The Night Window by Dean Koontz (Jane Hawk #5)

Synopsis:

Since her sensational debut in The Silent Corner, readers have been riveted by Jane Hawk's resolute quest to take down the influential architects of an accelerating operation to control every level of society via an army of mind-altered citizens. At first, only Jane stood against the "Arcadian" conspirators, but slowly others have emerged to stand with her, even as there are troubling signs that the "adjusted" people are beginning to spin viciously out of control. Now, in the thrilling, climactic showdown that will decide America's future, Jane will require all her resources--and more--as she confronts those at the malevolent, impregnable center of power.

So we’ve come to what I can only imagine is the conclusion of the Jane Hawk series. I’m both happy and sad about this. I’m sad because Jane Hawk was one hell of a protagonist. She was a badass woman, and it was fun to read about her being pretty invincible due to her brain and instincts.

I’m happy it’s over because reading each book filled me with such a huge sense of dread hoping that nothing would happen to Jane and/or Travis. I became very attached to them over five books. I don’t think I could handle getting this deep into it only for her to not succeed.

That said (SPOILERS AHEAD)

With the help of Vikram, one of her pals from the FBI,

She DOES succeed! She is finally able to take down the horrendously evil Techno Arcandians and reunite with her son to try to live somewhat of a normal life.

The ending did seem a bit rushed and half-baked. I expected there to be more of a focus on the takedown. But, it is what it is. Their revolution was so widespread and far-reaching. They were gaining on her. But, she launched her counterstrike just in time and got to see them come crashing down.

The Jane Hawk series was a ride from start to finish. I’m glad it had a happy ending. I would have been beyond bummed out if it were any other way.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Art made life in a dark world tolerable, but when a declining culture arrived at critical depth, Art alone was insufficient either to restore that culture or to prevent its further descent into an abyss.”

“Life of a tapestry of tragedy and comedy, terror and fortitude, despair and joy, and it’s routinely more colorful and crazy than anything I —or anyone— could invent.”

“The highway before them was smooth and open. Historically, however, the road to every utopia was paved with blood and bones, leading not to the dreamed-of perfection of humanity and society, but to mass murder, madness, and for a while the death of hope.”

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The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk #4) by Dean Koontz

Synopsis:

She was one of the FBI’s top agents until she became the nation’s most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that stands between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society’s terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn’t save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills—and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice—Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal. 

But Jane’s enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can’t outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait. Jane knows there’s no underestimating their capabilities, but she must battle her way back across the country to the remote shelter where her boy is safely hidden . . . for now.

As she moves resolutely forward, new threats begin to emerge: a growing number of brain-altered victims driven hopelessly, violently insane. With the madness spreading like a virus, the war between Jane and her enemies will become a fight for all their lives—against the lethal terror unleashed from behind the forbidden door.

If you’ve been keeping up with my reviews, you know I’ve been attached to this series. So, imagine my disappointment when I felt like this installment wasn’t necessary to the series. There were a few bits a pieces that definitely added to the series, but this book could have been cut in half, and I would have been totally fine with it.

It was slow-moving. There was not nearly enough Jane in this one. I really don’t care about getting full character arcs for characters that just end up dying – not at the hand of Jane. Maybe the first three books were just too good that getting a mediocre one made me seem worse than it was.

There was a steady building sense of dread while I read the first three. I had that sense of dread going into this one, but nothing really . . . happened. It kept building up like something was going to, and it just didn’t. Here is where I feel conflicted. I usually enjoy books more when my favorite characters make it out safe and alive. I still wanted that in this book, but I could have used some more action too.

I will say, The Forbidden Door which the title of the book references is very interesting, and I would like to hear more about how it happened all of a sudden.

On to the next one. . .

2.5/5 stars

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The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz (Jane Hawk #3)

Synopsis:

Jane Hawk -- who dazzled readers in The Silent Corner and The Whispering Room -- faces the fight of her life, against the threat of a lifetime in this electrifying new thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling suspense master Dean Koontz. "I could be dead tomorrow. Or something worse than dead." Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she's breathing, she'll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom--and free will--of millions. Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane's husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot. Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane's enemies are determined to see her dead . . . or make her wish she was. Jane's ruthless pursuers can't stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call. Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her. But nothing can prepare her for the chilling truth that awaits when she descends the crooked staircase to the dark and dreadful place where her long nightmare was born.

This was a truly creepy edition to the series and also massively heartbreaking.

I almost felt like I never knew what was actually happening while reading this book. It seemed like it was being set up for a dramatic turn, and while it did have that, it wasn’t the one I was expecting.

Then, there was the building dread around Jane’s son and the Washingtons.

I always enjoy finding out what the cryptic names of the books in this series mean. This one didn’t disappoint. It’s definitely nothing I would have guessed.

Finishing this one really makes you need to start the next one immediately.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “When you loved enough important qualities of a person, then you loved him or her, and you had better say it while time remained.”

“There was always a moment when iron will and a determined heart could no longer compensate for the fatigue of mind and muscle.”

“The sky was a sea of suns afloat in the eternal dark that only their light relented. The nearest sun of all, which warmed the earth, was hours below the eastern horizon. When it rose, it would reveal a world of wonders, a world on which had been lavished such natural beauty of such astonishing depth and complexity that an honest heart perceived meaning in it and yearned to know. In the night as it was now and in the morning light, there were men and women making music, writing poetry and novels, researching new medicines, fighting wars against malevolent forces, doing hard and honest work, raising families, loving, caring, hoping.”

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The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz (Jane Hawk #2)

Synopsis:

"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 these 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.

It’s official. I’m addicted to this series. I thought it may have just been a fluke with the first book – The Silent Corner. But, nope. This one fully hooked me in as well. I had to put it out of sight and ignore it while trying to get work done or I would have just picked it back up and finished it all immediately.

This was a good follow up novel to The Silent Corner. Jane Hawk is still on the run, but she’s getting closer to the top of the mystery she seeks to solve.

There were so many new characters introduced in this book, but it was done really well I thought. As you get deeper into the book, there are just layers upon layers added to the story and it all builds up to another totally unbearable ending. But, if you read my last review, you know that the end was only unbearable because of how anxiety-provoking it is.

I find myself rooting so hard for the good guys in these two books that when any of them are in danger, I want to just physically close the book and ignore it and hope that if I don’t read any further it just means that they’re okay.

I have a lot of favorite protagonists and they all seem to be badass women, but Jane Hawk is definitely near the top of that list as well. I’m glad that I have the third book on hand so I don’t have to wait to start it. I don’t think I could handle waiting.

There’s something about the plot of these novels that is just so twisted and believably unbelievable that makes them so addicting and so hard to put down. It’s hard, in a way, to imagine a world that it outlined by Koontz in these books. But, at the same time, it’s not all that hard to imagine. It’s a whirlwind.

Also – the meaning behind The Whispering Room is absolutely wild. But, that’s all I will say.

I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes suspense/mystery novels.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Every human being was a mystery, each mind a maze of passages and secret rooms. No one ever really knew anyone or what they might be capable of doing.”

“The trouble with the what-if game was that once you began to play it, you couldn’t just quit whenever you wanted. From one what-if grew another.”

“Controlled paranoia was a survival mechanism. Unrelieved paranoia was a greased chute into madness.”

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