There’s no obstacle she can’t climb, no bad guy she can’t take out, and no technology she can’t crack. She’s a well-rounded heroine who will stop at nothing to meet her objective. . . and for what it’s worth, it’s a heck of a lot of fun watching her do her thing. Koontz understands how to play up the suspense and balance that with a quick-moving plot. The Crooked Staircase is well-written and fun, though the overall story itself does require readers to suspend their disbelief at times.
This book is pretty thick and now and then did I feel that the pacing slowed down. Not that the book was bad ... Dean Koontz doesn't hold back the punches and one can't be sure in this book who will live and who will die. Then, came the ending. BAM! I mean it, it's a bloody annoying cliffhanger ending. When the story started to really pick up the pace and be really interesting, then it ended. Yes, I will definitely read the next book!
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
