Odd Hours
by Dean Koontz
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Book Reviews of Odd Hours
Book Review: Odd Thomas Book 4 of 7
Summary: 4 Stars
How long will Dean Koontz keep dragging Odd Thomas into his novels? When will Odd finally join Stormy on "the other side"? It doesn't look like Koontz is stopping anytime soon. This story ends ready for the next novel to begin.
In Odd Hours, Odd Thomas picks up three more companions that he will be taking with him on his next adventure. These comrades include: Annamaria aka "The Lady of the Bell" (who is the most interesting character in this book), Blossom aka "The Happy Monster" and you guessed it - a golden retriever! These three living companions will join his two traveling ghosts of Frank Sinatra and Boo (the ghost dog).
Aside from the drawn out dock episode in the beginning which really made for a sloooow start to this fourth Odd Thomas story (and reminded me too much of the drawn out chair escape episode in Intensity), Odd hours was a pretty darn good book!
I still favor the third in the series, Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels), but Koontz gave us lots of interesting characters in Odd Hours, which makes for a very interesting read.
I loved the refrigerator magnets mentioned in the book as well as "The Hall of What Would Jesus Do?".
Besides having several dogs in his novels, Koontz also is known for adding characters with disabilities. Since my wife was born with Cerebral Palsy and I was born with a Cleft Pallet, I couldn't help but laugh at the following dialogue:
"You've got a one-eyed paraplegic brother"
"Yes, sir. With a learning disability"
"Does he have a harelip too?"
"No, sir"
That is probably not funny to anyone but me, but I've included it for the heck of it!
Outside of the world of Odd Thomas, my other favorite Dean Koontz novels include: By the Light of the Moon, Lightning, Life Expectancy, False Memory, From the Corner of His Eye, Cold Fire and The Bad Place.
Book Review: The Darkest "Odd Thomas" Yet!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Odd Hours" is the darkest of the Odd Thomas novels yet and for me, the most exciting and revelatory of the four. Exciting because there is constant action, suspense, and mystery and revelatory because new facets of Odd's character emerge making him a much more formidable protagonist and because new clues and new characters portend even heavier and darker themes in the next three novels (yes, Koontz plans three more installments).
Odd has delayed his return to Pico Mundo to settle briefly in Magic Beach, a small California coastal town where he serves as a cook for a delightful character, hutch, an octagenarian former actor. Thanks to his strange "powers", Odd stumbles onto a terrorist plot to smuggle nuclear devices ashore in Magic Beach from which they will be sent to four key cities to cause massive destruction and apparently pave the way for a new world order called the New Civility.
While the plot, in and of itself, requires suspension of disbelief, it is not the details of the plot that makes this an imminently readable book. It is how Odd metamorphoses into a more independent, more action oriented character as he sets out, however uncertainly, to save the world. As usual, his sensitivity to those around him, his wry and sometimes comical "takes" on the world surrounding him, and his genuineness combine to make him one of the oddest yet most enjoyable characters in Koontz's world.
Along the way, we meet new characters...some heartwarmingly real, some evil and destructive, and some so enigmatic that we are left with more questions than answers. There are new themes and characters emerging that clearly are omens and portents of Odd's future. Who is the pregnant and enigmatic Annamarie and why has Odd impusively pledged his life to her? After saving the world, who are the mastermind plotters that Odd will still have to confront in future installments. This groundwork for the rest of the series is exciting to grapple with for this reader as the Odd books seem poised to head into new directions...there are even references to Fort Myvern and Moonlight Bay from another of Koontz's popular series.
While the plot is a little simplistic and the dialogue a little unimaginative at times, the book is a fast and satisfying read. Odd's perceptions of the craziness in the world along with his humility and loyalty continue to be a joy to this reader. "Odd Hours" will make the reader smile at times, keep him/her guessing throughout, and make the heart pound with suspense at times. I am as ready for the next Odd Thomas novel as I am for the next Christopher Snow novel.
Book Review: Odd gets odder and better
Summary: 5 Stars
As I trudged through the first 60 or 70 pages of the 4th and latest of the Odd Thomas series, I started to wonder if the magic was gone (in more ways than one). By the 352nd and last page, I had a giant grin on my face and was eagerly anticipating the next installment, more certainly guaranteed to be forthcoming than in any of the previous 3 entries in the series.
Odd is truly a unique hero. His enormous charm and charisma obtain from his unfailing politeness, loyalty and respect for others, his quick wit, seemingly inexhaustible and encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything (not too shabby for a 21 year old fry cook) as much as it does from his unique ability to see (and unintentionally attract) ghosts. these were Elvis in the first 3 books, and in this one Frank Sinatra. As with the previous entries and even more so in this one, Odd is at the center of everything that is happening and almost all of the novel is told in the first person. Odd's dialogue is truly a treat to read, and Koontz has become an absolute master at writing witty Odd's repartee (complete with puns galore) with just the right amount of insouciance, humility and sarcasm so that it evokes (at least in me) smiles and outright laughter at unexpected moments. Many have tried this - I can think of no one else who pulls it off so smoothly and successfully.
As I mentioned earlier, things start off rather slowly in this one (even though the first 60 pages or so are in actuality a single tense chase/escape scene) but rapidly pick up after that and accelerate through the last sentence. The end of the book makes clear that this is quite definitely only Part I of a multipart story, yet Odd Hours nevertheless stands on its own and can be read (with only a slight reduction in enjoyment) even if one has not read one or any of the 3 preceding books. There are only the briefest mentions of any of the Pico Mundo characters. Annmaria, a young, single and pregnant woman with many secrets of her own is introduced. Although she gets very few lines, it is clear that she is tremendously enigmatic, somehow knows a lot about Odd and the "bigger picture", and plays as a central role in this novel and, it seems clear, will become even more important in the next installment where more about her and her relationship to Odd will be revealed.
Over the past several years Dean Koontz has become one of my favorite authors and Odd Thomas one of my most beloved fictional characters. I recommend Odd Hours with great enthusiasm.
Book Review: Probably the Best of the Odd Thomas Sequels
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Where's Odd?
Summary: 2 Stars
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.