Okay, so The Crooked Staircase is book three in Dean Koontz’s Jane Hawk series, and by this point, Jane has fully embraced her life as a rogue FBI agent with nerves of steel and a serious grudge against a creepy high-tech cult. She's still on the run, dodging the government, random assassins, and people who probably think privacy settings are just a suggestion.
In this one, things get darker. Jane’s mission to uncover the mind-control conspiracy gets even more intense, and let’s just say she’s not playing nice anymore. She’s got one goal: keep her son safe and bring down the evil puppet masters running the show. And she’ll break into as many sinister mansions and sneak down as many crooked staircases as it takes.
Speaking of which, yes—there is a literal crooked staircase. Because Koontz. It leads to a super-creepy hidden area in one of those big "if-you-live-here-you’re-probably-a-villain" houses. Naturally, something bad happens down there. It’s very atmospheric. Very Koontz.
This one keeps the same tension and high-stakes energy, just with a little less hope and a lot more “okay wow, that’s messed up.” Jane's still brilliant and brave, but she’s also kind of terrifying now—in a good way.
Definitely worth the read if you're both in the mood to continue to watch Jane dismantle an evil empire one blackout SUV at a time.
