Review: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

New Odd Thomas Cover

When I first picked up this book at Barnes and Noble, I was really excited to start reading it.  My mother had watched the movie and told me it was fantastic, so instead of watching the movie first, I went to buy this book.  I bought both Odd Thomas and Forever Odd at the same time, anticipating this series.  Then, for some reason unknown, I put this book away and didn't start it for a couple of months.  

Every time I picked up this book to start reading, I immediately put it down and used boredom as an excuse.  At the time I didn't realize what the problem was.  As a teenager myself, I was so used to reading YA (and two adult series, The Hollows by Kim Harrison and Weather Wardens by Rachel Caine) that when I started this book, I was not used to the style of writing.  So one day I decided enough was enough, and that I was going to push through the first book to see if I liked it.

Like is a bit of an understatement.

Odd Thomas had a blend of everything that I loved in a series:  suspense, thrills, mystery, a sprinkle of horror, maturity, and romance.  Odd is an extremely likable character, and yes, that is his real name given to him by his parents (though his mother claims it was meant to be Todd).  He is a very simple person.  He doesn't by name brand clothes.  He works as a fry-cook at the Grille.  Has a girlfriend who likes to be called Stormy, who definitely was my favorite character.  And with all of that, his life is still not considered normal.

He can see that dead.  And creatures that he likes to call bodachs.

These creatures were extremely interesting to me.  According to Odd, they only come when extreme violence is about to happen, but not just murders.  It has to be big, bold, and crazy.  Odd believes that they are some sort of demons from Hell that feed off of violence and evil, though he has no evidence of this.  In order to keep himself safe, he pretends not to notice them.

In the book, there are only a few people who know of his abilities, including his girlfriend Stormy.  In this first installment of the series, that was originally supposed to be a standalone novel, a strange man shows up at the Grille one day while Odd is working.  This is who they call Fungus Man, particularly because he was a strange spot on his head that looks almost like fungus.  While in the Grille, it becomes infested with bodachs, more than Odd had ever seen before, and believes that something big is going to happen in their town.

Odd Thomas takes place in less than a 24 hours time period, and the amount of stuff that happens really blew me away.  With a likable character, a good plot, and a twist ending sure to come, I recommend Odd Thomas and grant it 5 stars.  This book couldn't be anything less than perfect.