Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

    2003; 421 pages. Book 1 (out of 7) in the “Odd Thomas” series.  New Author? : No, but it’s been a while.  Genres : Horror Fantasy; Ghosts; Suspense Thriller.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    20-year old Odd Thomas (yes, that’s his real name) can see dead people.  Sometimes they even reveal the terrible ways in which they died, and who killed them; unwilling to do so until justice is done..

 

    Odd Thomas keeps his “gift” secret from most of his fellow townspeople in Pico Mundo, California.  One of the exceptions to this is the Police Chief of Pico Mundo, Wyatt Porter, who appreciates Odd Thomas’s help in resolving these cold cases.

 

    Odd Thomas can also see strange creatures he’s dubbed “bodachs”.  Usually one or two of them show up right before someone dies violently.  Apparently, they like being spectators to the violence.

 

    But lately, the bodachs have been showing up in greater numbers in Pico Mundo.  Dozens at a time.  Hmm.

 

    That's probably not a good thing.

 

What’s To Like...

    Odd Thomas is written by in “memoir style” by the titular protagonist, apparently some years after the fact and at the urging of one of the secondary characters in the tale, Little Ozzie.  I presume we’ll find out the reasons for this in the subsequent novels in the series.  The story is set in the fictional town of Pico Mundo, located somewhere in southern California's Mojave Desert.

 

    I liked the way the story opens: an incident that introduces the reader to Odd’s talent as he helps the ghost of a little girl seeking justice.   After that, the main plotline gets rolling, with the appearance of an enigmatic character that Odd labels “Fungus Man”.   Is he alive? Dead?  Human?  Otherworldly?  Good? Demonic?  And above all, why has he come to Pico Mundo?

 

    Despite this being primarily a “Suspense Thriller” novel, Dean Koontz cleverly manages to keep the tone somewhat lighthearted.  One of Odd’s friends is the ghost of Elvis,  some of the story takes place in a chapel called the “Church of the Whispering Comet”, and, as anyone who’s ever worked in a cheap eatery (I have!) can tell you, learning to speak “diner lingo” is an art.  I also liked the author’s treatment of the “what happens if I mess with the ordained timeline” conundrum.

 

    The ending is both thrilling, and realistic.  The plans of the Evil Ones are stymied, but at a high cost.  The Epilogue will leave a lump in your throat.  The fate of one of the main characters remains unresolved, but I think this may be a teaser for the next book in the series.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Farrago (n.) : a confusing mixture.

Others: Pyx (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.5/5 based on 10,863 ratings and x,xxx reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.99/5 based on 275,707 ratings and 8,911 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    When Chief Porter came back, he said, “Why is he vandalizing St. Bart’s?”

    “Don’t have a clue, sir.  He tried to trap me and Stormy in the church belfry—”

    “What were you doing in the belfry?”

    “Having a picnic, sir.”

    “I suppose that makes sense to you.”

    “Yes, sir.  It’s nice.  We have dinner up there a couple times a month.”

    “Son, I don’t ever want to catch you having dinner on the courthouse flagpole.”

    “Maybe just hors d’oeuvres, sir, but never dinner.”  (loc. 1955)

 

    “No gun,” I insisted.  “We’ll just cruise and see what happens.”

    “Why are you afraid of guns?”

    “They go bang.”

    “And why is that a question you always avoid answering?”

    “I was probably shot to death in a past life.”

    “You don’t believe in reincarnation.”

    “I don’t believe in taxes, either, but I pay them.”  (loc. 2064)

 

Kindle Details…

    Odd Thomas currently costs $3.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series are all priced in the $5.99-$7.99,range.  Dean Koontz has oodles of other e-books for your horror-genre reading pleasure, most of which are in the $2.99-$9.99 price range.

 

“Odd, my beautiful cow exploded.”  (loc. 1459)

    The profanity in Odd Thomas is light; I counted just seven instances in the first 25% of the book, all of which were of the “milder” ilk.  There was an allusion to child molestation, though.  I didn’t spot any typos, which is a rarity for me.  Kudos to those who did the editing.

