Odd Thomas

Rating:
Summary: A Couple of Steps Back for Koontz
Review: I believe I have read ALL of Mr. Koontz's paperback novels including one (I believe titled 'ICEBOUND' that went in the garbage) which was a reprint from his early days under another name and which was just a total ripoff since this information is at the back of the book; I want my $8 back, Mr. Koontz.

His best novel in paperback to date is 'INTENSITY' which gives one chills while avoiding the supernatural/scifi motifs which are sometimes trying.

'ODD THOMAS' is, as a previous reviewer noted, disjointed as though Mr. Koontz was distracted with other matters (enjoying the fruits of his success maybe) when he penned it. The 'I see dead people' storyline tended to be boring.

I have a theory, not a novel one I am sure, that writers only have a fixed number of stories to tell and when the last one is told it's all she-wrote. It's very possible that Mr. Koontz is all out of stories and unethically trading on his celebrity. The 'ICEBOUND' re-release tends to support this theory. It's possible that, if he has not already done so, that Mr. Koontz will soon resort to ghost writers or even, more honestly, co-authors.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you Mr. Koontz
Review: Let's start out here right: i.e, whining, since I do it so well.

The trouble with Dean Koontz is he occasionally suffers with the Stephen King/Robert McGammon syndrome where they keep talking long after they've run out of things to say. Instead of shutting up for a few years, they just keep going. This accounts for a lot a really bad books from some really good writers. I love King. He seems like a pretty nice fella with a lot of talent, but for a while he was just bloody awful. He needed to shut the heck up for a bit, which brings us right back to...

Koontz is apparently over his need to be quiet. ODD THOMAS is a beautifully entertaining little book. One that inspires you to pray for a sequel long before you've finished. I fell in love with Odd and his strange assortment of friends. Of course, if you're looking for something entirely new, this isn't it. The "I see dead people" line has almost become a cliche, along with "I see stupid people". However, he has taken it, together with a good storyline and a great character, and turned it into a very decent book.

In ODD THOMAS Koontz writes about heaven, of sorts, and earth, and if you'll excuse my paraphrasing this is what he says, kind'a: "I tend to believe in the traditional architecture of life and the afterlife. This world is a journey of discovery and purification. The next world consists of two destinations: One is a palace for the spirit and the endless kingdom of wonder, while the other is cold and dark and unthinkable.

Others believe, instead, that our passage through his world is intended to toughen us up for the next life, where our honesty, integrity, courage, and determined resistance to evil are evaluated at the end of our days here, and that if we come up to muster, we will be conscripted into an army of souls engaged in some great mission in the next world. Those who fail the test simply cease to exist. In short, they see this life as a boot camp, calling the next life `service'."

I found this a singularly interesting concept, not only in the way Odd kept coming back to it in his own life journey, but as a way to truly look at our time here on earth. While this book is certainly not intended as a religeous experience, it does make one thoughtful.

Koontz is not King (which is ok with me), and he is still at times inconsistant when it comes to his writing. I'm glad to see him back with us in grand old style.


Rating:
Summary: One star in relation to Koontz' other books
Review: I was frustrated by this one - a little less of Koontz' syrupy metaphors and similies, but still the weird and ultimately unbelievable characters... to me it was 446 pages in which only two things happen, with a depressing twist at the end.