The Whispering Room

Publisher's Summary

Jane Hawk - fiction's most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine - continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner.

"No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this."

These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun - just before she takes her own life, and many others', in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.

In the wake of her husband's inexplicable suicide - and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals - Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America's future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue - and become the nation's most wanted fugitive - in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough.

Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them.

©2017 Dean Koontz (P)2017 Recorded Books

Much better than The Silent Corner

Here Koontz blends his new hot dark female avenger protagonist with classic Koontz writing as he works hard to tone down the protagonist. In the first book Jane Hawk would kill somewhat minor bad guys with little compunction and the paranoia ran very deep (which I found off putting), now she has a conscience, questions the raw paranoia and the story blooms in classic Koontz style. This was not the very best of Koontz but I enjoyed the listen and finished it quickly. There were lots of great characters (much more than Silent Corner) and plenty of twists and turns.

The narration was very good with very nice characterization and subtle expressions of emotion that enhances the listen.

19 of 19 people found this review helpful

It pains me to say it, but I'm disappointed.

First, let me say that I LOVE Dean Koontz, both for the stories he tells and the masterful way in which he tells them. I've enjoyed everything I've read from him over the years...until now. This story felt to me like the ball of cotton you pull out of a bottle of aspirin: fluffy filler, put in place to keep parts one and three from breaking each other up into little bits during transport. I was so bored with the story near the end that I actually had to go back and confirm that the audiobook was indeed written by the master himself. It did not help matters that the narrator read the entire book in such a way that she could have recorded the audio from a quiet table in any public library without having the slightest worry of raising the ire of even the strictest of librarians. As much as I'd like to say I won't read the next in the series, we're talking Dean Koontz here...I won't be able to help myself. I'm sure it'll be much, much better.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Dammit, I had things to do!

I really did have things I needed to do. My lawn is filled with leaves. I have plants that are still outside and need to be brought into the greenhouse before it freezes. Those same plants need some attention before I move them; re-potting, trimming, etc.. I need to get Christmas cards out, do shopping, and oh, just a host of other things, but for more than 14 hours of awake time, I listened to Jane Hawk as she struggled to get through one day after another in a world gone absolutely loony-toons with these guys who want to rule the world.

This time (SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT You have been warned!!! SPOILER ALERT) This tine the evil guys are these "intellectuals who have invented a nannite that forms a controlling network in a victim's brain and that person becomes like a slave, willing to do just about anything up to and including killing themselves.

Jane decides to take out the highly connected and very rich leaders of this cabal and goes hunting. Along the way she meets characters that are memorable as only Dean Koontz can make characters. Elizabeth Rodgers brought each of them to life with her wonderful narration of this book. Her rendition of "Grandpa Bernie" is both touching and hilarious, for example.

This is another Dean Koontz masterpiece. He just gets better and better, Get this book. If you like out-there science and action packed stories that are tightly plotted and well narrated then you WILL like this book;. I loved it.

15 of 18 people found this review helpful

Flying high with Jane Hawk

Dean Koontz’s The Whispering Room is the second in a series featuring Jane Hawk, FBI agent on the run to ‘unofficially’ investigate an outbreak of unusual suicides, including that of her husband. Jane takes leave from the agency to pursue the truth, but soon draws the attention of shady government and other nefarious groups that have launched a mind control plot involving inject-able nano-technology.

Dean Koontz does his usual fabulous job introducing us to an evil crew of over-the-top antagonists, who have bad intent, mayhem and, yes, world domination, on their minds. Despite their access to every high tech tracking tool, including community video, license plate scanning, facial recognition software, and website monitoring, Jane somehow manages to stay one step ahead of her pursuers...or does she? There are questions remaining at the end that make me wonder which way Jane will go in the next installment.

This is a great entry by Dean. The story moved quickly, with nonstop suspense. The tracking technology described in the book is very scary. I hope it is not real because it suggests that nothing we do is private, which I know is partly true (but only partly). Anyway, I loved this book and recommend it highly, although I think you should read The Silent Corner first. More Jane Hawk please!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great book, and an enthralling listen.

I Always enjoy Dean Koontz. Reading, or listening. I like the way he draws you into his stories. And this book hasn't disappointed me.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Slow, slow narration

I wanted to like this book but I just don't. I hung on to hear the ending but I found the story getting more and more improbable. I love Dean normally but I just couldn't swallow the way things were unfolding and the actions of the characters.

One thing that made it worse was the ultra slow narration style of Elisabeth Rodgers. I will never listen to another book read by her. I won't be buying any more books in this series, two was enough. I had to turn the speed up to 1.5 times just to make it to the end.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Jane Hawk continues to soar!

If you could sum up The Whispering Room in three words, what would they be?

A worthy follow-up!

What did you like best about this story?

I think Koontz has created an amazing character in Jane Hawk and continues to introduce unique heroes and villains in her universe. It's another suspense-filled adventure with a strong leading heroine. I loved every aspect of this book and wished the third book was already available for listen!

Which character – as performed by Elisabeth Rodgers – was your favorite?

Elisabeth Rodgers is a strong narrator.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, yes, yes! Koontz is back on top of his game with this series!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Can’t wait for the next one

Excellence! This one even better than the first one. I am totally absorbed with the characters. I was riveted to my seat the whole way through the book. Rooted for them. Cried for them. Was in terror for their lives. I love this series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

actually believable

I've read Dean Koontz for years. This book is the most frightening, because it's possible.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Awesome

I have listened to this book twice and could definately listen to it again. Both the silent corner and whispering room were excellent and I can't wait for the next chapter in Jane Hawk's world to be released. Mr. Koontz keep up the good work.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful