Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)
by Dean Koontz
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Book Reviews of Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)
Book Review: From small desert town to the Sierra Nevadas
Summary: 3 Stars
It's hard to know where to start when trying to get acclimated with Dean Koontz's novels, given that there's over 50 titles. Classics such as "Watchers", "Phantoms", "Intensity" to me would be the ideal way to get familiar with him. If you like Koontz's style, then moving on to the "Odd" series I believe would be the next logical step. There are 4 books in the series, "Brother Odd" being the third novel in the series, a second sequel to "Odd Thomas".
In this entry, our beloved hero Odd Thomas is now established in the peaceful monastery of St Bartholomew's, nestled high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Seeking to escape the horrors of past events that happened in his small desert home town of Pico Mondo, he now lives a life of seclusion, simplicity and self-imposed poverty amongst the other monks in the monastery. But as Odd will unfortunately soon finds out, trouble seems to follow him around wherever he goes and soon, apparitions of those dreaded "bodachs" will make him aware that the quietness of the monastery is soon to be disrupted by forces of evil.
The first thing Koontz manages to do well in this third entry is to envelop us, the readers, in a most unusual setting. He gets us acclimated with the peculiar lifestyle of a monk and what it must be like to sacrifice everything to live in a life of seclusion in a monastery. The characters he introduces to us, as well as explanations as to how and why they became sisters or monks is fascinating: There's "Brother Knuckles", a former New Jersey mob enforcer who chose to mend his ways after so many snapped bones made him re-think his life's trajectory. "Brother John" is a genius scientist and world-renowned billionaire who gave away his entire fortune for a life of anonymity after it all got too scary and out of control. "Sister Angela" runs the monastery and her quick wit and sense of humor raises eyebrows, her words coming from the mouth of a nun, as well as many other interesting characters...
Koontz successfully manages to create intrigue as Odd develops the sense that the horrors committed on the monastery grounds are not the work of an outsider but rather from someone within. Who, after pledging to god, is committing such atrocities on the grounds of the monastery? But while the set-up and character development is there, I found "Brother Odd" to be curiously lacking in the suspense department. This is quite curious given Koontz's past works and especially since the previous book in the series "Forever Odd" was such a fast-paced nail-biter (although a flawed one). The ending and conclusion are somewhat disappointing as well but the good news is that Koontz sets up the tables for another series entry. A decent read and stand-alone book that can be read independently of the other series entries.
Book Review: A great addition to the series
Summary: 4 Stars
This book makes a great addition to Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. If you have read and enjoyed the first two books, Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas) and Forever Odd (Forever Odd), you will definitely enjoy this book. It is not as great as the first book, but it is definitely better than the second. If you have not read any of the other books in the series, you would still be able to read this one and understand it, but I recommend reading the original Odd Thomas before reading this because Odd Thomas is the best of the series and there are many references back to it in this book.
Odd Thomas has the gift, or curse (depending on how you look at it), of being able to see spirits of the dead that have not yet moved on from this world. He can also see dark spirits, called bodachs, that signal when a disastrous event is eminent. He has used this gift, along with other skills like psychic magnetism, to save lives of people in the past.
In this book, Odd has retreated to a monastery in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to try to get away from things for awhile. Everything is going good, until one night, the first bodach appears to signal that something bad is bound to happen in the near future.
The reason that I have enjoyed the Odd Thomas series so much is that the books are written from the first person. Koontz has made it as if Odd Thomas himself wrote these stories. This makes it much easier to get sucked into the stories and feel as if you are actually there. Also, these stories are supposed to be suspense, but there a lot of elements in these stories that Koontz has purposefully made comical. One element is the spirit of Elvis Presley that has shown up in each story. Odd is trying to help Elvis transition from the spirit world to eternal peace. You can be assured that when Elvis shows up, you will laugh.
Koontz used an element in this novel that has made the imagery much easier to imagine. He has used numerous popular culture movies to compare events and people in this movie. The one that stuck out the most to me was when he likened the hard working nuns to Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.
I would highly recommend reading Brother Odd as well as the other books in the Odd series. Like with most other Dean Koontz novels, once you get into the story, you will not want to stop until it is done.
The end of this book has left the story open for another sequel, and I can't wait till Koontz releases it.
Book Review: Odd Thomas and his Odd Adventures
Summary: 4 Stars
In the dozens of books that Dean Koontz has written, he has pretty much avoided series characters. Prior to the introduction of Odd Thomas, he really only had one case of a character recurring, in the novels Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, though they weren't really a series as merely the first two volumes in a still-incomplete trilogy (I am not counting his Frankenstein collaborations in my tally). Odd Thomas, however, is Koontz's first true series character, one designed to last through a whole set of books. Brother Odd is the third in the Odd Thomas series.
