**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

There used to be a time that I read every Dean Koontz book right when it was released. (Side note: My husband is not a reader but did actually read quite a few Koontz books. Especially when he was in the Navy and on deployment.) For reasons I’ll get into shortly I had gotten away from this author. So much so that the last Koontz book I read was Brother Odd from the Odd Thomas series and that was published in 2006! Yikes! Over 10 years without reading an author who was a favorite at one time. Crazy!

In all honesty, before reading this book I could not have pinpointed a reason I had taken such a long break from this author. In the past, there were times I’d take short breaks because his stories would sometimes blur together if I read too many too close together. Part of that is the often one word titles that would sometimes make it hard for me to remember which was which. But he also tends to (as most authors do) stick to a certain “type” when it comes to his heroes and heroines. The guys are usually ordinary or even a bit unusual looking but they’ll have one feature that stands out (often the eyes) and he’s always brave and kind. The women are often beyond beautiful and always have the most intense eyes no matter their color. The ladies are also very brave and no-nonsense and are never stuck-up about their appearance. So you can see how the stories can start to blur together.

Within a few chapters of this story I quickly remembered that Mr. Koontz tends to get wordy. Which is fine at times. I like to really picture the overall surroundings in stories I read. But because this book, and many of his other books, have a lot of action and movement there are a lot of scenes to take in. So if he is describing each scene in minute detail it can get to be a bit much for me. I don’t need a full page to describe a bathroom to me. Instead of drawing me into the story, it frustrates me and I tend to NOT pick up the book as often as I usually would. Unless the precise gun being used by the characters is essential to the story (so far that I’ve read it hasn’t been) I don’t need to know every detail of said weapon. (Another side note: Back in the day when I read his books I knew nothing about guns and would skim over these parts because they meant absolutely nothing to me. Now I know a lot more so at first, I was excited for the extra info, then I realized I didn’t need it for the story and it just threw the pacing off for me.)

On the other hand, when it comes to action and suspense, Dean Koontz is a master. His stories always hurl me into a heart pounding, breath-holding state of being. I will shake my head and audibly gasp at the actions of characters in his books. That was all here in this story. Jane is in a race to find answers while staying one step ahead of “them”. While most of the world goes about their business in blissful ignorance of the true evil this world holds, Jane is hunting down the bad guys and getting to the truth. She’s trying to prevent others from getting caught in the terrible web of evil she has discovered. This stuff, the action and intrigue and evil, Koontz writes to perfection.

I can’t tell you if I’ll read the next story in this series. I’m really not sure. There is something that happens to Jane toward the end that makes me curious to see if it’ll affect her. I just don’t know if that will be enough to have me returning for more. On the other hand, reading this story reminded me of all the Koontz books I haven’t read yet that I would like to get into again. Especially the Odd Thomas series that I never finished. FYI – as usual the movie adaptation of Odd Thomas was sorely lacking. If you haven’t read the book, do yourself a favor and read it asap. The first book is phenomenal as I remember. Hence, why I would like to pick that series back up.

Summary: If you are already a Koontz fan you will surely enjoy this story. If you are new to Dean Koontz might I suggest Watchers or By the Light of the Moon. Or, to go really old school Koontz, Demon Seed. That one gets creepier and creepier the more technologically advanced our society becomes.

https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/the-silent-corner-book-review/

I was given an advanced copy of The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz and in order for me to properly start that I had to read the first one. I use to go back and forth between Dean Koontz and Stephen King when I was younger they were my favorite and I have to say I LOVED this so much that reading over 400 hundred pages in one day came easy.
For me, this is Dean Koontz at his best. Jane Hawk is the main character. She is an FBI agent on leave after her husband commits suicide. He leaves a note "I need, I need, I need to die." This sets her on a mission to discover the why of her husband's death. During her research of suicides, she comes across the fact that suicides are rising at an alarming and steady rate. Happy, purposeful people are committing suicide. Her commitment to finding and uncovering the truth makes this novel relatable and easy to read. This book makes me eager for the next one. hands down an awesome book.