In ODD HOURS — the fourth book in his ODD THOMAS series — Dean Koontz does two things successfully. One is making me hungry, what with all its talk of fluffy pancakes and chocolate-pumpkin cookies. The other is maintaining a dogged insistence on retelling essentially the same story again, only with the law of diminishing returns in full effect.
By now, you know all about Odd Thomas, the fry cook who sees dead people. He’s just about the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, but boy, does he sure have a knack for planting himself in those wrong-place-wrong-time situations. When this novel opens, that place is a beach pier, where he meets a mysterious hottie named Annamarie, and then is almost killed by two men.
Thus begins a plodding pursuit in which very little happens over a long stretch of pages. Although Koontz’s prose flows as nicely as ever, there’s little need to turns the act of taking a step into an entire chapter. This recalls the main problem of the first hide-and-seek sequel, FOREVER ODD.
This Annamarie is a real prize — a striking woman who speaks entirely in riddles, to the frustration of Odd, as well as our own. Odd also deals with the ghost of Frank Sinatra, who’s keen on trying out poltergeist activity; runs afoul of the local law enforcement, remaining ever so calm; and converses with “the lingering dead,” as he reminds us a few too many times.
There are warnings of a tsunami and an instance of Annamarie pulling the Jedi mind trick on a pack of wild coyotes, yet still, nothing much happens. Before any semblance of an actual plot takes shape, the halfway mark has been crossed, and it may elicit groans to discover it involves Odd unleashing his inner Jack Bauer by attempting to thwart a terrorist act. Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
I’ll go to my grave defending Koontz’s skills as a writer. He’s one of the rare ones whose dialogue and exposition both appear effortless and can go down like sweet iced tea flavored with a wedge of lime. But his continuing return to the character baffles me, since each trip hits the same points, only in a different locale. It’s wheel-spinning, and if there is a fifth, the only way I’ll want to read it is if it sends Odd to an overdue end. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BROTHER ODD by Dean Koontz
• THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR by Dean Koontz
• 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 GOOD GUY by Dean Koontz
• THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz
• ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz
• VELOCITY by Dean Koontz
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve read all of the Odd Thomas books in order. I personally think that reading the earlier novels is truly necessary to enjoy the “Odd Hours”. Odd Thomas will rise as the most unique character in modern fictions as he has a talent that he sees dead people. Odd Thomas is a fry cook in Pico Mundo.. They don’t talk to him but seek his help to catch their killers. A nightmare took him to Magic Beach, his life changes. This is a superb suspense thriller.
This review is harsh. When you love a character, like we do in Odd, we want the adventures to continue. He creates awesome settings each time and has done so again with Mystic Beach. It is a fun, fast paced, eerie read. And the confusion with Annamarie and the coyotes lead to a 5th book needed.
I agree with you on wanting the adventures to continue, but one also must want those adventures to stop when they become rote, as I believe Odd Thomas’ did after the second book. Sometimes the best thing for a series is to stop, give it a rest and reboot later after the public salivates a bit and experiences withdrawal.
Rod Lott hates odd people!