The Whispering Room

November 1, 2017
In this sequel to The Silent Corner (2017), former FBI agent Jane Hawk continues her fight against an evil conspiracy that has been brainwashing people with nanomachines.The 27-year-old Hawk is a former agent--and the most wanted woman in America--because she's been taking out the bad guys responsible for the murder of her husband and other killings made to look like suicides. Traveling alone, in disguise, and doing all she can to avoid the surveillance of government agencies that have been infiltrated by the conspiracy, she's after the murderous billionaire whose California biotech firm developed the microscopic "control mechanisms" being injected into people's bloodstreams. Among their living victims: young women turned into robotic hostesses at private sex clubs. Hawk gains an ally in black cop Luther Tillman after a kindly teacher in his Minnesota town unthinkably drives a car bomb into a hotel and kills 42 people, including the governor and a congressman. Koontz had his work cut out for him trying to match the terrific first installment in the series. But as solid as the storytelling is here, it lacks the spark and suspense of The Silent Corner. Too many of the scenes in this 500-plus page book are stretched out for no reason. And Hawk, so charismatic the last time around, is largely reduced to a pitiless avenger who resorts to her own kind of cruelty.While Koontz's second effort featuring Jane Hawk may satisfy his longtime fans, his new heroine too often seems stuck on autopilot--a major disappointment considering how lively she was in her debut.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 15, 2017
Here's the sequel to Koontz's terrific The Silent Corner (2017), which introduced a new lead character, Jane Hawk, an FBI agent who risked everything she held dear to solve the mystery of her husband's suicide. Actually, sequel isn't quite the right word for this novel; it's more like a continuation, part two of an ongoing story. Jane is still the most wanted criminal in America (she's killed some people), she's still on the outs with the FBI, and she's still in shock over the massive conspiracy she's uncovereda conspiracy that took the life of her husband, who, like other innocent people, was turned into a killer via implanted nanotechnology. Koontz takes a bit of a risk in making his lead character so seemingly unhingedJane really appears, at the beginning of the book, like she's dangerously close to self-destructive obsessionbut then Koontz has never exactly shied away from complex characters or situations. And this situation gets very complex indeed, as Jane pursues the people behind the conspiracy with the kind of single-minded relentlessness that makes the book absolutely spellbinding. As good as The Silent Corner was, this one's even better. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Koontz is on another roll with a new series that boasts a juicy premise and a compelling star. Combine that with some marketing muscle, and you have pure gold.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2017

In The Silent Corner, which soared onto the New York Times best sellers list after its late June release, FBI agent Jane Hawk seeks to discover why her accomplished husband and a surprisingly large number of others have unaccountably committed suicide. Now she knows it's because a few power mongers are out to rule the world, and she's going to get them. The title references those who are off the grid yet able to sneak around on the Internet.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.