A Melancholy Effort from The Master

**Preface and background: I am a huge Dean Koontz fan. By huge I do not mean that I weigh in excess of 400 pounds, though after the holidays I may be closing on it. By huge, I mean that Koontz has had an incredible effect on my life through his many novels. It was Lightning that first got me really hooked on reading novels. After that, it was all over for me. At the age of 12, I was destined to read everything the man had ever written and would ever write in his lifetime. Over the years, the man has been good to me. Watchers, The Bad Place, Lightning, Sole Survivor, Hideaway, Cold Fire and Darkfall remain some of my favorite novels of all time and many of his others easily make the top 50. Unfortunately, I haven't been overly excited by many of his recent offerings, starting with Fear Nothing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed these books, but they just didn't measure up to my favorite Koontzes. When The Face came out, some of my faith was renewed. Although it wasn't as good as my favorites, it was certainly a step up from the likes of One Door Away From Heaven. That's why I was pretty excited to see that Koontz was releasing two books in 2003, the aforementioned The Face and now Odd Thomas. Finally, to the review.

Odd Thomas is a 20-year-old short order cook living in a small California town. Odd's name is not the strangest thing about him, nor is his ability to make a mean patty melt. No, our hero can see dead people. Some of these dead people are just hanging around (like the King of rock n' roll himself), while others need his help to set things right before they move on to the next world. Along with the dead people, Odd also sees shadows he calls 'bodachs'. These bodachs appear wherever pain and suffering is going to occur and alert Odd to upcoming violence.

Odd's life is enriched by his friends (including the chief of police), his work (being a short order cook is a simple and fulfilling life for him) and his girlfriend, Stormy. All he wants to do is marry Stormy and maybe help some dead people along the way. Unfortunately, Odd's life is going in a much more complicated direction. While working, he sees a very unsettling man who is surrounded by bodachs. Knowing that violence will surround this man, Odd follows him and becomes entrenched in a nightmare that will change the town he lives in and Odd himself forever.

Yes, I know the first thing you will probably say and I thought it, too: sounds a hell of a lot like The Sixth Sense! Well, yes and no. The premise is remarkably similar, but the bodachs add another dimension. However, I was a little peeved that Koontz did not come up with a completely original idea for this novel, especially since coming up with completely original ideas for novels is one of his trademarks. However, the plot is handled in Koontz's familiar way, building tension to an almost unbearable level and leaving the reader up until 2 a.m. to find out what happens. Unfortunately, what happens isn't exactly what you want to happen, but I'll leave that for you to discover.

In addition to Koontz's talent for building an original and tension-filled plot, he has also always struck me as an expert in creating deep, colorful characters. I can still vividly remember many of the characters from previous novels, which is really saying a lot since I haven't read many of his books for years. Compared to his best characters, Odd is certainly not the best, but not the worst either. He and Stormy are witty, intelligent and full of warmth and they have the signature undying love that Koontz likes to include in his novels. They are characters that will stay with you and ones that you wish were in a bit longer novel.

And what about the book as a whole? Odd Thomas is slightly different from the majority of Koontz's books as it is a bit more melancholy and it's shorter. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed either of these aspects. Usually, I am filled with joy and hope when I finish a Koontz. This one made me cry (and not in a good way). As for the brevity of the novel, I thought the characters could have used more fleshing out and more of a past. Another 50-100 pages wouldn't have hurt it at all. However, even with these slight negative points, I thought Odd Thomas was an excellent novel and a must-read for Koontz fans. Did it completely restore my faith in my all-time favorite author? Well, not 100%. But it certainly will keep me buying each of his new books in hardcover, something I only do for this author.

If I were to compare this to other authors' books, I would give it a solid 5 stars. However, I have to compare it against Koontz's other work, so I'm giving it 4 1/2 and will round up to 5.

Happy holidays and I hope everyone has a great book to enjoy while they are recovering from their overindulgence in turkey!