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May 05, 2018maucarden rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The Crooked Staircase, the third book in the Jane Hawk series is a powerful read. Jane continues her fight against the Techno-Arcadians; the cabal mostly consisting of politicians, agents of secret/ law enforcement agencies, rich business people and techno inventors. They are evidently the worst word in the English language: elitists. Although Koontz is careful to point out that not every Ivy Leaguer, government employee, politician, wealthy business person, innovator, creative person or member of the mainstream press are malevolent elitists, his message is easy to read and seems to cater to the current political climate. However, this particular group of evil elitists, the Techno-Arcadians, is looking to take over the world and form some sort of utopia; a really nasty type of utopia that seems to only benefit them. One way they are doing this is by destroying people with nanotechnology. These are people picked by a computer algorithm as possible future opponents; basically defined as people who can think and reason for themselves. Read the previous books; you owe it to yourself. These villains are among the worst I’ve come across in many years of reading; and this from an author who excels in presenting some pretty scary villains. The two Techno-Arcadian hunters on the ground to find Jane or her little boy, Travis, are especially depraved. Jane is still the loner on the run. A few months ago she was a loving wife, a mother and a respected FBI agent. The murder of her husband Nick by the Techno-Arcadians enraged Jane and put her into beserker mode. Her son Travis is in hiding and she has a star role on the list of Most Wanted for crimes running from murder to treason. However she has plans for some powerful payback. Man plans, God laughs, something Jane has forgotten. Something the villains may have forgotten too. The story is written in alternating, short chapters with differing POVs. Not fun, but effective to read the mindset of the severely deranged. It aggravates me that I enjoy Koontz’s books so much. His writing as usual is lyrical, and can be pure bone chilling. His descriptions can give James Lee Burke a run for his money; whether it is an area of Orange County or an escape across California wildernesses. My aggravation comes from his definition of elitists. Fair warning, this book is dark, unrelentingly dark. Jane is forced to confront how far she will go to protect her son and in her quest to bring down the Techno -Arcadians. She will kill in self-defense, but will she cross other lines that seem worse? Koontz has come up with outcomes that actually are worse than death. The Crooked Staricase crosses genres, easily jumping from thriller to science fiction to techno thriller. I wanted to sit there with pen and paper taking notes on all the information given on the ways I can be tracked, hacked, or eavesdropped on, making The Crooked Staircase chilling in ways other than just as a distopic story. As to the title, I’ll let y’all discover that one on your own. I do advise constructing a couch pillow fort. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.