 

    My main quibble is with the storytelling.  There were way too many plot tangents which slowed everything down.  Some examples:

    We dwell much too long on Odd’s coworkers at the Pico Mundo Grille.

    Ditto for the background information about Odd’s parents.

    Ditto for a late-appearing (97% Kindle) co-conspirator.

And many more.  None of these impacted the storyline, so all created slow spots.

 

    Still, the basic concept of the storyline was innovative; the setting and world-building kept my interest, and the character development of both the good guys was superb.  Odd Thomas’s psychological make-up was particularly well done.

 

    Amazon discounts on the e-books in this series are for some reason few and far between.  But if the sequel, Forever Odd, ever shows up at a reduced price, I’ll probably grab it and give this series another try.

 

    7 Stars.  One last thing.  For some odd reason, Amazon has removed or relocated their "Reviews" totals.  They still list the "Ratings" totals.  Hopefully, this is a temporary omission.

Sinister Magic - Lindsay Buroker

    2020; 250 pages.  Book 1 (out of 9) in the “Death Before Dragons” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Humorous Fantasy; Dragons; Urban Fantasy.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    Meet Val Thorvald.  She works for the government as a bounty hunter, specializing in eliminating magical beings.  But it’s all top secret, so don’t go telling anyone about this.  Val is half-human and half-elf, which is a definite asset in this business.  She can learn spells and detect magical creatures when they’re nearby.

 

    She’s also got some way-kewl weapons.  One is a long sword she’s named “Chopper”.  Another is a submachine pistol called “Fezzik”.  But her most lethal weapon is Sindari.  He’s a giant-sized tiger from a magical otherworld, whom she can summon telepathically.

 

    So if you’re a rogue magical creature here in this dimension, you better beware of Val and Sindari.  Go back to the magical realm and be thankful you still exist.  Unless you’re a dragon.  They can easily whup Val and Sindari simultaneously with one wing tied behind their back.  No one in their right mind messes with dragons.

 

    Heh.  Guess what kind of creature just crossed Val’s path this morning.  And it was also doing bounty hunter work, in fact chasing after the same wyvern she is.  Professional jealousy is about to reach a new level.

 

What’s To Like...

    Sinister Magic is the first book in Lindsay Buroker’s 9-book, Humorous Fantasy “Death Before Dragons” series.  It is set in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in the Seattle area, which was also true of the other book I’ve read by this author, Marked By Magic.  I suspect this is Lindsay Buroker’s stomping grounds.

 

    If you like your Fantasy reads to feature a wide variety of beasts and magical beings, you’ll enjoy Sinister Magic.  In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are werewolves and trolls, vampires and golems, a kraken and a manticore, and elves aplenty.  The human population is aware that some of magical critters are traipsing around in this world, although their numbers are grossly underestimated.

 

    The storyline is a nice break from the standard “gotta save the world” trope.  Val’s bounty-hunting efforts are temporarily supplanted by the need to find a cure for, and the cause of, her employer’s cancer.  Val is also undergoing therapy sessions with a shrink, which so far are having mixed results.  And now there’s a small matter of getting her jeep down from the top branches of a 40-foot tree.

 

   I loved the interaction between the two main protagonists—Val and a shape-shifting dragon nicknamed Zav.  Dragons usually get portrayed as evil creatures, but here Zav and Val both ethically “gray”.  Indeed, at one point they debate as to the proper handling of captured criminals.  Should they be incarcerated for rehabilitation purposes or summarily executed?  Guess who favors rehab.

 

    The ending is exciting, yet not over-the-top, and I liked that.  The main plotline are tied up, but some of the secondary ones, such as Val’s therapy and her relationship with Zav, are left open, presumably to encourage the reader to read the sequel, Battle Bond.  I have it on my Kindle, and I’m eager to read more of this series.

