The Forbidden Door: A Jane Hawk Novel

This series is a bloated monstrosity, it's like the author has run amok with no editor daring to rein him in due to his notoriety. All the books need to be read in order as one begins where the last book ended. At least this book doesn't have embellished side plots that go nowhere. It's nonstop action where Jane is rushing to Travis, her 5 year old son, before the Arcadians find him. The story ping pongs between the Arcadians, Jane, Travis, and her in-laws. My biggest complaint is the Arcadians hunting them are nuts and it's hard to believe that they have been successful infiltrating government organizations to further their cause of taking over the world. They are such loose cannons that they should be taken out by their own people for jeopardizing the mission and should have been at the top of the Arcadian's List to be eliminated. By now with this fourth book, it was depressing to continually read about the Arcadians using their nano machine brain implant on innocent people, ruining their lives. This series has been drawn out way too long . The author really gets his kicks writing about the sadistic ways you can dehumanize, torture and kill people in the worst way turning family members against each other in a killing frenzy. I hope the next book is the last one. I'm only reading this never ending story because I want to know how Koontz is going to wrap it up. Better than the last novel , it is a compelling read finding out how Jane and her in-laws outwit the Arcadians, hence the four stars. I said I would bail if there was a fifth book, but I'm hoping the end is in sight so am sticking with it for now.

I've been reading Dean Koontz's books since Lightning was published in 1988. If you haven't read it, give it a try. You won't be disappointed. What I love about his style of writing is he's like a literary juggler--he always has several genres up in the air when he's telling a tale. You get horror, suspense, humor and human emotions all in one book because, seriously, that's how real life is. He tells a riveting story while making you fall in love with the main character and detest the villains. The Jane Hawk series is wonderful. In this fourth book, Jane is still up against the Techno Arcadians and she still hasn't gotten to the head of the snake yet. Cut off the head and the body dies. This book has her racing against time to rescue her five-year-old son, Travis, before the Techno Arcadians can get to him. The agents of that evil organization, some of whom are certifiably insane, commit numerous atrocities while trying to run Jane down. I really couldn't take any more innocent people being injected with their vile nanotechnology serum. I can't wait until Jane finally locates their leader and punishes him/her for all the misery the Techno Arcadians have caused. I enjoyed the fact that there is a growing community of good guys in the series now, and they're taking action to stop the bad guys. I loved the following characters: Travis, Jane's little boy. Bernie Riggowitz, the Auschwitz survivor. Cornell Jasperson, app inventor with a touch of autism and Luther Tillman, ex-cop and freedom fighter. Go, Jane! I can't wait for book 5, The Night Window, coming in May 2019!

I waded through four of the books in the series, only to find at the end of this book that the story is not at an end, and we have to wait for yet another installment. I wasn’t happy with the first book, and I’m not very happy now. Not enough of the storyline issues are resolved, and it seems like the author is just stretching this out so he can sell more books. The bad guys are sufficiently evil, and certainly easy to dislike. I want to see Jane Hawk kick their asses down a very deep mineshaft, but I will not read yet another book to find out that she doesn’t even know where the mine is located. Jane Hawk is a likeable character. I’d keep reading if the stories were more self contained, but they’re not, so I am done. You should be too.

Dean Koontz has always had a special ability to make insightful commentary on the world around us with his fictive dream. Odd Thomas was my favorite series of all time-and Koontz my favorite author. At first I was disappointed that this series was not another Odd Thomas-styled novel. However, the more I read, the more I recognized truth in the words. His characters--some more than others--have depth, and even humor in a horrible situation. In this series, especially The Forbidden Door, Koontz has taken more liberties with his antagonists and dared to make them humorous, dared to give them more word time and personality so that when they are thwarted we are entertained. I hesitated to purchase this latest novel because of what was said in poor reviews. I'm so very glad I went with my gut.

This one wasn't as good as the first three in this series. Thought the story was going to end, but evidently, there is another installment. Maybe more?Koontz wondered away from the story several times in the first half, to meander through the minds of some of the TechonoArcadians. Didn't really move the story along and hard to get through. If I wasn't a die hard fan, might have stopped reading. The second half picked up somewhat.

I read the previous books in the series and was looking forward to reading the latest.At 50% of the way through I wanted to stop. But I paid for the book and was bound and determined to finish it. At 75% I wasn’t sure I could continue but did make it to the end.The book meandered and at times went into endless details on a character’s actions. There were a couple to characters that, when present, were very entertaining. Others were so boring I wanted to scream.Needless to say, I won’t be reading the next book in the series no matter how many 5-star reviews there are.

I loved this book. It had me on tender hooks. The plot thickens and the Jane Hawk just gets better. Loved the twist when the real baddie in the book got injected by the people he was supposed to subjugate. Nation is waking up to the fact Jane is being framed. Cannot wait until July when the last one comes out. Ordered already. Love Dean Koontz.

I’ve now read all of the Jane Hawk books, though not in the right order. I will re-read the series at some point as I can’t remember what happens in the last book which I got an ARC for. Thankfully, The Crooked Staircase was still fresh in my mind when I read this book as this picks right up where the last book finished, with Jane desperate to get to her son and Cornell but aware she can’t just rush to him in case she’s followed and will need to plan, prepare and take her time no mater how painful this is. Like the other books in the series and the author’s books in general, The Forbidden Door is fast paced, full of short intense chapters so it fairly rattles along. The chapters move between what’s happening with Jane to the POV of various Arcadian’s who are hunting her, her son, her parents and anyone who stands with Jane. I enjoy books that use this structure and Koontz is a master of his craft. The Forbidden Door is terrific.

Although I think this has been padded to make more money...yes, the whole thing could be one book...I still enjoyed book four in the Jane Hawk series, but will have to wait to read the last one in the hope it will come down in price.It is a terrifying tale of greed and power and madness, very much like the world as it is today. The characters are intriguing (many crazy) while the plot is extremely disturbing and sad. It is good that some of the characters are good, decent amd kind, for if not, the story would be too depressing. Travis and Cornell are superb - the dogs, too, of course.Fast-paced and atmospheric, this was a joy to read regarding the writing - always loved Dean Koontz's work.Highly recommended.

Have now read all three books, can't wait for the next one. The story has you hooked from the first page. Genius mind that created this fantastically brilliant tale. Best book I've read in a long time and I read a lot of books, Dean Koontz doesn't disappoint.

Koontz has stretched out a one book plot into... what is it... 5 now? I've read the first 4 and this one, the 4th, is the slowest one yet. Too much senseless narrative and long winded let us examine our navel descriptions and too much padding... all to stretch it out and make more money on multiple books rather than the one it should be.I love Koontz but he is getting lazy and has lost respect for his loyal readers.