THE WHISPERING ROOM

5 stars out of 5

When I finished The Silent Corner, the first book in this series featuring FBI agent Jane Hawk, I loved it so much that in my review I urged the author to hurry up and finish the next one sooner than scheduled. He must have heard me, since he beat that original date by a couple of months. And oh boy, am I glad he did!

This one can stand alone, although I'm sure I enjoyed it more for having read the first. That one had plenty of action, but here it's almost nonstop, meaning I was "forced" to put other chores on the back burner so I could keep reading (honestly, I think it's even better than the first, and I gave that one a 5-star rating). The prose is pure Koontz, with each turn of the phrase artfully crafted. The focus of the plot - really, really bad guys and gals who are using nanotechnology to turn human beings they don't like into well-controlled automatons - may be a bit "out there," but on the other hand, as one of my favorite comedians, Judy Tenuta, used to say, "It could happen."

In the first book, Jane's husband Nick reportedly committed suicide - but Jane knew better and vowed to get to the truth. That in turn put her at odds with the FBI and even higher-up powers, forcing her to go on the run and put her young son Travis in hiding. Early on, she seeks help from a respected journalist - hoping he's someone she can trust (it's nearly impossible to discern who's had the technology implants, making Jane's quest to take down the instigators all that much harder). At the same time, a much-loved Minnesota school teacher inexplicably commits mass murder by driving her homemade bomb-laden car into a crowd (killing herself as well). When Jane learns of the incident, she immediately suspects that the woman was "guided" by an outside force.

At the same time, local Sheriff Luther Tillman has suspicions all his own; wanting to find out why the normally sweet teacher would commit such a horrible act, he visits her home and retrieves a few items. Shortly thereafter, her home goes up in flames, adding fuel to Luther's belief that something is rotten in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Jane and Luther lead separate investigations for a while, but as might be expected, their trails eventually come together. From that point on, there's no going back - and they must cling to the hope that the way forward won't end with either or both of their deaths. 

Mysterious and spooky and all together ooky, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves thrillers spiked with a tablespoon of science fiction. Love it - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz (Bantam, November 2017); 528 pp.