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.

The Key To Midnight - Dean Koontz

1979; 475 pages.  Genre : Action; Intrigue.  New Author? : No.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

    Alex Hunter owns a PI agency in the states.  One of its few cases that was never solved involved the kidnapping of a US senator's daughter.

    That was a dozen years ago.  Now, sitting in the Moonglow Lounge in Kyoto, Alex is startled to see that the singer/owner of the place is a spitting image (plus 12 years, of course) of the kidnapped girl.  But she insists she was raised in Brighton, England, where her parents died in a tragic auto accident.  About a dozen years ago.

    So it is obviously a case of mistaken identity.  Okay, fine.  Just one thing bothers Alex.  Why are people now tailing him?

What's To Like...
    This is an early Dean Koontz book, written long before he settled into the Horror genre.  It's got lots of action and a kewl mystery.  It even has a Romance for the lady readers.  Indeed, the publishers forced Koontz to use the pseudonym Leigh Nichols when The Key To Midnight first came out, so that it would appeal to a wider audience.

    The two main characters - Alex and Joanna Rand - are developed nicely.  The pacing is great, and every time you think you've figured out how it's going to end, Koontz plops a plot-twist on you and your whole theory gets shot down.

    The resolution of the mystery is both original and believable.  And the settings - Japan, England, and Switzerland - are way kewl.

Kewlest New Word...
Preternatural : Out of, or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural.

Excerpts...
    "You need Joanna as much as she needs you."
    "You've told me that before."
    "Have I?"
    "You know you have."
    She smiled at him mischievously, bowed to him, and assumed an air of Asian wisdom that was partly a joke and partly serious.  "Honorable detective should know that repetition of a truth does not make it any less true, and resistance to the truth can never be more than a brief folly."
    She closed the door, and Alex didn't move until he heard the lock bolt slide into place.  (pg. 131)

    "Well, sir, they tell you to humor madmen if you meet one.  And it seems especially wise to humor one with money.  The only thing that bothers me - is it coppers watching you?"
    "No," Alex said.
    "Is it coppers, young lady?"
    "No," Joanna said.  "They're not good men at all."
    "Sometimes neither are the coppers."  (pg. 336)

"Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun"  (pg. 234)
    There is some clunkiness in TKTM.  The descriptions of Japanese culture, especially the food ones, feel like they were lifted out of a travel book.  So does the train route in Switzerland.  Early on, Alex is manhandled by a thug, which was actually a refreshing change-of-pace.  But later on, he disposes of an armed, highly-trained assassin with relative ease.

    But these are quibbles.  The Key To Midnight may not be great literature, but Koontz is a master storyteller, and he'll keep you turning the pages.  If you like reading Lisa Jackson, you'll probably like this book.  8 Stars.

The House of Thunder - Dean Koontz

1982; 416 pages. Nom de Plume used when originally published : Leigh Nichols. New Author? : No; two others. Genre : I'm not telling. Overall Rating : 7­.75*/10.

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Susan Thorton wakes up in a small hospital in Willawauk, Oregon. She's been in a car accident, suffered a concussion and has been in a coma for three weels. She can't remember much about herself. As her memory gradually starts coming back, she is visited by four frightening guys from her distant past. She testified at their trial after they killed her college boyfriend. Now they're back, looking not one day older, despite the fact that several of them were reported dead years ago. Nobody else in the hospital can see them, and they're looking for revenge.

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What's To Like...

That may sound like a clichéd start, but what Koontz does with it is quite novel. Are the threatening beings ghosts? Aliens? Monsters? Magical beings? Illusions? Is Susan going insane?

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Koontz builds the tension smoothly as the story progresses. Each chapter ends with a "hook", and every time you come up with a pet theory about what's going on, Koontz pokes a hole in it. For the most part (see below), this is an excellent example of "show, don't tell".