 

Kewlest New Word…

Obstreperous (adj.): noisy and difficult to control.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 9,676 ratings and 897 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.12*/5, based on 11,611 ratings and 1,046 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    Nin returned with a brochure and several business cards.  “Please give these to Zoltan and let him know that if he needs any weapons made, or if any of his fellow vampires need them made, I can accommodate him.  Also, I am thinking of branching out into magical armor.”

    “If he doesn’t try to bite my neck the instant we meet, I’ll give these to him.”

    “Of course he will try to bite your neck.  You are the hated Mythic Murderer.  But please also give him my brochure as a favor to me.”  (pg. 132)

 

    “Here.”  I set the containers of bath beads down beside Zav’s foot.  “Throw some of those down when you get a chance.”  I backed away slowly, not wanting the dark elves to notice.  “And try to keep them distracted.  Keep saying arrogant things.”

    Zav looked over his shoulder, pinning me with his glare.  “I do not take orders from law-breaking mongrels who do not acknowledge the supremacy of dragons.”

    “Yeah, say stuff like that.”  I gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up.  “You’re a natural.”  (pg. 217)

 

Kindle Details…

    Sinister Magic presently sells for $0.99 at Amazon.  The next two books is this series cost the same amount; books 4-9 go for $4.99 apiece.  Books 1-3 are also available as a bundle, which inexplicably goes for $9.99 right now.  Lindsay Buroker has many other individual e-books and bundles for your Urban Fantasy reading pleasure.  The discrete books are generally in the $0.99-$4.99 range, the bundles are mostly priced at $9.99.

 

“You hatched backward from your egg, you one-winged gimp.”  (pg. 16)

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing in Sinister Magic; I noted just 14 instances in the first 25%.  An f-bomb made a later appearance.  I don’t recall any “adult situations” cropping up in the storyline, nor any typos.  Kudos to whoever does the editing for this book.

 

    I gather that this is not the first Lindsay Buroker series to feature Val.  The protagonist in the other book I’ve read by this author was Arwen Forester, so now I’m curious as to how many other books have Val in them.

 

    Val’s age is given as “40-ish”, and one Amazon reviewer had doubts about a middle-aged heroine being physically up to the challenges of crossing bounty-hunting paths with formidable magical critters.  But I think the answer to that is that Val’s blood is half-elven, and a 40-year-old elf is physically in her prime.

 

    Sinister Magic thoroughly entertained me  The action starts immediately, there’s plenty of thrills-&-spills, and the snarky banter definitely kept me turning the pages.  I highly recommend this book to anyone in the mood for a lighthearted Harry Dresden-type fantasy.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  A one point, Val is forced to add some Epsom salts to the concoction she’s making.  She correctly recalls that the chemical name for the is Magnesium Sulfate.  CHEMISTRY comes to the rescue once again!

The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump - Harry Turtledove

   1993; 408 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Historical Fantasy, Alternate Timelines, Science Fiction.  Overall Rating: 7½*/10.

 

    Something rotten is going on at the Devonshire dump, located in the northern part of Angels City.   We know that indirectly, based on the sudden increase in the number of birth defects in the surrounding neighborhoods.

 

    The EPA—that acronym stands for Environmental Perfection Agency— higher-ups have instructed their local agent, David Fisher, to start an investigation.  Pay a friendly visit to the dump, find out who the major dumpers are, then call on those companies and find out exactly what they’re disposing.

 

    Inspector Fisher has been instructed to keep his probing low-key and non-threatening.  And especially not to communicate anything he finds to anyone except the EPA higher-ups.  Because whatever is causing those birth defects is almost certainly magical.  What makes the EPA think that?

 

    Three of those cases involve newborns with an extremely rare disease called apsychia, a term no mother wants to hear.  It means her baby has been born without a soul.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is a standalone novel set in a parallel world to our own.  The geography is the same, but that world has two realities: a mundane dimension like we have, imaginatively called “This Side”; and a magical dimension, called the “Other Side”, where all sorts of spells, hexes, potions, gods, and otherworldly creatures that go bump in the night exist.

