Uh oh, kids, it’s that time again. What time, you ask? Time for you to pull out your boots and grab your shovels because that synopsis is pure BULLSHIT! First of all, Odd does not communicate with the dead, he sees the dead. Big difference. I mean sure, he can talk to them, but unless they whip out a pen and paper, he has no idea what they actually want. Second of all, Datura is not an exceptionally cunning and fearsome enemy. You know what she is? Crazy. Not schizophrenic, bipolar, manic depressive or mentally unstable. This chick is simply nine cents short of a dime. And just let me add, worse character name ever. Well, second worst. Dreamweaver still ranks #1. Third, there is no battle. There is a chase scene, a lucky shot, an improbable appearance from a mountain lion, another chase scene, and a starry-eyed fight sequence. And each one of these scenes showed Koontz totally reaching. Finally, the whole sacrifices tipping the balance between despair and hope…utter shit. Not only did this book contain one of the most non-existent plots in history, but it was also hollow and shameful. I understand authors write to get paid as well as tell their stories, but damn, you’re not supposed to rub it in our faces!! With each turn of the page all I kept thinking was, “How many damn bones does Trixie need? Does he need the money that bad?” With a story that consists only of repetitive tidbits of history and chase scenes (again, that’s the whole book), the only good thing is that you don’t need to read its predecessor to understand. Now you would think that my love for the characters would have carried over from the first book, but it’s wasn't so. Odd’s pointless shuffling around, erratic thought process and unrealistic dialog killed whatever attachment I had to him. And aside from all of that, he had no development, nor did any other character in this book. Moving like puppets with their strings showing, this cast was empty and trite. Oh, but wait, it gets better. Thanks to over-description, choppy and chaotic sentence structure, and bad editing, Koontz’s writing style murdered the pace and assaulted the atmosphere so badly that it committed suicide early on. Think I’m exaggerating? Here, let me give just a few examples: “Danny has a lot better brain than any movie star of the past few decades.” – pg. 152 “Although Datura’s customary self-possession had given way to an evident excitement, to a twitchy anticipation, Andre and Robert exhibited all the enthusiasm of a pair of boulders.” – pg. 203 “She hurled more abuse at the cocktail waitress, in a language far more vile than she’d used thus far, and both of the Coleman lanterns pulsed, pulsed, as though in sympathy with the lightning that might at the same moment have been ripping though the sky outside.” – pg. 212 “That stormy day in the desert, however, much changed for me.” –pg. 256 “After putting the shotgun on the floor, I wiped my face with hands, blotted my hands on my jeans.” – pg. 257 And Mr. Koontz – Dean, considering that you wrote this book for the money, feel free to send me a check for $50. You know, for all those $.10 words you dragged out of the thesaurus. Because seriously, who uses such words like: somnambulant, semaphore, phosphorescent, disinclination, and threnody?? The only good I could find in this book was this one sentence: “She’s crazier than a syphilitic suicide bomber with mad-cow disease.” –pg. 153 Hilarious!!! My rating? I give it a 1. Don’t torture yourself and buy it for the ‘good days’ you had with Koontz. Dump him! And if you really need a hero, check out Jeff Strand’s Andrew Mayhem series. Now there’s a hero that captures me every time as if it were the first. -As posted on Horror-Web.com
Book #2 in the Odd Thomas series, and I enjoyed this one more than the first. Obviously it helps if you have read "Odd Thomas" before you start in on this one, but it's not entirely necessary as Dean Koontz does cover enough of the salient points that you need to know who's who and what's going on, but obviously if you want a fuller understanding, it just makes sense to read the books in order. You wouldn't start watching The Matrix trilogy with Matrix reloaded and then go back and watch The Matrix, now would you? What would be the point in that right?But yes, whilst Dean again does what he does best, good guys and bad guys and all that good stuff, he turns it slightly on it's head this time by, and are you ready for this....the good guy is chasing after the bad guys instead of the other way around. I know right? Who would have seen that coming?Seriously though, it is more of what you can come to expect from Mr Koontz, a decent enough story, paced well enough, with some quite interesting characters sprinkled with a light dusting of peril and suspense all leading up to a final confrontation. As I said though I did find myself enjoying this outing in Pico Mundo more than the first, although the whole trekking through the storm drains could have been a little less for me, but hey, maybe that's just me.The end of the book set up the path that Odd is following into book #3 of the series, "Brother Odd", and I am intrigued enough to want to know what happens next, but my next reading voyage is to finally get around to reading The Dark Tower series by Stephen King which I've been meaning to do for years, before following Odd on his journey, looks like I'll be jumping back and forth between sagas for a while.So would I recommend this book..yes I would, but obviously more so if you've read the first book, and if you have then you are pretty much going to know already if the rest of the series is for you or not..so my recommendation means nothing pretty much.
What do You think about Forever Odd (2007)?
SPOILERS, but the book is not really worth anything so...The protagonist runs around in the sewers and a deserted casino in search of a kidnapped childhood friend (about whom we didn't hear a word in the first book). He discovers that a succubi dominatrix has kidnapped his friend, but don't worry - a mountain lion jumps out from nowhere and kills her.BOOL!The End.
—Maciek
Edward (The Book Pusher) wrote: "Brother Odd is much better, but the rest of the series is downhill from there."Ah, good to know. This one was a bit of a struggle.
—Ms. Nikki
Odd Thomas was the first book I read by Dean Koontz, and when I saw Forever Odd at a local Borders and got excited because I knew it had to be another Odd Thomas book, I wasn't surprised to find out tht he'd written since people had been clamoring for more. Odd Thomas is a pretty cool guy.Still recovering from the disastrous events that led him to write his first manuscript, Odd wakes one night to find Dr. Wilbur Jessup in his bedroom staring at him. He has a sinking feeling.He heads out the door and sets off on foot towards the Doctor's house, hoping to find an accident rather than a death, but upon arrival, the Doctor shows him a glimpse of what he will find inside, and he knows his hope is lost. What he doesn't know is what's become of Danny--the Doctor's son, and a good friend.After some exploration he decides Danny has been taken, and calls in the Police Chief--one of the few people in town to know of his abilities. Once the scene is under control, the Chief and Odd set off together in hopes that Psychic Magnetism will draw Odd to Danny. It doesn't work.Sitting in the dark, where the Chief left him off, Odd is paid a brief visit by Elvis, which is cut off when he realizes that his gift didn't fail him after all--up the road is coming a van driven by the man who attacked him as he was trying to leave the Jessup house. He takes off on foot after it. And is led to another dead end.Eventually the magnetism kicks in full force, and Odd finds himself below the city, in a network of Flood tunnels, pondering their immensity and the breadth of their existence. He is lead to an old abandoned and damaged Casino. Here he must spend the rest of the day trying to free Danny of his captors without further injury (Danny suffers from Brittle Bone Disease), trying not to get himself killed, and trying not to be too haunted by the ghosts still hanging on after their tragic demise at the Casino.There is definitely, or so it seemed to me, a lot more tension in this story than the other. Maybe in part because the other exists, and this seems too much on top of it. But Odd finds his way through, bringing peace to some along the way, rescuing Danny, and making some decisions for himself that may well change his life.
—Jaemi
