Odd Hours
by Dean Koontz
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.49 You Save: $25.51 (94%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Odd Hours
Book Review: A worthy stepping stone in Odd's journey...
Summary: 4 Stars
Odd Hours continues to deliver all the elements that make the Odd Thomas saga so enjoyable to Koontz's fans. Present is the page-turning suspense, the witty sarcasm, Odd's delightfully light tone, a hint of dark mystery, and incredible characters.
While the danger is decidedly more mundane that the supernatural evils of Brother Odd, the stakes do continue to escalate. Fans will continue to miss the presence of characters like Ozzy, but Hutch, Annamaria, Sinatra, Shackett, and especially Birdie are, in my opinion, Koontz most amazing cast to date that aid in shaping Odd's adventures. I desperately hope to see Birdie again.
The air of supernatural mystery hangs well over the novel like the all-encompassing fog that permeates the landscape. My only hope is that goose-bump moments like Odd's encounter in the bathroom are in place not only to thrill and chill, but to prepare the reader for an broader story arc that will be explained in books to come. This my singular complaint: While Odd fulfills the destiny that drew him to Magic Beach in a satisfying manner, I'm left with more questions than answers about the supernatural forces at work around him. Much like the white-paneled door in Forever Odd, there is foreshadowing and mystery that is unexplained at books end. For the first time, I finished an Odd Thomas novel with a sense that there is greater story arc in place beyond his obvious destiny to be with Stormy forever.
Book Review: Koontz Ratchets Up the Action in Odd Hours
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was riveting from beginning to end! After reading the first three Odd Thomas books you're well aware that our hero will invariably get involved in some type of intrigue. Usually, he is called upon to rescue an innocent. Or to thwart some disaster or other. In Odd Hours, Koontz does not waste time. From the first few pages, Odd is on the case, his life at risk, his resolve to do the right thing in place. I tried my best to read the book slowly. I know it's going to be months before I will get my hands on a new Koontz book. But, alas, I was hooked from the opening paragraph! I loved the pace, and the steady build up of tension. I won't bother with the plot, you already know it from reading the other reviews. I was intrigued by the enigmatic Annamaria whom Odd vows to protect. I do have a theory as to her identity but won't share. I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you. And I was equally enchanted by the mention of two references from another series Mr. Koontz started years ago about a certain young man who can't bear direct sunlight. I'm sure he will enlighten us further in the next Odd Thomas book. But I can't help anticipating something wonderful happening in future Koontz books should the two series converge. Just throwing that out there. I also thought it was cool how Boo, Odd's ghost dog, and the Chairman of the Board, played more active roles in the story line this time. I'm really looking forward to book five.Book Review: Odd's Thoughts Make for Oddly Entertaining Book
Summary: 4 Stars
In the fourth installment of the Odd Thomas series the young quipster has a vision of the apocalypse and is drawn to a pregnant, young woman named Annamaria who may be able to help him keep the vision from becoming reality. Or maybe he is supposed to help her. Annamaria seems to know a great deal about Odd and apparently has some psychic abilities of her own.
Along the way we meet some other interesting characters including Frank Sinatra's ghost and a self-absorbed, yet charming, old actor who has provided a new home for Odd. None of the new characters are as mysterious as Annamaria, though. We don't learn enough about her in "Odd Hours", but it certainly sounds like she will be a part of any future Odd Thomas novels.
The original "Odd Thomas" book is probably in my top 25 reads of all time so it would be too much to expect one of these sequels to come close to the enjoyment of first meeting Odd. "Odd Hours" is still fun, though. The general plot of "Hours" has been done several times, usually as an action movie...so there's nothing really new there.
Odd's stray thoughts sometimes get in the way of the story's progress. It's as if Mr. Koontz was thinking, "I've got to work in just this one more funny line." It's a slow-starting book, but is worth reading for Odd's humorous view of the world. Those same stray thoughts that Odd has are what make all of the Odd books just a little...different.
Book Review: Believe the nay-sayers on this one!
Summary: 2 Stars
While I didn't read all the reviews of this book on Amazon, I agree with the one-star reviews. This was the most disappointing of the Odd series by Koontz. The story, while it did jump right into the action, dragged. There was clearly not enough material here for an entire book. And after all that dragging, the ending is left open with lots of unanswered questions that seem completely irrelevant--the coyotes, the bell, the sewer grate business. And the supporting characters were disappointments--a few of them had potential, like Hutch and the woman who gives Odd the gun--but they were not as well developed as the characters in the first Odd novels. And there are pages and pages of annoying dialogue with Annamaria, the new character who at first seems to have a central role, and then spends the bulk of the novel hiding. I approached this book with a mixture of excitement because I love the Odd character and apprehension because I thought the series might be getting stale, particularly after the third novel, which was well-written but the story was lacking. This one was not well-written nor was the story good. I fear that over the last 3 novels of this series it will just get worse. Read the other one-star reviews; they are not wrong. What a disappointment for a long-time Koontz fan. I gave it 2 stars because there was still some entertainment value, however minimal, being written from Odd's point of view.Book Review: Not as good as the first few
Summary: 3 Stars
I will start by saying that this is the first product review I've written for Amazon. The reason I mention this is to show how compelled I felt to write about this book - in fact, I finished it just an hour ago.
Odd Thomas has been an excellent character in three prior novels by Dean Koontz. His first-person narrative draws in the reader, and although it leaves no doubt as to his eventual fate, the mortal danger and moral dilemmas in which Odd finds himself entertain as well as engage the reader.
Having enjoyed the first trio of books, I looked forward to "Odd Hours" for a long while once I heard it was forthcoming. However, I felt sorely disappointed by the ending. Was it a page-turner? Absolutely. But the nature of the novel, which was both suspenseful and morality-driven, caused Koontz to posit a number of questions for the reader - which he never answered. This disappointed me most of all.
I won't take it any further, for fear of spoiling the book. But when a novelist puts forth ideas which remain mysterious even at the completion, I can't help but feel robbed of the sense of denouement that is a trademark of many of Koontz's past works.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it just wasn't as satisfying as many of his others, including the three prior Odd Thomas works. It felt like little more than a set-up for the inevitable fifth installment in the series.