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The quibbles are few and minor. For me, the book dragged a bit through the first half (all of which takes place inside the hospital), then went by a bit too quickly in the second half, when Susan finally goes outside. However, other reviewers felt just the opposite, so it's a matter of taste. Also, there are about 15-pages of "tell, don't show" towards the end of the book, that were a missed opportunity for action and adventure. Oh yeah, this was apparently written before Koontz started working a golden retriever into each of his books. But these are all minor nits to pick.

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Kewl New Words...

Mezuzah : a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew scripture, which is posted on the doroframe of Jewish homes to fulfill a Biblical commandment. Invidious : tending to rouse ill-will or resentment. Tremulous : marked by trembling.

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Excerpts...

"He said, 'Show me a coincidence, and when I open it up for you, I'll show you at least two people inside, plotting some sort of mischief.'"

McGee frowned and shook his head."That philosophy might be suitable for a character in a detective story. But out here in the real world, it's a little paranoid, don't you think?" (pg. 67-68)

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She trusted medical science precisely because it was a science. She distrusted psychiatry because, to her way of thinking, which had been shaped by her education as a physicist, psychiatry was not really a science at all; she thought of it as little more than voodoo. (pg. 228).

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Late Thursday afternoon, a fast-weaving loom of wind brought new gray cloth for the rents in the clouds, patching over every last glimpse of blue September sky. (pg. 304)

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You're not paranoid if they really are after you...

The House of Thunder was published in 1982, somewhat early in his career, when Koontz was still writing under pen names. He would hit his stride five years later, when Watchers (see here) came out, but his story-telling skills are already evident here. I'm not much into this genre (I'm still not telling what it is), but this proved to be a real page-turner for me. What more can you ask out of a good story? 7.75 stars.

The Husband - Dean Koontz

2006; 415 pages. Awards : NY Times #1 Best Seller. Genre : Crime Thriller, but you'll find Dean Koontz and this book in the "Horror" section of your bookstore. Overall Rating : "B+".

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Mitch Rafferty leads a comfortable but modest life. He owns and operates a small, two-man gardening company, has a couple thousand dollars in savings in the bank, lives in an average house in an average suburb, and is hopelessly in love with his beautiful wife, Holly.

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Then one day, someone kidnaps Holly and gives Mitch 60 hours to come up with two million dollars in ransom money. And to make sure he knows they're serious, they gun down a man walking his dog across the street from where Mitch is working.

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What's To Like...

The story flows nicely, with no slow spots. Koontz creates a number of interesting characters, and they all seem like suspects when you're introduced to them. Both Mitch and I got quite paranoid along the way. Mitch himself comes from a "put the fun back in dysfunctional" family. See the Excerpts section, below.

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Koontz again manages to work a golden retriever into the story. The last time, it was a scrabble-playing dog; here it has no special powers. FYI, Koontz is an avid proponent of dogs in general, and golden retrievers in particular. Oh yeah, and there's a brief mention of Pennsylvania Dutch shoo-fly pie, something I sorely miss from my childhood.

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The story spins to an exciting, if predictable, conclusion. The only negative I can say is that there are some gaping loose ends that remain unresolved. Along the way, Mitch gets framed for a couple crimes to prevent him going to the cops. And on his own, he steals two cars (one's a carjacking), assaults a police officer, and hides three bodies. None of this is ever cleared up. In real life, I don't think the authorities would overlook all of this just so everyone could live happily ever after.

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New/Kewl Words...

Mordant : grim or sinister. Numinous : mysterious, holy, supernatural. Chambranle : the border or frame, usually made of stone or wood, around a doorway. Miscegenation : reproduction by parents of different races (literal) or of different species (figurative).

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Excerpts :

The five Rafferty children, on their thirteenth birthdays, had been expected to stop calling their parents Mom and Dad, and to begin using first names. Mitch's mother, Katherine, preferred to be called Kathy, but his father would not abide Danny instead of Daniel. (pg. 107)

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"Remember when I got caught with the copy of Charlotte's Web?"

