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 A worthy stepping stone in Odd's journey... July 26, 2008
Odd Hours continues to deliver all the elements that make the Odd Thomas saga so enjoyable to Koontz's fans. Present is the page-turning suspense, the witty sarcasm, Odd's delightfully light tone, a hint of dark mystery, and incredible characters.
While the danger is decidedly more mundane that the supernatural evils of Brother Odd, the stakes do continue to escalate. Fans will continue to miss the presence of characters like Ozzy, but Hutch, Annamaria, Sinatra, Shackett, and especially Birdie are, in my opinion, Koontz most amazing cast to date that aid in shaping Odd's adventures. I desperately hope to see Birdie again.
The air of supernatural mystery hangs well over the novel like the all-encompassing fog that permeates the landscape. My only hope is that goose-bump moments like Odd's encounter in the bathroom are in place not only to thrill and chill, but to prepare the reader for an broader story arc that will be explained in books to come. This my singular complaint: While Odd fulfills the destiny that drew him to Magic Beach in a satisfying manner, I'm left with more questions than answers about the supernatural forces at work around him. Much like the white-paneled door in Forever Odd, there is foreshadowing and mystery that is unexplained at books end. For the first time, I finished an Odd Thomas novel with a sense that there is greater story arc in place beyond his obvious destiny to be with Stormy forever.
Odd Oddities July 25, 2008
I am not the biggest Dean Koontz fan by any stretch of the means. However, after Odd Thomas was recommended to me by a friend, I became hooked on Oddy. The first book, as usual, was the best out of the 'manuscripts' so far. But, Odd Hours comes in at a strong second. I enjoyed this book more than the last two which I felt were pushed and stretched in their plots. I was surprised at how fast the book began and continued to move throughout the novel. The first chapter begins and it keeps a pretty steady pace throughout. You meet some new and interesting characters along the way. The high actions scenes come with a few unexpected twists. However, I thought the end was a little anti-climatic which is why I rated this four stars instead of five. Without spoiling the end, I will say that Odd Thomas fans shouldn't be disappointed with the fourth edition of Oddy.
Odd's Thoughts Make for Oddly Entertaining Book July 23, 2008
In the fourth installment of the Odd Thomas series the young quipster has a vision of the apocalypse and is drawn to a pregnant, young woman named Annamaria who may be able to help him keep the vision from becoming reality. Or maybe he is supposed to help her. Annamaria seems to know a great deal about Odd and apparently has some psychic abilities of her own.
Along the way we meet some other interesting characters including Frank Sinatra's ghost and a self-absorbed, yet charming, old actor who has provided a new home for Odd. None of the new characters are as mysterious as Annamaria, though. We don't learn enough about her in "Odd Hours", but it certainly sounds like she will be a part of any future Odd Thomas novels.
The original "Odd Thomas" book is probably in my top 25 reads of all time so it would be too much to expect one of these sequels to come close to the enjoyment of first meeting Odd. "Odd Hours" is still fun, though. The general plot of "Hours" has been done several times, usually as an action movie...so there's nothing really new there.
Odd's stray thoughts sometimes get in the way of the story's progress. It's as if Mr. Koontz was thinking, "I've got to work in just this one more funny line." It's a slow-starting book, but is worth reading for Odd's humorous view of the world. Those same stray thoughts that Odd has are what make all of the Odd books just a little...different.
 Not the best ODD store July 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I usually like this story line. But I have to say it was a bit bloated and not a great story, sorry
Not bad July 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the most charming things about the Odd Thomas series is Odd's interactions with the people around him, whether they're living or dead, dangerous or silly, or in the case of Hutch, nostalgically bittersweet. While this book briefly brushes with some characters that have colorful potential, their page time is frustratingly limited and Odd is left to his own devices for most of the novel, or maybe it just seems that way because none of the characters linger for any real amount of time. It's full of the pretty reflections that have come to characterize these books in my mind but the plot did not seem as entirely inspired as the previous episodes. Nukes make for a hair-raising experience I'm sure, but the inventiveness of the other novels lay chiefly in their supernatural elements. They had a positive element of suspense, of actual fright, because Odd seemed to be battling things beyond human in addition to whatever mortal terrors he confronted. Although solidly touching on Odd's uncanny perceptions, Odd Hours doesn't lend itself to the spooky quite so much.
Don't get me wrong: it's still good. I suppose I got a little excited at the beginning with the references to Mystery Train and Wyvern and was thrilled at the prospect of two of Mr Koontz's series colliding (read the Christopher Snow books if you haven't already), and was admittedly a little disappointed when nothing came of it--yet. I'm still holding out for hope that things may come to that, and there's still a lot of things to be tied up.
A good read, as always, but I think that I loved Odd Thomas and Brother Odd more.
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