Book Review: Brother Odd October 9, 2008
Posted by lightnessanddark in Darkness, dean koontz, Science Fiction.Tags: brother odd, dean koontz, odd thomas, St. Bartholomew’s Abbey
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Book Review: Brother Odd
Odd Thomas is back, but it isn’t because he wants to be. Brother Odd, by Dean Koontz, finds our favorite fry cook hiding out in a monastery. Life can be tough when you see the lingering dead, and Odd decides a change of scenery might provide him with the rest he needs.
Odd takes advantage of his connections with Father Llewellyn in Pico Mundo to get away for a while, choosing to take some time away at St. Bartholomew’s Abbey. Located in California in the Sierra Nevada mountains, St. Bart’s is home to monks, nuns and many disabled children. Once there, Odd charms the monks and nuns with his humility, wit, and light-and-fluffy-pancakes, making several new friends.
When the story begins, Odd isn’t the only outsider holing up in the monastery. There is also Rodion Romanovich, a mysterious Russian librarian from Indianapolis (who Odd distrusts immediately) and Brother Constantine, an angry poltergeist who bangs the bells of the monastery with the force of his anger.
Brother Constantine was found hanging in the belfry with a noose around his neck before Odd came to St. Bart’s, and due to our hero’s unique gifts, Odd is given the keys to the entire monastery so he can help minimize the disturbances caused by the dead monk. Odd can handle Brother Constantine, but when he starts seeing bodachs (spiritual vampires who feed off human suffering) in the orphanage, he realizes his time for peace may be over.
The grounds at St. Bart’s have been recently renovated, with the original abbey being converted to an orphanage to care for severely disabled children and a new abbey built downhill from the original. The renovation was funded by a gift from world famous, billionaire physicist John Heineman, who much like Odd has retreated to the monastery to escape the pressures of the outside world. Unlike Odd, Brother John has made vows and has no plans of returning to the outside world. Part of the new abbey construction project included a new laboratory, affectionately known as Brother John’s Mew, where he continues his advanced experiments about the nature of the universe without interference from the outside world.
Soon after the bodachs appear, a monk turns up missing, and Odd is racing against time to figure out what horrible event is luring ever more bodachs to St. Bart’s. Eventually, Odd comes face to face with an entity even he has never experienced, and if he can’t figure things out fast enough, there will be many more deaths.
The appeal of the Odd Thomas novels is in the characters themselves. Brother Odd introduces several new characters who we may or may not meet again, but Odd’s banter with the Russian librarian is some of the most amusing dialogue I have read. Odd is constantly trying to get the Russian to expose himself as a fraud, but the Russian, although he’s definitely hiding something, does a fine job jousting verbally with our hero.
The novel also gives us a glimpse of what is to come in Odd’s future. Through a severely disabled girl, Odd receives a message from someone lost in his past who is not among the lingering dead, giving hope of some kind of reunion. This plot line would certainly have amped up the emotional quotient of this novel, but I was disappointed to find Koontz is apparently saving this story line for future volumes.
Much like Forever Odd (the second Odd Thomas novel), the problems I have with the weakness of the plot of Brother Odd take this novel down a notch from what it could have been. While I realize new Odd Thomas novels can never be as fresh and original as the first, I found myself disappointed Koontz couldn’t have done more with this book. I’ve read and heard Brother Odd was better than Forever Odd, but for me, I would rate them very close to one another – close to great. Koontz just needs to find a bigger plot for Odd, one worthy of the amazing character he has created.
Don’t get me wrong, Brother Odd was an enjoyable read with several laugh out loud moments. I cruised through it in a little over a week, but I view the book as another Episode in Odd’s life, while I am craving another Event like in the original.
Koontz has created something special in this character. The audience can’t help but love and root for Odd Thomas. That’s why I’ll be back as soon as I find a copy of Odd Hours, book number 4, at the used bookstore.
8 out of 10
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