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kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
Fifth in the Odd Thomas horror lite series revolving around a young man compelled to help the dead.
I want to give it a "2" for how incredibly confusing this was, and yet it does merit, IMO, a "4" in the intriguing twist department, so I reckon it averages out to a "3".
My Take
It starts with a feel of Brother Odd, 3, and quickly descends into mystery with Odd's pantomime with the ghostly rider and even quicker into horror with the waking vision Odd has of flocks of leathery creatures swarming. A blend of science fiction, horror, and the paranormal that will have you reeling as you try to figure out what's going on. There are so many confusing scenes in this, don't be surprised if it takes most of the story to figure it out.
All this confusion will drive the reader mad---and help you to feel what Odd must have felt as he encountered the horrors, the anomalies that make no sense. The tension, the drama, the questions that rise up like bones in a murky swamp. The fear as the truth is revealed bit by bit.
Kenny's presence, the zombie-like creatures, the murder victims all lined up. Odd's dreaming of a Nazi death camp threw me off, adding to the confusion. I'm also confused by Koontz's description of the zombie-like creatures. They sound like men, then swine; he refers to them as bear-like, as boars. I simply can't picture them. I kept wondering why Odd didn't simply re-enter the mausoleum and close the door. Why he didn't simply turn off Tesla's machine?
What an absolute treat! An author who understands when to use blonde!
Arghh, Annamaria is going to drive me bats! She's so cryptic as she teases Odd into following his path, discovering his purpose in this menacing place.
The Story
Serendipity finds Odd and the pregnant Annamaria invited to a retired hedge fund manager's estate. Only there are so many restrictions and constraints placed on Wolflaw's new guests, that one both wonders and fears why he would bother to invite anyone.
The controls simply stimulate Odd's curiosity, and he can't resist poking and questioning Wolflaw's staff and exploring the hidden corners and depths of the estate. The fear is something that builds. Wondering how day can turn to night and back again within so short a time. The encounters with ghosts and zombie-like creatures, or maybe they're bears. Bears with red-eyes. Begging Annamaria to allow them both to leave. A request she refuses, over and over, reminding him that his talent has led him here and that he must not falter.
The Characters
Odd Thomas is a fry cook, although it's been awhile since he's plied his trade. In truth, he has an odd gift that pulls him from catastrophe to calamity with ghosts who appear to him, hoping he can set things right. Stormy Llewellyn is Odd's girlfriend who died in Odd Thomas, 1.
Annamaria is the Lady of the Bell, a pregnant woman whom Odd met in Magic Beach and rescued in Odd Hours, 4. The couple is accompanied on their travels by Raphael, a golden retriever from Odd Hours and Boo, a German shepherd ghost dog, who chose to accompany Odd in Brother Odd, 3. Blossom is another friend from Magic Beach.
Roseland is a private estate in Montecito, California, owned by Noah Wolflaw, a retired hedge fund manager. Chef Shilshom is the chef. Mrs. Valerie Tameed is the housekeeper who provides Annamaria with luggage and clothing. Henry Lolam is part of the security on the estate; Paulie Sempiterno is chief of the security team. Victoria Mors is a housemaid. Jam Diu is the groundskeeper. The nine-year-old Timothy is kept prisoner in his room, a dead boy kept alive by Tesla's time machine. Just as the estate remains perfect clean and tidy. Timothy is a reminder for Cloyce that he has the power over life and death.
Jack Keister is a behemoth of a guy carrying an Uzi and looking more thuggish motorcycle biker than security for an estate like Roseland. He hates his name and has changed it to Kenneth Randolph Fitzgerald Mountbatten.
A newspaper mogul and founder of a movie studio, Constantine Cloyce, built Roseland in the early 1920s. There are rumors he was a little too interested in the bizarre. When Cloyce died in 1948 and was interred on the property alongside his wife, Madra, and their child, a South American mining heir bought the place.
