The Silent Corner

Starred review from April 1, 2017
After discovering that an odd surge in suicides, including that of her decorated Marine husband, was triggered by nanotech brain implants, FBI agent Jane Hawk goes rogue to root out the evil conspiracy behind the deaths.Targeted by drones and other sophisticated technology, the grieving widow hides her young son with friends and moves stealthily across southern California tracking down the culprits--primarily mad scientist Bertold Shenneck. His implants, injected into the victims, also are being used to mind-control the escorts at a fancy brothel. Even staying off the grid by driving thirdhand cars and using burner cellphones and computers in local libraries, Jane can't elude the bad guys. But in the manner of Jack Reacher, she's capable of taking on the opposition single-handedly, with or without her trusty Heckler & Koch handgun. At the same time, she's a deep thinker, a woman who "had grown quieter in all things, as though she was preparing soon to be a ghost and silent forever." A proven specialist in action scenes, Koontz pulls off some doozies here while doing a nice job of playing down the Michael Crichton-type techno stuff. The killing of hundreds of commuters by terrorists crashing an airplane into a Philadelphia expressway is too big an event to use as background detail, but the book is full of neat touches such as calling the brain-controlled humans "rayshaws" after the name of the protagonist in The Manchurian Candidate. And the prose, as always in a Koontz novel, is first-rate. Perhaps Koontz's leanest, meanest thriller, this initial entry in a new series introduces a smart, appealing heroine who can outthink as well as outshoot the baddest of bad dudes.

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May 1, 2017
When FBI agent Jane Hawk's husband inexplicably kills himself, she wants to know why. After some digging, she discovers that a lot of people have been taking their own lives lately, people who by all accounts had no apparent reason for ending them prematurely. Knowing she could be signing her own death warrant, Jane puts her career and life on the line to find out who's behind this wave of suicides. Billed as the first in a new series, this gripping thriller grabs readers from the first few pages and sweeps them along to the rousing finale. Long an A-list best-seller, Koontz has always delivered the goods, whether he's tackling science fiction, horror, or thrillers (notably the Odd Thomas series). That varied bibliography now adds a new series and an exciting new heroine. Expect the usual clamor for copies among the faithful, who are certain to embrace Jane Hawk immediately and eagerly await the next installment.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: As he testifies in a letter to his readers prefacing the ARC of The Silent Corner, Koontz was enthralled by his new character and felt renewed as a writer by creating her. Readers will be equally enthralled, helped along by a Blockbuster National Marketing & Publicity Campaign. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017

When her accomplished and seemingly well-adjusted husband commits suicide, FBI agent Jane Hawk seeks to discover why he and a surprising number of others like him have chosen death over life. The first of two linked novels, with The Whispering Room coming in January 2018.

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