Odd Thomas Review

Written by Dean Koontz and was released in 2003 I am clearly behind on this series. With 3 sequels and a graphic novel prequel released over the next few years. The author has stated “god willing, there will be 6 Odd Thomas novels”. I am not new to Koontz and his work. I find most of his books to read extremely fast and most are usually based around a single character. Other times like the novel Strangers, Koontz uses a plethora of characters which leads to a slow read with a slightly different writing style that doesn’t grab my attention and I have to force myself to finish them. Odd Thomas however is written from the first person perspective for most of the story only straying on occasion. We follow our protagonist Odd Thomas, a short order cook with other worldly powers to see the spirits of the dead walking among us. Odd can interact with them to an extent that they cannot speak but mouth words and make signs to get his attention. Odd uses these powers to help the Chief of police solve crimes if possible as learned in the first few chapters. This also includes a brief introduction of most of the main characters. Odd then senses something quite big is going to happen very soon that will culminate in the deaths of many.

We get a lot of detail about the city Odd lives in, Pico Mundo. Like most of Koontz’s novels it takes place in or around southern California. The supernatural used in the book feels like it is commonplace the way that Koontz incorporates it into this world. Koontz uses a lot of strange description through most of his works and it continues in this book. As well as his many references to poetry and literature from Shakespeare to Mark Twain. With deep themes of unconditional love and the unknown of the nature of evil, this character driven story takes you through all the emotions. The macabre is offset by Koontz’s talent to make dark humour out of these horrible situations he thrusts upon his protagonist. This is a thrilling story with lots of tension and frequent plot twists.

4 out of 5
Colin Enquist