Odd Thomas is a fry cook in the town of Pico Mundo. He has a girlfriend named Bronwen, who goes by Stormy; a best friend named Little Ozzie, who isn't little; and mentor of sorts in Chief Wyatt Porter. He also has an talent as unusual as his name: he can communicate with the dead. Odd can also see bodachs, dark figures that Odd sees around those who will either die or kill soon. When Odd sees the most bodachs he's ever seen following a strange man at the diner, he decides to investigate, sure that great tragedy is imminent. Odd uses his psychic magnetism to find the man, whom he calls Fungus Man, and discovers that he is obsessed with serial killers. Odd is determined to stop Fungus Man before he can go through with whatever atrocity he's planning to unleash on Pico Mundo. A calendar page suggests that Odd only has 24 hours to solve the mystery. What is Fungus Man planning? Is he working alone? Will Odd be able to stop him in time? Will he be able to keep those closest to him safe? Read Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz to find out.
Review
Odd Thomas is the first in a series of novels about the title character. Odd Thomas is an extremely endearing character: the reader can't help but love him and all his eccentricities. Dean Koontz is one of the best, and I have long enjoyed his novels, but Odd Thomas is by far my favorite character. Based on the Koontz novels I've read, I think this series is the first where the author has infused his story with some humor, and he does it well. The book is still a suspenseful thriller, but Odd and his friends provide plenty of comic relief throughout the story. The plot seems simple at first--hero identifies bad guy and stops him before he can carry out his sinister plans--but, as always with Koontz, it isn't that simple. Fungus Man is out of the picture (somewhat) fairly early on, and the real villains hit the scene, complicating matters further. All of this is compounded by the 24 hour time constraint Odd is working under. The twist with Bronwen at the end is heartbreaking , and the reader is left loving Odd even more for his loss. Wisely, Koontz decided to continue to write more Odd Thomas novels. I highly recommend you check them all out. Odd Thomas is a winner!
References
[Cover art for Odd Thomas]. (2011). Retrieved
from http://www.deankoontz.com/odd-thomas-series/
Koontz, D. (2003). Odd Thomas. New York: Bantam.
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