Forever Odd

Great read. We did not think it was would be as good as the first novel but it was surprisingly well thought out and cleverly written.

Book two of this remarkable supernatural fantasy series opens with Odd Thomas still grieving for his one true love, and still dealing with his talent for being able to see, and communicate with, the dead members of society. The writing by Mr Koontz is still just as extraordinary. The sense of beauty and literal poetry shines off my kindle screen brighter than the self lit screen of my paperwhite. For example, taken from the opening sentence of the book, no less:

“Waking, I heard a warm wind strumming the loose screen at the open window, and I thought Stormy, but it was not.”

And from location 59 we have: “Holding my breath, I lay listening to the silence, and felt the silence listening to me.”

How can you not be impressed by this? We are reading a horror novel here, people!

Back to the plot... A vicious and blood thirsty murder has occurred in Pico Mundo; the father of a physically and intellectually disabled little boy was beaten savagely both before and after death. The dead victim makes contact with the story’s hero (Odd himself) and it is not long before he (and the reader) is on the scent. It turns out even Odd can be wrong sometimes and it almost cost him his life right at the book’s opening act. The suspected killer has escaped with a young boy (who is a child hood friend of Odd’s) in tow and Odd is hiding in the pantry of the crime scene, knowing full well the actual murderer is standing only a scant few feet away. Turn the page, refresh your kindle screen, and we see how Odd is tasered nearly to death by the bad guy. But before the reader knows it, Odd is back on his feet and running hell for leather to get back into the scent of the killer.

The problem for Mr Koontz with having developed such a strong and attractive tie between two gorgeous young individuals and basing the story around them, only to kill one of them off in the way he did at the end of book one, is that it leaves a gaping, gaping, gaping hole in future books for him to fill. And filled it he has, but certainly in the early stages of book two, he has opted to fill it with mourning, feelings of regret, inward soul searching and philosophical debates on the meaning of life of everything and everyone who is lucky enough to find themselves living in the anti-metropolis that is Pico Mundo.

The trouble is, the story is not as entertaining, lively, and plain old fun as book one was. ODD THOMAS is a classic. FORVER ODD is not.

But its still a great story. Anyone who read book one would have fallen in love with the entire town of Pico Mundo and the reader can’t help but feel for those that are still mourning their lost loved ones. And the victims of the crimes that occur in this volume are sure to be attached to your hearts sooner than the reader realises. So follow the plot (and hold on tight) as it twists and turns and twists again. Naturally you want to read through to the finale in order to learn exactly what happened to everyone. And to see if the bad guys get what they deserved. Fortunately for the town, Chief Porter survived his own brush with death from book one, so he is the same old hero he was. Or is he?

Will Odd catch the bad guy, or will Death beat him to it? Does Odd’s childhood friend get saved before much more trauma is inflicted upon his poor, innocent soul? And who else in the town becomes the target of crazed, psychotic would-be killers who have lost the ability to reason and see sense amongst the good citizens of the world?

Read this fine book and discover the answers to these (and many more) questions yourself. But just don’t expect Odd to ride off into the sunset with a brand new sweetheart at book’s end. He is at peace with himself, the town of Pico Mundo.

And he has made peace with his demons as well as the ghosts of his past, and of course that includes the soul to the girl he was destined to be with forever.

But will the reader find themselves at peace with this book?

That’s not for me to say. I give this book four stars but it really is only three point five.

BFN Greggorio!

I'm not a big reader but this whole series had me hooked! Loved it from start to finish! Wish there were more odd Thomas stories!