 

    The two Sides are interconnected, which means magic-containing things can be imported into This Side, bought and used, but that inevitably generates waste which needs to be properly disposed of a dump.  As is true in our reality, the key word is “properly”.

 

    The story is set in what we call Los Angeles, which over there is called Angels City.  Harry Turtledove gleefully renames/reinvents all sorts of nations, religions, places, and other items; as one would expect in an alternate world with an alternate timeline.

 

    So here, the Aztecian nation still survives; as does Carthage.  The Mithraism religion still exists, so does a Zoroastrian one.  In the Angels City area, you can visit Saint Ferdinand’s Valley via the Saint Monica Freeway.  To get there, you hop on your flying carpet; but you still do your airborne “driving” on designated streets, since without them, three-dimensional travel would be dangerously chaotic.  And as you might guess, a “spellchecker” has an entirely different function.

 

    For most of the book the reader tags along with David as he tries to figure out what is causing the increase in birth defects.  Lots of companies use the Devonshire dump for magical waste disposal, all of them resent them being suspected of improper dumping.  Things build to a tense, two-stage ending (Chapters 10 and 11), where magic and deities are invoked to take corrective measures.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Geas (n.) : an obligation or prohibition magically imposed upon a person.

Others: Curandero (n.), Burin (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.4/5 based on 256 ratings and 66 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.87/5 based on 937 ratings and 87 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “You may accompany us if you like, Miss Adler.”

    “How generous of you,” Judy said.  I knew she’d have accompanied us whether Kawaguchi liked it or not, and gone off like a demon out of its pentacle if he tried to stop her.  The irony in her voice was thick enough to slice.  If the legate noticed it, though, he didn’t let on.  I wondered if the Angels City constabulary wizards had perfected an anti-sarcasm amulet.  If they had, I wanted to buy one.  (loc. 1119)

 

    “Listen, let me call you back.  I think somebody’s at the door.”

    I went out to see who it was: most likely one of my neighbors wanting to borrow the proverbial cup of sugar, I figured.  But somebody wasn’t at the door, he was already inside, sitting on a living room chair.  I could still see the chair through him, too, so it was somedisembody.  (loc. 2337)

 

The trouble with technology is that, as soon as it solves a problem, the alleged solution presents two new ones.  (loc. 1476)

    The profanity in The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is pretty light; I noted just five instances in the first 10% of the book, all of which were mild, “four-lettered” terms.  Later on, the “female dog” expletive gets used a couple times, plus a strong cuss-phrase in Spanish which I thought was kewl.  There are also a few rolls-in-the-hay, but tastefully done.

 

    There were a few typos, such as care/cares, now/not, ration/ratio, were/where, though/thought, and knew/know, but not enough to be a distraction.

 

    For me, the mystery-solving angle was pretty blah.  David visits the main customers of the dump, one by one, but it’s not until about ¾ of the way through the book that he catches a lucky break, and e even that one felt forced.  The ending was so-so as well.  Chapter 10 saw deities duking it out, which was rather exciting, but then David squares off against the Ultimate Evil, and emerges victorious with remarkable ease.

 

    But hey, I read Harry Turtledove for his fabulous alternate-world-building, not for over-the-top, superhero-type excitement.  And I also read Harry Turtledove for his witty repartee, suitable-for-YA storylines, and groan-inducing puns.  The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump did not fail in any of these areas, plus it was a treat to see the quantity and the diversity of mythical creatures that the author works into a tale as he combines both Alt-History to Alt-Fantasy.

    7½ Stars.  One last thing.  My favorite character in The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, was David Fisher’s coworker and EPA lab analyst, Michael (don’t call him Mike) Manstein and his Laboratory Field Testing skills.  Quality Control ROOLZ!!