Customer Reviews

Odd Hours (Odd Thomas 4)

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(52)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

Dean Koontz is one of my favorite genre writers, and the original ODD THOMAS novel is my second favorite of his books, right after his 1987 novel WATCHERS. Given the enormously favorable response to ODD THOMAS, Koontz decided to turn the book into a series, and now plans to write six or seven novels featuring the character. ODD HOURS is the fourth book in the sequence, and is probably the best of the sequels so far.

If you've read ODD THOMAS (and you MUST read the four novels in order to properly enjoy them) you know that these books are a unique combination of suspense, dark comedy, and spiritual uplift. Odd is a character with a very unique voice, one that I very much enjoy listening to. The pleasure of the Odd Thomas novels is not really the plots, which are often thin and unrealistic. Instead, the pleasure is in watching how Odd wryly reacts to all the insanity taking place around him. The results are often hilariously funny, yet at the same time emotionally moving. There are no other books quite like them.

In ODD HOURS, the story involves a terrorist plot to smuggle nuclear weapons into a small California coastal town. This plot is in no way believable. But again, Koontz simply uses this rather silly storyline as an excuse to allow Odd to have another wild adventure, encounter another cast of eccentric characters, and pontificate about the absurd yet wonderful nature of life. After a slightly slow start, this novel works wonderfully well at this level. The end result is the best Koontz book I've read for quite some time.

Admittedly, ODD HOURS isn't for everyone. Some readers I know have lamented Koontz's new style of writing, often proclaiming that his books aren't as well written as his horror novels of the 1980s and early 1990s. I respectfully disagree. Koontz, like any other good writer, has evolved with age, and has become more philosophical and spiritual in his storytelling. Still, if you dislike Koontz's newer books, there is an excellent chance you won't like this one either.

But if you're new to Koontz, I hope you give his ODD THOMAS novels a try. Koontz is the exact opposite of a nihilistic writer: he believes there is a moral purpose to life, and that people must understand that purpose and act consistently with it. In our cynical age, I find that perspective refreshing, and I enjoy the Odd Thomas novels for that reason. I look forward to the fifth installment in this great series.

I really enjoyed the previous Odd Thomas books, especially the first one. I do not think this book stands alone. If you have not read the others I think you will be completely lost. Having read the others I have such mixed feelings!

I love the dialog and humor of Odd Thomas with Hutch, Utgard, and Chief Hoss Sackett. The downright profound observations made with Birdie on pages 218 and 219 were amazing! Yet the dialog with Annamaria drove me nuts.

The first scene at the pier seemed endless... had I not read his other books I would not have read beyond this point. What was with the coyotes??? The bell??? The sea glass??? The grate with the lightning bolt ring???

I love the character of Odd and thought Birdie could make a very interesting main character someday. Blossom was another very interesting character. I wanted so much to like this book. I think generally speaking Dean Koontz is a wonderful, thoughtful, and witty writer and yet this book disappointed me.

I hope he can make Annamaria a more interesting person in the next book... yes I will read the next one.

I really like Dean Koontz. Not every book can be the best one. When you've written as many books as he has there are bound to be some that are better than others. I hope he doesn't get discouraged by negative comments because we will all lose if he doesn't continue to share his observations, humor, and creative ideas - they are a gift.

It should go without saying that at this point in his career Dean Koontz is an absolute master at devising and then executing a story. Throughout his career, Koontz has continued to develop as an author with each new story better than the previous one. In his Odd Thomas series this is certainly true.

It began with Odd Thomas, a strange young fellow living in a small California town of Pico Mundo and working as a fry cook. Then came Forever Odd, Brother Odd and now Odd Hours. Odd Thomas, the fry cook, has remained a steadfast character from the first book to the fourth even though life has not been kind to him. But while Odd has remained the same humble, innocent, and generally good guy he has always been, he has continued to develop as a character with new facets added in each story. Odd has had two companions, a ghost dog name Boo and his long time friend Elvis Presley. In Odd Hours, Elvis is seemingly replaced with Frank Sinatra.

In Odd Hours, Odd is faced with perhaps his most profound challenge yet. A dream and all encompassing red tide haunts Odd. At the close of Brother Odd, Odd wants nothing more than to return to Pico Mundo and resume his quiet life as a fry cook. However, fate steps in and he lands in a small coastal town of Magic Beach working for a former movie actor and author of childrens books. With terrific characters such as Annamarie and Brush Cut, Koontz has written another terrific page turner. Packed with suspense, a dark eerieness, fast action, and tight plot, Odd Hours will not disappoint. You'll have to suspend plausibility, but you'll enjoy this fourth Odd Thomas installment.

