• The Crooked Staircase

  • A Jane Hawk Novel (Jane Hawk, Book 3)
  • By: Dean Koontz
  • Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
  • Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (5,678 ratings)

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The Crooked Staircase  By  cover art

The Crooked Staircase

By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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 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 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.

Don’t miss any of Dean Koontz’s gripping Jane Hawk thrillers:

THE SILENT CORNER • THE WHISPERING ROOM • THE CROOKED STAIRCASE • THE FORBIDDEN DOOR • THE NIGHT WINDOW

Praise for The Crooked Staircase

“An absorbing thriller full of fresh touches… Writing his unusual heroine, Koontz keeps the pages alive with attitude as well as action…. For Hawk, who is as fearless as she is beautiful, no obstacle is too great, especially with the well-being of her hidden-away five-year-old son on her mind.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Spellbinding… Beautifully plotted and written with notable care and flare… The Hawk series… is among [Koontz’s] best work.” - Booklist (starred review)

“Unrelenting… [Jane] rivets readers’ attention…. Michael Crichton fans and thriller aficionados who appreciate a fierce female protagonist…should be urged to meet Jane Hawk.” - Library Journal

©2018 by Dean Koontz. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An absorbing thriller full of fresh touches… Writing his unusual heroine, Koontz keeps the pages alive with attitude as well as action…. For Hawk, who is as fearless as she is beautiful, no obstacle is too great, especially with the well-being of her hidden-away five-year-old son on her mind.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Spellbinding… Beautifully plotted and written with notable care and flare… The Hawk series…is among [Koontz’s] best work.” (Booklist, starred review)

What listeners say about The Crooked Staircase

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  • Overall
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh.

Love the author, love the series, but this was not a good ending. I totally understand leaving room for a sequel, but that's not what happened here. This is a book with no ending at all. I literally couldn't believe it when the narration ended, and thought there must be a mistake. Disappointing for sure. My suggestion is to wait on this one until the next in the series is out and then listen to this one and the next at the same time.

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105 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Well done.

I enjoyed the book. The performance was excellent. My only negative is that the reader is left hanging without resolution of a major element of the story.

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57 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not his best work - LIGHT SPOILERS

I like the idea of the Jane Hawk series; however, it is too long with too many unnecessary information (in my opinion). Clearly for whatever reason Dean thought the information was needed. In the previous book, Jane rescued a bunch of kids who were too young to have the implants work. Great, they were rescued and I thought the backstory with them tied in nicely with the overall arc of the storyline.

This book starts off with every other chapter following the attempted abduction and implantation of these two siblings. They were being chased by two henchmen. They were captured and well I don't want to say too much more, but the first half of the book bouncing between these twins and Jane made zero sense. I learned nothing new about the bad guys, their end game, or the henchmen that I didn't already know, or wouldn't have deduced by their following actions. You can seriously read the first half of the book skipping every other chapter and it would be magnitudes better.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Descriptive words like Oleaginous & Huggermugger- love love this series!

Koontz’s writing style is the reason for my advanced vocabulary since 7th grade. You will love the way he sees the world and yet how terrifyingly brilliant he is. On top of that- his worlds are diverse which is such a welcome aspect as a person of color who rarely finds that white authors include characters of different ethnicities and even abilities. I could see this playing out as if it were a movie. It is the perfect listen.. but be sure to start with book 1 of the series. The narrator is excellent as well. It is a great use of a credit.

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18 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Ughh!

I struggled but couldn't finish. I wouldn't reccomend this book. It has little or no story line. Very poor, no suspense.

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17 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Heartbreaking

I’ve read the first two books, and enjoyed them immensely, but this one left me broken-hearted I’m the kind of person who finds myself becoming attached to characters in each story I read, but this last book had my crying by the end of it all, and asking why?

That comes on the heels of seeing too shows where it seems like the bad guys are always winning, no matter what the odds are.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Unrelenting tension and an unyielding female protagonist!

Unrelenting tension and an unyielding female protagonist are the highlights of this well-plotted novel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
An epidemic of murder-suicides is sweeping the nation. It claimed Jane Hawk’s husband and many others and it is escalating rapidly. Jane, an FBI agent, has gone rogue against a horrific conspiracy that threatens the freedom and free-will of millions. As a wanted fugitive she relentlessly hunts for the secret organization behind the plot. Jane’s enemies, both the government and those involved in the conspiracy will stop at nothing to see her dead. But Jane has a plot of her own. She has her sights set on one of the twisted leaders in the conspiracy. How far will she go to protect her young son Travis, and discover the truth behind the technology that is creating a new world order.

“There is not much news in the news anymore. The lies they tell don’t leave a lot of time for the facts about anything.”

REVIEW
Jane Hawks is waging a one woman war against the most powerful conspiracy ever. She is phenomenally brave and determined, and readers like me, who are looking for strong female protagonists, will be in awe. The conspiracy is so scary you have to put it down at times and tell yourself “it’s only a book, it’s not real.” The unrelenting tension, interspersed with occasional spots of humor, was one of the things I liked most about the story. I also like many of the characters in the book, particularly the “good guys.” Cornell’s character was fascinating, as was Jessie and Gavin. Five-year-old Travis was adorable and he will wiggle his way into your heart.

THE CROOKED STAIRCASE is the first Koontz book that I have picked up in several years and find that I have jumped right in the middle of a series. What was I thinking...it’s the third one in the series, no less. The others books, The Silent Corner and The Whispering Room, surely have a wealth of information to provide, but having not read them did not prevent me from understanding and enjoying the intensity of this one. With a major cliffhanger at the end, you know there will be more books to come. This one had just a bit to much of a cliffhanger for me, just meant to hook you into buying the next book. If you like thrillers, series and a strong female protagonist this is definitely the book for you. I listened to the Audible version of the book and loved the narration.
Publisher Brilliance Audio.
Publication Date May 8, 2018
Narrated Elizabeth Rodgers

“None of us ever has more than this moment. Tomorrow becomes today, today becomes yesterday. The best I can do for my boy is give him enough todays that he can make a past for himself that will have had some meaning in it.”




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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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When I read a novel, I want...

When I read a novel, I want it to tell me a story. Whether it’s happy or sad, whether it plods along or it twists and writhes, a story is setup in the beginnings and it is resolved at its end. The story doesn’t have to be a particularly satisfying one, but resolve it must. It it understood that a story may It may elude to a past history and tease of more to come, but ending in a complete gap of suspense as does The Crooked

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Intrigued

As usual, Dean Koontz never let’s his readers down. Loving the Jane Hawk collection. From the first Dean Koontz I read to The Crooked Staircase, I’ve found that Koontz’s skill or talent or imagination or creativity, or whatever we use to describe his works, in the end all it can really be identified as is pure genius. Koontz has been and will continue to be my all time favorite authorI

By far, Elisabeth Rodgers is now one of my two favorite narrators. She is perfectly paired to present the Jane Hawk series.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, no match for Whispering Room

Recommend this to Jane Hawk fans. Not as much suspense or surprises as the previous 2 in the series but still a good listen.

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5 people found this helpful