Warning: Some spoilers from the previous Jane Hawk thriller, The Crooked Staircase (Jane Hawk #3).
Jane proves again that her instincts are honed, her shooting hand is steady, and her loyalty to family is fierce. She’s a problem solver, thinking outside any box I’ve ever known. She is prepared to do anything, legal or not, to save her son and take down the organization that stole her husband from her. Her strategy is to distract and move closer, misdirect and pounce. She not opposed to, but finds it oddly surreal that she is now working with the criminals she used to bust.
The Techno Arcadians and the Unknown Playwright have set their sights on two pieces of leverage: Jane’s son and her in-laws. They feed the media faulty evidence about Jane and send a team to capture the Hawks, but Nick’s parents flee and the chase begins.
The Arcadians ranks continue to swell as they cast the neuro net and “adjust” more and more people. Another set of villains is tasked with finding Jane’s son Travis. He is currently safe in a wealthy recluse’s bunker near Anza-Borrego in Southern California. But at the end of The Crooked Staircase, Jane’s good friends, her son’s protectors, were located and killed when they went out for supplies. This puts the bad guys very close to Travis. One phone call to his mother, and she formulates a plan to retrieve her son.
If you like detailed descriptions of weapons, tactics, and specialized soldiers… If you like multiple points of view: the protagonist, the deadly terrorists, and the innocents… If you like fast-paced action, a likable hero, and the takedown of government infiltration… This series is for you.
I have to keep reminding myself that the action in Jane Hawk has only occured over a couple of months, but over the course of four books and two dozen threads… time stretches. Not in a bad way. I’m enjoying the serial-type way Koontz is releasing these books; it keeps the story fresh and me interested. The Forbidden Door completes its arc as all the stories finally converge on an ending that is both a way station and a nervous pause until Koontz releases the next book. It will be called The Night Window, and I assume it will be out in early ’19, as six months has been the approximate time between the last two books.
4 out of 5 stars
Releases on September 11th.
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House – Ballantine, and Dean Koontz for an advanced copy for review.
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