Odd Thomas (his first name is the result of a typo on his birth certificate) has some ESP that allows him to see spirits of dead people; these ghosts are not yet ready to leave the mortal plane, but the kind-hearted Odd tries to provide some comfort to them. He also sees darker phantoms he calls bodachs; these shadowy creatures feed on misery and always seem to precede a catastrophe which they know they can delight in.
After the events of the first two novels, Odd has retreated to a monastery, where as a guest (not a novice), he hopes to find a level of peace. For a while, it works, but soon enough Odd sees a bodach. Odd knows more will be coming and when they become plentiful, disaster is imminent. He tries to figure out where this crisis will come from and eventually realizes - unlike in the first two books - the killer he must confront has truly supernatural powers.
As the monastery and adjoining convent (and children's hospital) become snowbound, Odd must figure out who to trust among the monks and nuns with his knowledge while also trying to find the villain in their midst. Meanwhile, a strange monster lurks outside with evil intent.
Koontz is a remarkably consistent author, rarely great, but equally rarely bad. He is a true four-star author and this book merits just that rating, though on the low end. While this is a generally breezy read, it has its flaws. The mystery isn't all that puzzling; I figured out the "bad guy" early on, and I doubt I would be alone. The final confrontation is not as exciting as it could be (too much exposition, too little action). And, as Koontz is more apt to do in recent novels, sometimes what should be humorous merely comes off as silly. Nonetheless, this is reasonably entertaining and should satisfy most fans of the previous Odd Thomas novels.
Book Review: Another great book in the Odd Thomas series
Summary: 4 Stars
Odd Thomas returns in BROTHER ODD, the third book in the great series by Dean Koontz. Odd had found refuge at St. Bartholomew's Abbey after barely escaping with his life at the end of the second book. Odd lives a simple life, but is both cursed and blessed by his ability to see the lingering dead. He sees ghosts who for whatever reason, have not been able to move on to the next world. Odd also sees bodachs. Bodachs are what he calls ghostlike creatures who only show up when before a horrible scene of death and destruction is about to occur. At the monestary, Odd is friends with all the nuns and brothers, suspicious of a few, but over all he enjoys his life at the monestary, helping out when he can.
Everything changes when Odd finds three bodachs in the room of two of the young, handicapped girls who live at the school. Then, Brother Timothy disappeared and the police came out to the monestary to help investigate. To add to the problems, a horrific snow storm has engulfed the grounds. Thomas struggles to find out the truth about the impending disaster. Koontz again delivers a great read filled with interesting characters, including Rodion Romonavich, a Russian who professes to be a librarian from Indianapolis and knows everything about the Hoosier state. There is also Brother Constantine, a monk who committed suicide and whose spirit roams the ground. Brother John is a scientific genius that donated his immense wealth to the school and continues his scientific experiments in an underground lab.
This is a good book and as the third in the series, still contains some of the power and magic from the first book in the series. The series as a whole is captivating, but I found the last two books to be good but not great. That doesn't mean I'm not excited to read the next in the series and eagerly look forward to Koontz writing several more in this series. This book can be read as a stand alone, but I urge you to read the series in order.
Book Review: WOW!! WAY better than the last one....
Summary: 5 Stars
It took me a while to pick this one up. I was SO disappointed in the Odd Hours book,, what a slow, dragged on, horrible waste of paper that one was.. What was DEAN thinking when he wrote that schlock?? When Brother Odd came out, I was too scared to buy it, I checked it out at the library and it sat on my nightstand for 2-3 weeks.. each night I would reach for it, and I would feel regurgitated bile slowly creeping up in my throat. I had been SO badly burned, I was so afraid that I would be turned off by Dean Koontz forever if this one turned out as badly. One night, a week before it was due, I decided, for better or worse, I would at least read a few chapters. If it was a vile as the last one, I could take it back and no harm done, no money spent, and I could check out the latest Stephenie Meyers to help get the aweful taste out of my mouth.. Sort of like drinking drano to get the taste of rotten milk out of your mouth.
Anyway, I was ever so carefully, slowly and timidly delving into the first chapter and lord of lords, I fell back into the glory that IS Dean Koontz!.. I was once again on a runaway train, up and down, holding my breath, wiggling my toes and getting a numb butt and sore elbow from holding my position so long, being so absorbed, I forget to move.
The way he describes the weather, the abbey/monastary ,the belltower.. the children. Holy Cow.. Stormy is back... sort of.. The book was far too short, ended far too soon, and Dean is redeemed.
I am SO happy that Brother Odd turned out so much better. I bought a copy, for when I want to revisit.. BUT, The next book on Oddie, I am checking out..I don't know if Dean was forced by a deadline to poop out on Odd Hours, but I could tell his creative juices were flowing once again with Brother Odd.. I am concerned that the next one could go either way.. Lord I hope Dean is back on the train...
How about another story on Einstein? Maybe some of his pups??