The Cover
The cover is terrifying in its layers of a woods-surrounded house in a haze of orange and yellow creating the highlights on the man's demonic-looking face.
The title refers to our time and a horrific future's interfacing, leading to what could be an Odd Apocalypse.
I want to give it a "2" for how incredibly confusing this was, and yet it does merit, IMO, a "4" in the intriguing twist department, so I reckon it averages out to a "3".
My Take
It starts with a feel of Brother Odd, 3, and quickly descends into mystery with Odd's pantomime with the ghostly rider and even quicker into horror with the waking vision Odd has of flocks of leathery creatures swarming. A blend of science fiction, horror, and the paranormal that will have you reeling as you try to figure out what's going on. There are so many confusing scenes in this, don't be surprised if it takes most of the story to figure it out.
All this confusion will drive the reader mad---and help you to feel what Odd must have felt as he encountered the horrors, the anomalies that make no sense. The tension, the drama, the questions that rise up like bones in a murky swamp. The fear as the truth is revealed bit by bit.
Kenny's presence, the zombie-like creatures, the murder victims all lined up. Odd's dreaming of a Nazi death camp threw me off, adding to the confusion. I'm also confused by Koontz's description of the zombie-like creatures. They sound like men, then swine; he refers to them as bear-like, as boars. I simply can't picture them. I kept wondering why Odd didn't simply re-enter the mausoleum and close the door. Why he didn't simply turn off Tesla's machine?
What an absolute treat! An author who understands when to use blonde!
"Anyway, the dead can be even more frustrating to deal with than are many of the living, which is astonishing when you consider that it's the living who run the Department of Motor Vehicles."
Arghh, Annamaria is going to drive me bats! She's so cryptic as she teases Odd into following his path, discovering his purpose in this menacing place.
The Story
Serendipity finds Odd and the pregnant Annamaria invited to a retired hedge fund manager's estate. Only there are so many restrictions and constraints placed on Wolflaw's new guests, that one both wonders and fears why he would bother to invite anyone.
The controls simply stimulate Odd's curiosity, and he can't resist poking and questioning Wolflaw's staff and exploring the hidden corners and depths of the estate. The fear is something that builds. Wondering how day can turn to night and back again within so short a time. The encounters with ghosts and zombie-like creatures, or maybe they're bears. Bears with red-eyes. Begging Annamaria to allow them both to leave. A request she refuses, over and over, reminding him that his talent has led him here and that he must not falter.
The Characters
Odd Thomas is a fry cook, although it's been awhile since he's plied his trade. In truth, he has an odd gift that pulls him from catastrophe to calamity with ghosts who appear to him, hoping he can set things right. Stormy Llewellyn is Odd's girlfriend who died in Odd Thomas, 1.
Annamaria is the Lady of the Bell, a pregnant woman whom Odd met in Magic Beach and rescued in Odd Hours, 4. The couple is accompanied on their travels by Raphael, a golden retriever from Odd Hours and Boo, a German shepherd ghost dog, who chose to accompany Odd in Brother Odd, 3. Blossom is another friend from Magic Beach.
Roseland is a private estate in Montecito, California, owned by Noah Wolflaw, a retired hedge fund manager. Chef Shilshom is the chef. Mrs. Valerie Tameed is the housekeeper who provides Annamaria with luggage and clothing. Henry Lolam is part of the security on the estate; Paulie Sempiterno is chief of the security team. Victoria Mors is a housemaid. Jam Diu is the groundskeeper. The nine-year-old Timothy is kept prisoner in his room, a dead boy kept alive by Tesla's time machine. Just as the estate remains perfect clean and tidy. Timothy is a reminder for Cloyce that he has the power over life and death.
Jack Keister is a behemoth of a guy carrying an Uzi and looking more thuggish motorcycle biker than security for an estate like Roseland. He hates his name and has changed it to Kenneth Randolph Fitzgerald Mountbatten.
