Leave it to Koontz, one of the masters of modern horror, to give us something even scarier. Contemporary thrillers are also gritty, with graphic descriptions of kill shots, wince-worthy injuries, and all-too-real portrayals of torture. In terms of conventions, readers have come to expect a certain “geek out” factor from these books: exquisitely detailed descriptions of weapons, ammunition, and gear precisely delineated movements of each person involved in the scenes of tactical combat and downright garrulous characters who discuss the tortuous ins and outs of complex strategic maneuvers. As is de rigueur for the genre, the book’s central conflict revolves around a mysterious technology that, if misused, could threaten the future of humanity itself.įans of the great writers in this genre-Vince Flynn ( also a devout Catholic), Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, and others-know that these kinds of titles have only become more popular in the past decade. The fiery protagonist Jane Hawk is a special unit FBI agent, which gives her all the skills and credibility Koontz needs to pull off a novel of dark espionage. It is Koontz’s best work in nearly 15 years. Its modern detective work was reminiscent of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series but without the casual sex and with a more firmly grounded sense of ethics.Īshley Bell set the stage, however, for Koontz’s latest: The Silent Corner, which is subtitled A Novel of Suspense but is in fact a thriller in the military/spy tradition. Koontz tried something different with late 2015’s Ashley Bell: a high-stakes murder mystery featuring an uncredentialed but feisty heroine who must piece together her shattered world. Koontz has written many books since then- Innocence (2013) and The City (2014) standouts among them-but none has quite compared to the alluring art of the original Odd Thomas. Its clever literary sleight-of-hand, coupled with its masterful re-presentation of the distinctive truths of the Catholic faith in a modern mythos, makes it a book worth reading several times and even studying in groups.

The author was well into his 8-book Odd Thomas series at that point, and when it wrapped up with the aptly-titled Saint Odd in early 2015, many Koontz fans christened the franchise his best achievement thus far.Īs I’ve written elsewhere, the original Odd Thomas (2003) stands as something more than a popular novel. Koontz, who rarely does any kind of press, has given two hour-long interviews to EWTN and has been featured in the National Catholic Register, wherein he discussed his deep Catholic faith. More and more of the Catholic world has been paying attention to Dean Koontz, the popular fiction writer whose books are known for their heart-pounding action scenes and often become New York Times bestsellers. His latest gives us a terrifying vision of ideological terrorism and humanity’s slavery to a ruling elite.

The silent corner by dean koontz