Book Review: Odd Thomas/ Forever Odd October 8, 2008
Posted by lightnessanddark in Darkness, dean koontz, Science Fiction.Tags: brother odd, dean koontz, elvis pressley, forever odd, haley joel osment, I see dead people, j.k. rowling, M. Night Shyamalan, odd hours, odd thomas, The Sixth Sense
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Orignally posted July 18, 2008
Book Review: Odd Thomas and Forever Odd
It’s time to try catching up with my book reviews. I’m already over 350 pages into my next read, Peter Straub’s Ghost Story, but before I started that book, I finally found a used, hardcover copy of Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. I’d been watching the used bookstores in the Flint area for months before I found both Forever Odd (book 2) and Brother Odd (book 3).
Odd Thomas is one of the best characters to come around in literature in a long time. Dean Koontz knows this, and so he is writing multiple stories about Odd’s life journey. There are already three Odd Thomas sequels published since 2003’s Odd Thomas. 2005 brought Forever Odd; then Brother Odd arrived in 2006; and in May 2008, Odd Hours was released in hardcover. Koontz plans on a total of seven Odd Thomas novels. Take that, J.K. Rowling.
Since I recently blew up my entire review strategy (write a review for each book I read in 2008), I figure I might as well do another multiple review, since, again, the review is on books that are closely connected. Odd Thomas and Forever Odd are about a 20-year-old fry cook in fictional Pico Mundo, California, who has the ability to see dead people. If they wait a couple more years, Haley Joel Osment will be old enough to play him in the movie (since we already know he’s good in that role).
Odd Thomas distinguishes himself from Osment’s “I see dead people” character (in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense) early on with a memorable twist on Osment’s famous quote. Odd says, “I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it.” I guess Odd saw the movie too.
Odd Thomas, the first book, was an amusing read filled with zany characters and memorable one-liners mostly delivered by Odd himself in first person narration. The narration is actually similar to Michael Jensen in my short story/unfinished serial novel “The Fourth Quarter”. Anyone interested in reading “The Fourth Quarter” can send me an email request which I will then ignore. Just kidding. I’d love to send it to anyone who is interested. My only request is that I get some honest feedback from you when you finish – as long as it consists entirely of glowing praise.
Anyway, Odd Thomas is a actually pretty light in tone considering the subject matter. The book is very witty, giving us a view of some highly amusing characters. Despite a suspenseful plot, Odd Thomas is really a character-driven novel. The characters (not just Odd, but all of the quirky inhabitants of Pico Mundo) really charm the reader. The love of Odd’s life, Bronwen (Stormy) Llewellyn, is just as quirky and interesting as Odd himself. Odd also has a companion from the other side. Some unheard of singer named Elvis Presley. Odd talks to Elvis, but the dead aren’t able to talk back.
Odd, whose mother claims to have forgotten the “T” on his birth certificate, has several supernatural gift/curses. One is that he sees dead people and other spiritual entities; another is an uncanny tracking ability, which allows him to find just about anyone he concentrates on (“Psychic Magnetism”); but what kick starts the plot of Odd Thomas is his recurring nightmare of a Colombine-style massacre.
Odd has been having this dream for a while, but all indications are that it is more a premonition than a dream, and it is about to come true if Odd doesn’t figure out a way to stop it. How does Odd know the danger is now imminent? He begins seeing swarms of bodachs (demon-like parasites that look like shadows and seem to feed on violence and human suffering). A couple of lurking bodachs means something bad is about to happen; hordes of bodachs means – well, Odd’s never seen this many bodachs before, but he knows whatever is coming is going to be bad news on a grand scale.
Also, in spite of a lack of vocal communication, Elvis’s ghost begins to convey grief and sympathy to Odd as he approaches the incident the bodachs are anticipating. What is bothering the King? Odd knows it won’t be long before he finds out. He only hopes to be ready when the time comes.
This is a book I can easily recommend to just about anyone. It was an amusing, enjoyable read, and one of my all-time favorite books. Maybe there’s a reason Dean Koontz has been on the bestseller lists for so long.
Odd Thomas 9.5 out of 10
It is extremely rare when a sequel comes out as good or better than the original. With that in mind, I bought a copy of Forever Odd with tempered expectations. While it wasn’t as good as the first, as expected, this book was maybe a little better than I anticipated.
After the events in the first book, Odd is in a little bit of a funk, still trying to recover physically and emotionally from everything he’s been through. It has been six months, and Odd has yet to return to his job at the Pico Mundo Grill.
In the middle of the night, Odd’s friend Danny’s step-dad appears to him. Realizing Danny’s step-dad must be dead, Odd immediately heads for Danny’s house to make sure Danny is alright. Danny has brittle bone disease, so he is extremely fragile, and as a result, he is a little bit of an outcast which makes him a good match for our hero, who is a little different too.
When Odd gets to Danny’s house, he confirms Danny’s step-dad is dead but also finds Danny’s been kidnapped. Odd uses his Psychic Magnetism to track Danny through the public drain system all the way to an abandoned hotel and casino a few miles out of town.
Odd finds Danny strapped to a bomb in a room in the hotel, and Danny warns him that he has been used as bait to lure Odd himself to the Casino. Danny, who is chronically lonely, has been befriended by Datura, a sensual but psychopathic phone sex operator who is deeply into the occult. Datura, a voodoo priestess and paranormal thrill seeker, is fascinated by Odd’s abilities, so she and two of her henchmen kidnap Danny (killing his step father) to test Odd’s Psychic Magnetism. When Odd passes this test, Datura threatens to kill Danny if Odd won’t make the ghosts Odd can see visible to her as well.
As the story goes on, we learn Datura is interested in more than just Odd’s paranormal abilities, and Danny and Odd are in grave danger if Odd can’t find a way to escape Datura and her henchmen.
This was a good book. The writing is just as accessible as the first Odd Thomas, but there was no way it could feel as fresh in the sequel as it did in the original. Forever Odd falls into place right now as my second favorite Dean Koontz novel (out of the 4 books I’ve read so far). It may not be remembered as a classic (like Odd Thomas probably will), but it was a fun read I can recommend.
Forever Odd 8 out of 10
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