Odd Thomas

Rating:
Summary: I Don't Get All The "4" and "5" Reviews
Review: Maybe I am not used to Koontz's writings, since this is the first one I have read. Therefore, I approached this book with no positive or negative feelings of Koontz's writings. I was deeply disappointed when I finnished it. I struggled many times against closing the book and putting it down for good, but I kept reading hoping the good parts lay just ahead. But the good parts never came. (This reminds me when my chilren were small and I took them to see "Peewee's Big Adventure", because our local movie critic had said that it was "extremely funny". Well, we watched that movie waiting for the funny parts and suddenly the end credits began to roll.) Apparently most people who read "Odd Thomas" thought as I did because the resale value is less than $1.00. I believe that this book is comparable to Tom Clancy's last two bombs.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I haven't read anything from Mr. Koontz in a while, and the wait was worth it. I couldn't put it down after the first chapter, and the ending took a crazy twist. Granted the "I talk to to dead people" has been done, but this was still a great book. This is great, classic Koontz material, and I would recommend it to any of his fans.

Rating:
Summary: Unique - Definitely Koontz
Review: Odd Thomas - a book, as I usually do on airplanes, that I picked up to read during a cross country flight. After a few out there kind of weird books from Dean Koontz, he comes back to his roots with Odd Thomas. Thomas is sort of like a psychic superhero who can see evil, and events that might happen. And, oh yah, he can see the dead Elvis. Any book with dead Elvis ghosting around in it is worth checking out. This book has it's villains, has a hero, has a tragedy, and has a great conclusion. Kind of a sixth sense type feel to this book, worth reading.

Joseph Dworak

Rating:
Summary: Definitely Koontz at his best!
Review: When I first heard about this book I was skeptical. I mean, come on, the guy sees dead people. It's been done, only the first time it was called The Sixth Sense. But I read the first chapter before passing judgment, and I was hooked. The similarities dwindled away almost immediately, as Odd Thomas, a humble fry cook, starts to immediately grow on you.

Here's what I look for in a book: great characters that I can care about, suspense, drama, possibly love, and if I'm really lucky well written prose and dialogue. Unfortunately, finding books that posses any of these qualities is becoming more and more rare with each passing day. Rarer still is finding a book that possess ALL of those qualities. Odd Thomas is one of those rare finds.

Whether you're a long-time Koontz fan, or considering reading him for the first time, this is definitely a Must Have book.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Dean Koonzt is a brilliant writer. I was skeptical that "Odd Thomas" could generate the same level of neck prickling entertainment as Terri Bailey's "Cries of the Orchids," and yet I found myself pleasantly surprised. "Odd Thomas" is definitely a keeper!

Rating:
Summary: The Return of Dean Koontz
Review: Mr. Koontz has returned! Following several luck lustre novels, Dean Koontz reminds his readers that patience can be a virtue with his newest story of good versus evil . This unrelenting thriller will continue to haunt you long after you close its' pages. Odd Thomas is his most charismatic hero whose honest, humble approach to life will refresh even the most cynical reader. Fans of this novel will also enjoy "The Reflection" by Joe Bright.

Rating:
Summary: A Couple of Steps Back for Koontz
Review: I believe I have read ALL of Mr. Koontz's paperback novels including one (I believe titled 'ICEBOUND' that went in the garbage) which was a reprint from his early days under another name and which was just a total ripoff since this information is at the back of the book; I want my $8 back, Mr. Koontz.

His best novel in paperback to date is 'INTENSITY' which gives one chills while avoiding the supernatural/scifi motifs which are sometimes trying.

'ODD THOMAS' is, as a previous reviewer noted, disjointed as though Mr. Koontz was distracted with other matters (enjoying the fruits of his success maybe) when he penned it. The 'I see dead people' storyline tended to be boring.

I have a theory, not a novel one I am sure, that writers only have a fixed number of stories to tell and when the last one is told it's all she-wrote. It's very possible that Mr. Koontz is all out of stories and unethically trading on his celebrity. The 'ICEBOUND' re-release tends to support this theory. It's possible that, if he has not already done so, that Mr. Koontz will soon resort to ghost writers or even, more honestly, co-authors.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you Mr. Koontz
Review: Let's start out here right: i.e, whining, since I do it so well.

The trouble with Dean Koontz is he occasionally suffers with the Stephen King/Robert McGammon syndrome where they keep talking long after they've run out of things to say. Instead of shutting up for a few years, they just keep going. This accounts for a lot a really bad books from some really good writers. I love King. He seems like a pretty nice fella with a lot of talent, but for a while he was just bloody awful. He needed to shut the heck up for a bit, which brings us right back to...

Koontz is apparently over his need to be quiet. ODD THOMAS is a beautifully entertaining little book. One that inspires you to pray for a sequel long before you've finished. I fell in love with Odd and his strange assortment of friends. Of course, if you're looking for something entirely new, this isn't it. The "I see dead people" line has almost become a cliche, along with "I see stupid people". However, he has taken it, together with a good storyline and a great character, and turned it into a very decent book.

In ODD THOMAS Koontz writes about heaven, of sorts, and earth, and if you'll excuse my paraphrasing this is what he says, kind'a: "I tend to believe in the traditional architecture of life and the afterlife. This world is a journey of discovery and purification. The next world consists of two destinations: One is a palace for the spirit and the endless kingdom of wonder, while the other is cold and dark and unthinkable.

Others believe, instead, that our passage through his world is intended to toughen us up for the next life, where our honesty, integrity, courage, and determined resistance to evil are evaluated at the end of our days here, and that if we come up to muster, we will be conscripted into an army of souls engaged in some great mission in the next world. Those who fail the test simply cease to exist. In short, they see this life as a boot camp, calling the next life `service'."

I found this a singularly interesting concept, not only in the way Odd kept coming back to it in his own life journey, but as a way to truly look at our time here on earth. While this book is certainly not intended as a religeous experience, it does make one thoughtful.

Koontz is not King (which is ok with me), and he is still at times inconsistant when it comes to his writing. I'm glad to see him back with us in grand old style.


Rating:
Summary: One star in relation to Koontz' other books
Review: I was frustrated by this one - a little less of Koontz' syrupy metaphors and similies, but still the weird and ultimately unbelievable characters... to me it was 446 pages in which only two things happen, with a depressing twist at the end.