I highly recommend.

Peace always

First up let me say I've read many of Dean's books and find him to be a wonderful author most of the time. Indeed Odd Thomas and Forever Odd are two of my favorite books and Odd himself one of my favorite characters.

I was excited when I discovered another Odd installment was on the way and now greatly disappointed with the end result. This story was either put together in a hurry to satisfy the publisher or Dean has lost the magic touch and maybe Odd should of gone on to join Stormy at the end of Brother Odd (another novel that was far less impressive than the first two installments)

The pointer to Sole Survivor's little girl from the plane crash, the mystery train and Wyvern from Seize the night are nice little touches for Dean's constant readers out there.

This story moves so slowly it is painful, indeed at times I had to go back and read parts again to remember what was actually going on in between the somewhat bizarre events (I'm talking bizarre even for Odd) and the overwhelming amount of description of locations because I thought I'd missed something that would help make sense of the ramblings from chapter to chapter.

And sadly after 25 chapters I just could not take it anymore and gave up, maybe eventually I'll go back and see how it ends, but even a huge explosion of cardiac pumping proportions could not give this story the life and sense of direction it so badly needs.

I can only live in hope he turns it around for the next one or quietly leaves it alone rather than drag this much beloved character through the death pains of a story that is even more ridiculous than Brother Odd and more exciting a pace than this snail.

First off, I am biased... I really like Odd, the character that Koontz has developed in these books. This installment is a continuation of the series and was a very engaging read. I finished it in one sitting (and here I am at the computer at two in the morning!). Koontz' style was very strong on scene description. I could actually imagine the sensations of a heavy salt water fog he described in one of his scenes.

Of course, I am a sucker for self effacing hero types, dogs, and good friends. There are as much of these in this book as any of the previous. And of course there are ghosts (alas, no Elvis - he left the building in the last book!).

I would say that some of the witty repartee between Odd and others was reminiscent of Koontz' character in 'The Good Guy'.

If you liked the other books, I think that you will definitely like this one - I highly recommend.

All the best,

Jay

I won't get into what Odd Hours is about. If you're here, you already know.


Needless to say... and true to (my form) Spoilers ahead!


I hate to do it, but it can't be helped. I'm sorry, Dean, but what were you thinking?

Where'd Odd go? Who the heck is Annamarie and what is her story? What about all the teasers of `this isn't your time or place' or whatever? What's the deal with the bell necklace? Why does it scare the coyotes away? And what was so special about the leader of the pack that he knew what the necklace meant? Oh, and the very last paragraph in the book? I don't get it. What happened?

There were far too many questions left hanging in Odd's latest adventure. More remained unanswered by the end of the book than answered.

That is not a good thing.

Typically, once I pick up an Odd book I can't put it down. With this one I picked up two other books in the meantime and read them while the back of Odd's head mocked me from my kitchen table. I had to literally force myself to pick the book up and finish reading it. It didn't help that the first - was it four - chapters was Odd escaping the beach and the highly detailed way in which he did that. Details that weren't required. What's the old writer's rule about less being more? Ruling out unnecessary explanations?

Annamarie knows things. Good for her. She's special. I get that. She probably saved Odd's life as much as he saved hers. Too bad we don't know anything about her. Anything! Oh, and let's not forget about the supernatural things that happened to Odd. Even Odd mentioned these - the stopped clocks - the presence on the porch swing - what did this? Who was really in control of Magic Beach?

The mirror entity was pretty intriguing, but then it was no more. Seems like a lot good concepts were touched upon - things that sparked my interest and then `Whammo! Blech! They were gone. Odd sees the dead. He goes and offs how many people in this story and not one of them comes back to give him some crap before they move on? Please! And where'd Mr. Gun-Happy come from? Odds despises them and for good reason.

Dean, I love you. Odd, I love you. You two need to have a little chat before your next project. You need to figure out who you are and what makes you tick. Something's changed along the way and Odd, dude, you've lost a lot of your charm.

Now I have been a Koontz fan for a long time. This book is not one to start on if you are new to Dean Koontz. It is a great book if you like loose ends. This book would have been much better if it had ended with "To be continued........"

