Odd Thomas - Book Review

I just finished reading Odd Thomas for the second time and LOVED it once again.

Odd is sweet, sensitive and definitely the reluctant hero, but wherever people are in danger Odd is right there on the front line to do whatever he can to help save anyone he can. He is a simple man, a short order cook and is good at his job. He does not have lofty goals; he just wants to live a quiet normal life with his love, Stormy Llewellyn.

I have heard Odd Thomas, the main character in the series of books by Dean Koontz, described as the boy from Sixth Sense grown up. Odd is his first name, and he is indeed a bit odd. He sees dead people and the dead don’t talk.

The lingering spirits of the dead come to Odd for a variety of reasons, some come for him to help them. One spirit hangs around him daily, Elvis. Though Elvis doesn’t talk, he is quite a character. He also sees demon spirits that clue him into that something terrible is about to happen. So he goes off to figure out what this terrible thing is, when it is going to happen, and try top stop it.

Even though there is suspense and people could die and Odd sees dead people, Odd Thomas differs from The Sixth Sense in that the story is filled with humor, littered with it. The light tone that Dean Koontz uses through the eyes of his main character is masterful. As in the opening scene where Odd is chasing a child killer through someone’s house and up into a child’s bedroom. He grabs a lamp to smash over the killer’s head, but not just a plain boring lamp, a panda bear lamp, and not just a panda bear lamp but a smiling panda bear lamp. In the fight and flurry of the chase, the contrast to the smiling lamp can hit you as funny. I laughed many times while reading this book even though Odd was racing toward doom and danger. I laughed, I cried, and I held my breath. I would give Odd Thomas 5 out of 5 stars.

So far there are four Odd Thomas books, Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, and Odd Hours. I have read them all and loved them all. I have heard that there will be maybe up to seven books in the Odd series. I can’t wait for the rest.