“‘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 these 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.”
This book is the second book in the Jane Hawk series, but I have yet to read the first one. When I received this book from the publisher I didn’t know this, so I definitely want to go back and read the first book in the series.
This story is the continuation of Jane, a former FBI agent, who is now a fugitive on the run and is trying to uncover the truth behind what happened to her husband. She is on a mission to stop a slew of powerful, corrupt men who are secretly using brain implants to control the world one person at a time. The story is told from the perspective of Jane, and a few other characters who are individually involved in the threat that Jane is facing.
One character named Cora, is an elementary school teacher who has been having weird spells and mental health issues. This has caused her to take a reprieve from teaching, which leaves her isolated in her home with her dog as her only companion. Cora is beloved in the community, and has been a teacher for disabled children for decades. Unfortunately, after going on an all expensed retreat, she has been having these new mental issues. This ends up causing her to do an unspeakable act, and confuses everyone in the community. No more so then the next character we are introduced to.
Luther is a sheriff in the town where Cora lives. After the incident with Cora, Sheriff Luther doesn’t completely believe what happened is what it seems. Especially after the FBI come into town and try their best to cover it up. This propels him to investigate further into what happened, which leads him into crossing paths with Jane as they are both unknowingly on the same mission. Now that Luther is involved in this much larger threat, him and his family are now also in danger.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I don’t typically read governmental/political/conspiracy type books, but I have read a good amount of Dean Koontz books and he’s a fantastic author. I also tend to really like books who have a heroine, bad-ass type leading lady as the main character, which Jane fits into perfectly. You can’t help but root for her and her mission to save the world. Also the fact that she is a mother with a young son completely relates to me. I really couldn’t put this book down once I started reading it. I wanted to know what would happen to Jane and if she could put a stop to the evilness she was up against.
There wasn’t much that I didn’t like about the book. I would have perhaps like some corrupt women in the story, as all the people Jane is fighting are just “powerful men”, but that’s just me being nit-picky and who knows if there were any in the first book as I still need to read it. I also don’t like that I need to wait for the next book to find out what happens, but that’s just me being impatient.
I recommend this book and can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out in May 2018. I’m hoping I can get my hands on an ARC of that book as well.
A big thanks to Bantam Books/Random house for an advanced copy of this book.
