Having retreated from this crazy world to a monastery at the conclusion of last year’s FOREVER ODD, Mr. Odd Thomas, the fry cook who sees dead people, finds that trouble reigns even among the monks in Dean Koontz’s BROTHER ODD, the third and hopefully final ODD THOMAS adventure.

Any inner peace Odd finds at the monastery is short-lived as he trips over a presumably dead monk one night and is attacked by Lord-knows-what. When he comes to, the body is gone, but a bed count confirms one monk is missing. “Bodachs” – Odd’s name for the ghosts who surface just prior to acts of tragic violence – start showing up around the abbey’s retarded and bedridden children, one of whom acts as a bridge for a message from the beyond from Odd’s dead girlfriend. Something Really Bad is about to happen.

As likable and genial a character as Odd is, not a whole heck of a lot happens for a good portion of this novel. Much of it is either repetitive – with numerous references to Odd’s exquisite pancakes – or stage-setting, with us introduced to a host of wacky characters, like a monk who’s addicted to Kit Kats, and another named Brother Knuckles, who used to break legs for the mob. When something does happen – the supernatural force at work here can be described as skeletal Transformers – it’s quick and over with in mere pages, whereas prepping a pair of vans for an escape plan plods on for chapters upon chapters.

In other words, the law of diminishing returns remains in full effect. If ODD THOMAS was that near-perfect, unexpectedly moving, two-hour feature film and FOREVER ODD was a TV pilot with all the principals in place yet none of the magic, then BROTHER ODD is a second-season episode that demonstrates the franchise’s creative bankruptcy and makes you wonder why you tune in anymore. It has Koontz’s usual wit and narrative ease, but simply lacks spark. The book is not bad – just there, which might be even worse. Ditto that this is the first time Koontz has ever disappointed me, and it’s really starting to negate the power and specialness of the original.

As fully expected, the novel ends on an ambiguous note, ready to propel Odd into yet another adventure. But oh, BROTHER, this certainly doesn’t make me hungry for any more – just pancakes. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK ONE – PRODIGAL SON by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
• DEMON SEED by Dean Koontz
• THE FACE OF FEAR by Dean Koontz
• FOREVER ODD by Dean Koontz
• THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz
• ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz
• VELOCITY by Dean Koontz