Just as big dogs need big bones, a hero of Odd Thomas's caliber requires bigger and bigger challenges. Odd Hours (the fourth in a planned series of seven) answers the call, thrusting our increasingly formidable young hero into a plot worthy of a Bond flick.

Odd has taken up residence in the small seaside town of Magic Beach, serving as personal chef to octogenarian Hutch, a once-famous movie star whose eccentricity is a good match for Odd's oddness. But when Odd begins having nightmares in which the sea turns red, he suspects he's been drawn to this town to interdict another horrible threat. Odd's fears are soon confirmed, when he and Annamaria, a mysteriously charismatic pregnant woman he has recently befriended, are accosted by a trio of thugs whom Odd's clairvoyant powers reveal to be associated with the red-tide threat.

Promising, quite impulsively, to serve as Annamaria's protector and even to die for her if necessary, Odd roams the fog enshrouded beach town in a desperate attempt to thwart the pending bloodshed, discovering that our entire nation's future hangs in the balance. (The lack of hard evidence and Odd's realization that the harbor police are implicated in the plot provide a just-good-enough rationale for Odd to fly solo.) Based on Annamaria's enigmatic ramblings and a series of happenings that are undefined even in Odd's supernatural playbook, it appears that an even more epic struggle between good and evil is also afoot, a set-up for the remaining three installments in the series.

Lest this all seem too heavy and humorless for an Odd Thomas book, I assure you that there are still plenty of lighthearted moments. Frank Sinatra's spirit plays a prominent role, and Koontz is able to work in his love of canines, Shakespeare and philosophy along the way. While some readers may feel shortchanged by Koontz's sequestration of Annamaria during most of the story and by the multitude of unanswered questions, these hooks will keep readers coming back for more. I'm looking forward to seeing where Koontz goes next in the series, crossing my fingers that someone in Hollywood is savvy enough to turn this into a movie or television franchise.

I got lucky shopping for groceries Saturday evening. No, not that way you filthy animal. On my way to the checkout lane I decided to check the book aisle and lo and behold they had put Odd Hours on the shelf a few days early at a 40% discount. I got home and jumped right into the book, finishing it the next evening around 10 PM.

My thoughts? It was very good. It took a much different direction than I had expected at the end of the last book. The nature of the threat Odd faced this time was of a greater magnitude than previously seen but the way he addresses his circumstances and challenges was as artful and delightful as ever. His 4 and 2 legged companions played active roles in the story which were welcome and I learned some facts about the Chairman of the Board I was sadly ignorant of. I'm a huge fan of American culture and I'm grateful to Dean for filling in a few areas of ignorance surrounding two of the greats of the last century through this series.

I did have a few area of concerns. There is a mystery woman who is a little too mysterious. She makes the ladies with the dogs in the Repairman Jack books seem like media whores by comparison. I'm also curious why Odd didn't contact his Russian friend from Brother Odd. It seems he would have been of great help almost immediately. I did like the Wyvern and Mystery Train references though. Hopefully Odd will make it to Moonlight Bay soon.

I give it 4.25 because of the mystery woman and Odd's failure to take advantage of the resources available to him. Still a recommended purchase for a relaxing read or a gift for a friend.

If I could speak to Dean Koontz, I would tell him, "Don't write more Odd Thomas books just because you can. You have created a wonderful and endearing character, and you are not doing him justice in your sequels, especially this one."

*possible spoilers below*

It would be difficult to give details of the plot in this review, because Koontz gives so few of them in the book. There is a hairbrained scheme, which appears to be cooked up by the village idiots, with some unnamed villain as the real mastermind, but we never get more than hints at what is really going on. You know Koontz has run out of ideas when Odd has to solve every problem by gunning down the bad guys. This is not the Odd we have come to know and love.

Many sections of the book are slow and laborious reading. At one point I actually yelled aloud, "Get off the pier already!" In other places, situations arise that the reader feels will have deep significance, and then the situation just ends, with no apparent purpose, except to fill up the pages.

I did enjoy one thing about this book - Hutch, the retired actor who has hired Odd as his live-in caretaker. His conversations with Odd were the one bright spot for me.

When I read Odd Thomas for the first time, I couldn't wait to read more. But when I closed this one, I was disappointed and felt that maybe Odd had worn out his welcome. I am not looking forward to a 5th book. Now I believe Koontz is just trying to sell books by putting the name "Odd" in the title.

Please, Dean Koontz, don't do it. Your character deserves better than what you are giving him.