"You were almost nine. You spent 20 days in the learning room." Anson quoted Daniel : "'Fantasy is a doorway to superstition.'"

"Talking animals, a humble pig, a clever spider-"

"'A corrupting influence,'" Anson quoted. "'The first step in a life of unreason and irrational beliefs.'"

Their father saw no mystery in nature, just a green machine. (pg. 157)

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What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill?

The Husband was my second Koontz book. The first is reviewed here. In both cases, Koontz proves to be a master story-teller. I can see why he's so popular. Be he also manages to squeeze in some delightful imagery. For instance :

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Only the thinnest wound of the fallen day bled along the far horizon, and otherwise the sky was dark, and the sea dark; and the moon had not yet risen to silver the deserted beaches." (pg. 149). Or :

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In the gunman's open and unblinking eyes, the mortician moon had laid coins. (pg. 197).

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It's nice to see that good writing and a good story are not mutually exclusive. I give The Husband a "B+", noting that the only thing keeping it from an "A" are those pesky loose ends.

Watchers - Dean Koontz

Overall Rating : A-.

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Watchers is considered by most to be one of Koontz's better efforts. A depressed man comes across a remarkable Golden Retriever while hiking in the southern California wilds. The dog promptly saves the man from a menacing something, they bond, and thus begins a suspenseful book-long chase involving a monster, a psychotic hired hitman, and some duty-bound and therefore not-on-our-side NSA feds.

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Oh yeah, there is a love-story too, but we'll ignore that as best we can.

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What's To Like...

It's fast-paced. No 50 pages of introductory yawning here. By the time page 30 rolls around; you've already been introduced to the man, the woman, her erstwhile tormentor, the dog, the monster, and the hitman.

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The central character - the high-IQ dog - is a joy to follow. What if one of our canine companions was as intelligent as us? The dichotomy (wow, I always wanted an excuse to use that word) of a human-like mind in a dog's body is a fascinating study.

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Finally, ther are no slow spots. You'll find yourself staying up late to read more of Watchers.

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What's Not To Like...

The characters are fairly shallow. The good guys are completely good; the bad guys are completely bad. The romance is straightforward. The central cri-fi theme - DNA manipulation - has been done by others, and in a better-researched manner.

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The ending is hurried and tepid. After 450 pages of a great build-up, the evilnesses are disposed of with remarkable ease. You won't guess the ending, but that's simply cuz you'll be expecting more.

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Finally, Koontz leaves so many loose ends that you'll be tempted to roll 'em up into a ball of yarn. The hitman murders - unresolved. The sabotaging of a top-secret government research project - unresolved. The reason that the book is titled "Watchers" - unresolved. The consequences of genetic manipulation - unresolved.

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Genres? We've got genres coming out of our ears...

This book must be a librarian's nightmare when trying to think of where to file it. We could call it a Thriller, yet the monster's character is sadly under-developed. Indeed, his only purpose for most of the book is to do a random grisly killing about every 70 pages or so.

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Or maybe we'll file it under Romance, although the love story is obvious and trite. The girl has head problems; the guy magically cures her with his love; and she never has any relapses again.

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How 'bout Cri-Fi? Except that Koontz never really tries to make the science seem plausible. Maybe Mystery - but as mentioned before, half the killings are never resolved.

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Perhaps the best fit would be to call it a Boy-And-His-Dog story, and put it next to Lassie. But I don't think little Timmy ever had to deal with monsters that liked to gouge out eyeballs and decapitate its victims; nor hitmen that fantsized about bludgeoning pregnant women.

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But I digress. Watchers is a great read; yet I doubt I'll pick up any more Koontz novels. In his 3-page "Afterword", Koontz states, "I believe that we carry within us a divinely inspired moral imperative to love, and I explore that imperative in all my books". In other words, if you've read one Koontz story, you've read them all. I intend to stop at just one.