Odd Thomas

Rating:
Summary: Worth the time and money
Review: This book is worth your time and money. The style of Koontz will keep you in suspense and smiling and laughing throughout.
This is the first Koontz book I've read but not the last. Odd is his real first name...seems there was maybe a typo on his birth certificate. If you like surprising endings...this book is for you. Entertaining...but isn't that the reason we read!!!

Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz's Best Work
Review: This book is by far the author's best work. It keeps you guessing the whole time, while still keeping you interested. It has, quite possibly, one of the best endings that I have ever encountered in any work of fiction. There is never a dull or boring moment and the plot is extremely well planned. A must read for fans of Koontz as well as fans of this genre.

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars -- Good Story But Not Among Koontz's Best!
Review: On the plus side, Odd Thomas has an interesting and suspenseful plot and mostly holds your interest. Further, Koontz's writing style keeps you turning the pages non-stop. However, it is not without some important flaws which kept me from rating it higher. The main character, Odd Thomas, who is only twenty and nevers leaves his small Southern California town is written as if he's a wordly, older more sophisticated person, which, for me, detracted from his credibility. Several of the secondary characters are superficially developed. The plot, while interesting, is drawn out far too long. The most interesting and surprising elements don't occur until the last twenty or so pages. This book could have been much more exciting if it was a good 50-75 pages shorter. Given the high praise from Publishers Weekly, which motivated me to read this book, I had very high expectations for Odd Thomas and expected it to be on a par with Watchers, Intensity, Mr. Murder and Dark Rivers Of The Heart. While, Odd Thomas is an entertaining, at times scary and, all in all, a worthwhile read, it is not even close to being in the same league as what I consider to be among the best of Koontz.

Rating:
Summary: Oddly intriguing
Review: I favor Dean Koontz's writings and look forward to any of his new work, but am not a fanatic and only get to follow what is in audio book format. "Odd Thomas was hard to stop reading and take a break from. It reminds me of a dark myth, much like stories told around a campfire during full moon, but without the "jumpy spooky stuff"; it feels as if the story could be real and not fictional and you're desperate to hear how it ends before the days is out. I can't explain why, aside from it's simply intriguing.

I enjoy in the story telling flavor of Koontz, the colors, details, and character choices and their names he uses for his stories; this one has all that, but not the long epic details many writers, including Koontz, use to fill pages. The main character, "Odd" Odd Thomas, is all the description required for you to know him; is a simple fry-cook not-so-simple hero that sees a dead people including a dead Elvis for a friend, nice twist for creepiness. They seek out his help to fix the ill fate that caused their deaths and move on in to the next life; I guess that's the hero part.

The story flows along well, building and climbing for the climax that's not disappointing; but is! I didn't care for the ending chapter, it should have ended differently, this was out of character for Koontz; especially after the way the story keeps reminding you of how fate should be, must be, will be. Koontz should produce more about "Odd's" friend "Little Ozzie", this character is the most intriguing of the entire book. He (Ozzie) should write some of the books describe from the storyline describing "Little Ozzie"; he is an author. Ever notice how writers have many characters that are authors? The mystery tales "Little Ozzie" is described to have published in this story would make a great following for and maybe should include an "Odd Thomas".

Rating:
Summary: A bit of satire
Review: Okay, I'll admit it. I read this book because the ghost of Elvis was supposed to be a character. Elvis doesn't get to do much. He doesn't even talk, so that's a big let down.
Odd Thomas, the protagonist, not only communes with Elvis but also sees many different dead people, including a potential mass murderer who has targeted Pico Mundo for a wholesale slaughter. When Odd first notices the man, he is alive but is being followed by strange creatures called bodachs, who portend violent atrocities. Later, he finds the man's body in his bathroom and this leads Odd on a wild chase to find the man's accomplices.
Most interesting for me was how Dean Koontz deals with suspension of disbelief. Although he is a short order cook and has no greater ambition than to work in a tire store, everyone in Pico Mundo respects Odd Thomas, including chief of police Wyatt Porter, who has learned from experience not to doubt Odd. So, if everyone in the story accepts what's happening as the status quo, why not the reader?
Being the cynic that I am, I was less than enthusiastic until Odd's parents are introduced towards the end of the book. Both of them are sociopathic. Odd's mother is especially menacing, threatening Odd with a gun when he asks her for help. I began to think that this might be a psychological mystery, until things reverted to form with a rather typical team of killers being revealed. They're introduced earlier in the book, but you'll never be able to pick them out. Believe me.
Another interesting and original element of the book was when Odd speculates that the bodachs might be creatures from the future whose "bodies" could not make the trip. A bit of satire, since they're enthralled by violence, just like we are.

Rating:
Summary: Alot to Like in "Odd"
Review: Dean Koontz has come up w/some memorable heroes in his books, but Odd Thomas is one of the best. From Chris Snow, who could not go out in daylight, to the talking dog in "Watchers", Mr. Koontz really gets into the minds of his characters.

I was hooked on this book from the first page and read it all in a day. If you like horror, suspense and mystery type books, I think you'll really enjoy "Odd Thomas". Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellect reading, interesting characters
Review: I haven't read a Koontz book in years. I use to read his work a lot when I was a teenager. The title and cover on "Odd Thomas" caught my eye, so I thought to give him another chance. I am glad I did. The characters are memorable. The story went into Hollywood action scenes a little, but you are so emphatic with the character at that point you can brush it off. I didn't figure out the entire plot before it was over, which always is a plus. I actually enjoyed the characters so much; I didn't really care if there was a pivotal or climatic scene. I just like learning about Odd and his life and how he interacted with those around him. I listened to the CD of this book while commuting. The reader did an excellent job. He captured the voices of all the different characters well and made for a very convincing Odd Thomas. I highly recommend listening to the audio book on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still very much fun.
Review: This is not Dean Koontz's best book, and if you never read any of his stories - it's probably not the best one to start with.

On the other hand, I did enjoy the book quite a bit. It has many typical "koontz" features present - colorful characters, intersting (although not very original) plot, and a social issue that he bring ups in an entertaining context.

On the disappointing side: some of the book's ideas were streight out copied. Pure plagiarism that left a bad taste in my mouth. And the main character does remind me of Christopher Snow a lot, as someone else commented. The main social issue was copied yet from another one of his books, although it is presented a bit differently. On the other hand, some other ideas that sounded intersting and intriguing are underdeveloped and not explained. And the ending was a little bit of a bummer.

So I'd give this book 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4), still recommend everyone to read it, and will hope that my favorite writer will come up with something more original and entertaining next time.

Rating:
Summary: Odd Thomas on Tape
Review: Probably one of the most interesting books on tape I have listened to. The narrator was fantastic how he read and immitated each of the characters voices in the book. I have a 30 to 45 minute commute to work each way and usually listen to radio, my family got me this tape for XMAS and I could hardly wait to listen to the tape on the way to and from work.

I also am usually not interested in this kind of fiction, but the story, plot and they way each of the characters were described in the book will keep your interest, many times I sat in the garage listening for another 10 or 20 minutes before I could get out of my car.

There are seven tapes with about 10 hours of listening so if you have time I highly recommend getting these tapes, reading the book could not due justice to how well this was done, making listening so enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Still a Master
Review: An Excellent book...vintage Koontz. Odd Thomas was a book I hated to finish and like all of his novels, the characters seem to leap off the pages. Highly recommended!!