A newspaper mogul and founder of a movie studio, Constantine Cloyce, built Roseland in the early 1920s. There are rumors he was a little too interested in the bizarre. When Cloyce died in 1948 and was interred on the property alongside his wife, Madra, and their child, a South American mining heir bought the place.
The Cover
The cover is terrifying in its layers of a woods-surrounded house in a haze of orange and yellow creating the highlights on the man's demonic-looking face.
The title refers to our time and a horrific future's interfacing, leading to what could be an Odd Apocalypse.
dj68's review against another edition
4.0
CONS:
Within the first 20 pages, Koontz lashes out against liberals 4 times.
Inconsistency: In Odd Interlude, Odd encounters aliens, but in this book, he doesn't believe in UFOs.
No bodachs =(
NEUTRAL:
Curse words: I don't mind whether or not there are curse words in a novel, but, seeing what Odd goes through, it's impressive that he never utters a s**t or somesuch, and always describes others' curse words - except for the occasional s**t or a** - in politically correct terms.
Odd is supposed to lead a very sparse life with no possesions, but he apparently read Stieg Larsson, W.B. Yeats and lots of other stuff - when? Does he have time to go to the library while on the run? Or what? Same goes for all the movies he mentions.
The overuse of pop cultural references. Not a problem as such, but the novel will be dated in a few years. Remember a few years back, when Koontz referenced SecondLife in one of his books? Does anyone know or use it now?
Not really an Odd Thomas story, but entertaining enough.
PROS:
At least the humour in this one isn't over the top. Neither is the sweetness. And not too much dogness.
Actually an engaging story and well-written - two things we've lacked from Koontz in ages.
He didn't go back to when Stormy was still alive, which is good, as that would have diminished the impact the first novel had.
Bad Odd - want to see more of him =)
OVERALL:
I found this the most engaging Odd novel since the first, though it was a bit over the top and really didn't bring the story arc further.
Within the first 20 pages, Koontz lashes out against liberals 4 times.
Inconsistency: In Odd Interlude, Odd encounters aliens, but in this book, he doesn't believe in UFOs.
No bodachs =(
NEUTRAL:
Curse words: I don't mind whether or not there are curse words in a novel, but, seeing what Odd goes through, it's impressive that he never utters a s**t or somesuch, and always describes others' curse words - except for the occasional s**t or a** - in politically correct terms.
Odd is supposed to lead a very sparse life with no possesions, but he apparently read Stieg Larsson, W.B. Yeats and lots of other stuff - when? Does he have time to go to the library while on the run? Or what? Same goes for all the movies he mentions.
The overuse of pop cultural references. Not a problem as such, but the novel will be dated in a few years. Remember a few years back, when Koontz referenced SecondLife in one of his books? Does anyone know or use it now?
Not really an Odd Thomas story, but entertaining enough.
PROS:
At least the humour in this one isn't over the top. Neither is the sweetness. And not too much dogness.
Actually an engaging story and well-written - two things we've lacked from Koontz in ages.
He didn't go back to when Stormy was still alive, which is good, as that would have diminished the impact the first novel had.
Bad Odd - want to see more of him =)
OVERALL:
I found this the most engaging Odd novel since the first, though it was a bit over the top and really didn't bring the story arc further.
stepriot's review against another edition
5.0
The best one yet. Odd is very charming and the mystery in this book is solid.
lauraav's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Been enjoying this ride with Odd love that we have had Elvis and Sinatra and now Hitchcock. This series is awesome and I love how each one is new adventure I so don't want it to end.
monchandtherats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
If you understand quantam physics please contact me and let me know what happened in the last 30 pages
protoman21's review against another edition
3.0
I keep plodding along with Odd, but I can't say that I am that happy about it. I really did legitimately enjoy the first book, but ever since it has just been one rehash after another that hasn't done anything for me. I do like Odd, but one of his most defining character traits is that he is stuck in the past and therefore he isn't really interesting to me as a continuing character. The scenario that played out in this novel was twisted, but that neither bothered me or excited me, and that is a sign that something is wrong, because I definitely should have felt something.
mstapel's review against another edition
4.0
This book reminded my why Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors. I liked it a lot and I am excited to start the next one!
rlisaacs's review against another edition
4.0
I still love Odd Thomas.
