Marking Books: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Years ago (dare I say decades?), my best bud told me she had just read a good book and that I should give The Bad Place by Dean Koontz a try. While I have been known to enjoy the seriously strange and unusual, The Bad Place was a shade too “out there” for my taste and, after finishing it, I promptly swore off the works of Dean Koontz.

When Greg, never shy to recommend a series I might like, suggested not only that I read Odd Thomas but read it aloud to him even though he had already read the series, I was intrigued. It turns out, as it invariably does, I was wrong about Mr. Koontz and so, now publicly apologize for not having given his work another chance before now.

Being written in first person, Odd Thomas endeared himself to me almost instantly – the simplicity, honesty, and… well, oddness of his character is hard not to love. Throughout the twisting plot and string of otherworldly incidents, I found myself rooting for Odd and his soul mate Stormy – cringing when I knew they were walking into something sure to be bad and laughing at the absurd bits of humor tucked into all the right places. It is also the first book in quite some time that elicited such sudden sadness in me that I had to put the book down for a moment to cry.

I recommend the book for those who like suspense with a bit of weirdness and humor – albeit dark humor at times. Odd Thomas is definitely character driven with a fast-paced heavily atmospheric story line. It is a good read and I’m looking forward to the second book (Forever Odd) as soon as Greg and I get through our current tome (11/22/63 by Stephen King).