Don't let the downgrade to 4 stars fool you. I still do love him. He makes me laugh with some of his thoughts. He makes my heart hurt for some of his pain and the pain he feels for others that he doesn't even know. He is the same kind, sweet soul that he always is.
There was just... too many descriptions in this book. You basically spend the whole of the book in Odd's head. Meaning he's explaining, as he always does, what he's doing, what's happening around him, where he's going, etc. That's always been a fact of the books. But I think I liked it better in the earlier books when there were more good people surrounding him. Yes, the bad ones were there too that he needed to help do something about, but in the first three books, Odd still had friends and family around him that helped create gaps in the otherwise never-ending stream of Odd's explanations of what's taking place. In this book, that is severely lacking, and the majority of the book is us remaining in Odd's head. We're with him on his journey and he's filling us in on what's going on, and I still love that. But... we needed more gaps than we were given, and that's because Odd is so far separated right now from the people he trusts most.
In fact, if I think on it, I think book 4 might've also been the start of this problem as well, and maybe I just blinded myself to it. The novella between book 4 and this book does a better job with the gaps, so maybe that's why I'm not really noticing it until now.
In any case, that's my only real complaint here, and the only reason we're at 4 stars instead of 5. There were still some gaps where we were part of a conversation that Odd was having, but they were too few and in between to give us enough of a break from the otherwise endless stream of Odd's own inner thoughts. (He has wonderful inner thoughts, I don't deny that, but we still needed something to break it up a bit.)
Still love this series. Will swiftly be moving on to the next one.
Don't let the downgrade to 4 stars fool you. I still do love him. He makes me laugh with some of his thoughts. He makes my heart hurt for some of his pain and the pain he feels for others that he doesn't even know. He is the same kind, sweet soul that he always is.
There was just... too many descriptions in this book. You basically spend the whole of the book in Odd's head. Meaning he's explaining, as he always does, what he's doing, what's happening around him, where he's going, etc. That's always been a fact of the books. But I think I liked it better in the earlier books when there were more good people surrounding him. Yes, the bad ones were there too that he needed to help do something about, but in the first three books, Odd still had friends and family around him that helped create gaps in the otherwise never-ending stream of Odd's explanations of what's taking place. In this book, that is severely lacking, and the majority of the book is us remaining in Odd's head. We're with him on his journey and he's filling us in on what's going on, and I still love that. But... we needed more gaps than we were given, and that's because Odd is so far separated right now from the people he trusts most.
In fact, if I think on it, I think book 4 might've also been the start of this problem as well, and maybe I just blinded myself to it. The novella between book 4 and this book does a better job with the gaps, so maybe that's why I'm not really noticing it until now.
In any case, that's my only real complaint here, and the only reason we're at 4 stars instead of 5. There were still some gaps where we were part of a conversation that Odd was having, but they were too few and in between to give us enough of a break from the otherwise endless stream of Odd's own inner thoughts. (He has wonderful inner thoughts, I don't deny that, but we still needed something to break it up a bit.)
Still love this series. Will swiftly be moving on to the next one.
desidevabookworm's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I CANNOT fathom the EXTENT of Dean Koontz's imagination! Odd's odd journey has taken him to an incredible mansion, along with his new, fascinating friend Annamaria, his ghost dog, and his new golden retriever and only Odd's gifts can save the soul of a little boy (or is he?).
This is a roller coaster of a story and once again there's no way I could have guessed the twists and turns this story had. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend this series!!
This is a roller coaster of a story and once again there's no way I could have guessed the twists and turns this story had. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend this series!!
roseleaf24's review against another edition
5.0
Creepy and hilarious. Koontz and Odd do not disappoint.